for the love of cardamom

I love cardamom and I like butter so I tried to make these cardamom shortbreads. I must've done something wrong  (not measure out enough butter?) because my dough was a crumbly mess.

I ended up pressing it into ball-like shapes, rolling in powdered sugar and baking that way because the dough just laughed and fell into a million pieces when I took out my rolling pin. Even though the flavour was fantastic, the texture of the final cookie was still disappointingly crumbly and dry. Sad.

Still, I'm excited to try other recipes on that Remedial Eating blog -- lots of beautiful pictures of stuff I want to eat.

My craving for cardamom cookies not yet satisfied, I went for this Martha Stewart recipe. To quote my now-three year old, 'That's what I'm talkin' about!' Now I have a recipe that I can haul out year after year.  Happy. 

beer and chocolate

Why, hello! Sorry I've stayed away for so long. What's been happening around here? Not much and a lot, all at the same time. A needy baby, a toddler... and homemade ice cream. 

For Jeff's birthday I got him the ultimate self-serving gift: the ice cream maker attachment for our KitchenAid. Wow, making your own ice cream is fun. And then you get to eat ice cream!

The first batch was guiness-chocolate ice cream from the reigning ice cream guru, David Lebovitz. Great stuff. The next batch was blueberry frozen yogurt. A tad sweet, and not unlike frozen blueberry pie filling, but practice will make perfect. 

classic chocolate cookies

To be honest, I shied away from making these cookies at first because they seemed almost boring. I thought, 'Just plain chocolate cookies? Where's the mint? Where are the chunks of quality dark chocolate?'

But I guess some cookies don't require sprinkles and chips to shine, 'cause these. are. delicious.

Besides rich chocolate flavour, these cookies have got other things going for them: they're thin, yet chewy, and they have a slightly crispy sugared outside with a slightly gooey center.

I've read somewhere that adding a bit of coffee to chocolate cake enhances the flavour of the cocoa so I figured the same would be true of cookies that are flavoured with cocoa. A bit of instant coffee was the only thing extra I added to the dough and I'd like to think it was partly responsible for kicking the chocolate up a notch.

'grammy's chocolate cookies'
Martha Stewart's Holiday Cookies (2001) special mag
makes 2-3 dozen

2 C plus 2 Tbs all-purpose flour
3/4 C dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teas baking soda
1/2 teas salt
1 1/4 C (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 C granulated sugar, plus more for dipping (or use coarser sanding sugar instead)
2 large eggs
2 teas pure vanilla extract
1 teas instant coffee granules
1 teas warm water

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In small bowl, combine instant coffee and warm water. Stir to dissolve, then set aside.

In large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and coffee. Gradually add dry ingredients and combine well. Form dough into flattened disk, wrap with plastic wrap and chill until firm (1 hour).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet(s) with parchment paper. Shape dough into balls, a little larger than 1", and roll in sanding sugar. Place a couple inches apart on baking sheet and bake until set, 10-12 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer cookies to a wire rack.

lemon wine mousse with raspberries

Sweetly tart is a tasty contradiction.

lemon wine mousse with raspberries

Gourmet Magazine

2 eggs

1/2 C sugar

1/2 C dry white wine

3 Tbs fresh lemon juice

2 teas fresh lemon zest, finely grated

1/2 C heavy whipping cream, chilled

1 1/2 C fresh raspberries

To make the custard, beat eggs in a bowl with an electric mixer at high speed to blend. Slowly add sugar, beating at moderately high speed, then beat for a few more minutes. Add wine and lemon juice and beat until just combined.

Transfer mixture to a heavy saucepan and cook over low-medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the custard is thick enough to coat back of spoon (about 5 minutes -- do not let boil.) Stir in zest and transfer to a bowl. Cover and chill until cold, about 30 minutes. (The surface can be covered with wax paper and the custard chilled for up to one day.)

Beat cream in chilled bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold whipped cream into lemony mixture. Layer mousse and berries into 4 serving glasses and chill until cold, about 1 hour.

in season

Strawberry rhubarb crisp :: and there are two more in the freezer for those sad, dull days when these two lovebirds are not in season together.

mini double chocolate truffle cupcake bombs

Remember Calvin and his Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs? That's how I feel making up a name for these cupcakes.

I mean, the recipe says 'chocolate cupcakes' but they are so much more than boring ol' cupcakes. There is a double chocolate thing happening (I'm a fan of this choco-layering apparently.) They're a little fudgy, but not too sweet. I know I'm at risk of overselling these cupcakes right now. Okay fine, they aren't that good. Just make 'em and try 'em and see if I care.

mini double chocolate truffle cupcake bombs

makes 36-40

Sorry, I never wrote down the source for this recipe. I copied it from the internet way back in October 2005 for a Halloween party (death by chocolate, anyone?). All I remember is that it was from one of those scary and overwhelming sites like allrecipes.com with a bazillion recipes for everything.

1 1/3 C flour

1/3 C Dutch-process cocoa

3/4 teas baking soda

1/4 teas salt

1/2 C unsalted butter, softened

1 C sugar

1 Tbs instant coffee granules dissolved in 1 Tbs warm water

3/4 teas vanilla extract

2 eggs

3/4 C whole milk

1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips (even better if you have the mini ones)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare mini muffin tins by lining with paper liners or spraying with cooking spray.

Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter until soft. Gradually pour in sugar and beat together for about a minute. Beat in coffee mixture and vanilla. Then add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. On very low speed, add dry ingredients in 3 equal additions, alternating with the milk in 2 equal additions, beginning and ending with the dry. Stop mixer as necessary to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Stir in chocolate chips by hand.

Fill prepared pans with batter, filling each muffin tin almost full. Bake cupcakes on center rack until a cake tester comes out clean, about 15 mins. Remove from oven and gently lift cupcakes fro the pan. Cool on a cooling rack.

Enjoy at room temperature or cover and refrigerate cupcakes for up to 2 days. If you want, dust with powdered sugar before serving.

mocha pot de creme

We have some friends who, whenever they are over, one of them asks, "Is there dessert?" as we are sitting down to the meal. And while the other one, the wife, rolls her eyes and laughs off her husband's faux-pas, I always wonder if he doesn't have a good point. Would it be good policy to let our guests know what's for dessert so they know how much room to leave for the sweet ending?

Not sure why these are called 'mocha' pot de cremes because there isn't a shot of coffee or espresso in them. They're more like chocolate custards. But I didn't name them, Martha Stewart did, so we still call them mocha pot de cremes.

And just so you have all the facts, one requires hardly any room at all. Enjoy seconds and dessert.

mocha pot de creme

serves 4

1/4 C dutch-process cocoa powder

1/2 C + 1 Tbs skim milk

1/4 C low-fat evaporated milk

1 large egg

1 egg white

3/4 C white sugar

pinch of salt

confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line shallow baking pan with cloth towel and set aside.

Place cocoa powder in medium mixing bowl. In another bowl, mix milks. Slowly whisk 3 tablespoons of the milk mixture into the cocoa and whisk for a thick paste. Whisk in remaining; set aside.

In large bowl, combine egg, egg white, sugar, and salt. Whisk until combined. Whisk in cocoa-milk mixture. Divide among 4 4-oz ramekins. Place in towel-lned pan and pour hot water into pan, until water is half-way up the sides of the ramekins. Transfer carefully to oven. Bake until puddings are set with slightly jiggled, about 50 minutes. Remove from water and transfer to wire rack. Let cool 20-30 minutes. Dust with confectioners sugar and serve warm. Excellent with mint tea.

the moon looks like a shortbread cookie

I'll be up late. I'm making the crowd-pleasing lemon shortbread cookies for tomorrow's party.

I made them before with poppy seeds, but this time I had to forgo the little guys. Did you know poppy seeds go rancid? A quick google search informs me that poppy seeds, in fact, go bad very quickly. Oh well.

I mean, I'll miss their aesthetic appeal, but who can taste a poppy seed anyway?

gingerbread cake

When it's like this outside...

it's best to stay inside and eat cake.

gingerbread cake

serves 9-10

2 C all-purpose flour

1 teas baking soda

1 1/2 teas ground ginger

1 teas ground cinnamon

1/4 teas ground cloves

1/2 teas salt

1/2 C unsalted butter, softened

3/4 C packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 C molasses

2/3 C hot water

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Grease 9" square baking pan (2" deep) and set aside.

Combine flour, baking soda, spices, and salt in medium bowl.

In large bowl, beat together butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one and a time, beating well after each. Mix in molasses, then flour mixture, then the hot water. Mix well until batter is smooth.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in middle of the oven for 40-45 minutes, until a tester is clean. Cool in the pan, on a rack, for another 20 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar and serve warm.

blackberry & almond cakes

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Donna Hay rocks. Her recipes are so uncomplicated! And yet they taste so so good.

This little dessert is no exception. The caramel sauce makes for quite a sweet dessert, but it pairs very well with the slightly crunchy almond cakes and juicy berries. A winner for sure, and a most excellent finale to a great evening with friends.

blackberry & almond upside-down cakes

From Donna Hay's The Instant Cook

makes 6

6 1/3 Tbs* unsalted butter

1 1/4 C brown sugar

3 Tbs water

2 C defrosted or frozen blackberries

cake

5 1/4 Tbs unsalted butter, melted

1/2 C superfine sugar (caster sugar)

2 eggs

1 C almond meal**

1 C all-purpose flour

1 teas baking powder

1/3 C milk

*I've converted some of the measurements from metric, so some of the amounts look a little funny.

** To make almond meal, you can process whole skinned nuts to a fine meal in a food processor. I processed skinned almond slices until a course meal for a crunchier cake.

Preheat oven to 320 degrees. Butter a 6 x 1-cup-capacity muffin tin; set aside.

Place butter, sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat, stirring, until the butter dissolves to make a caramel syrup. Add blackberries and cook for another 2 minutes. Divide berries among prepared muffin tins. Add a couple of spoonfuls of syrup to each, reserving the rest of the syrup for serving.

For the cake, mix together the butter, sugar, eggs, almond meal, flour, baking powder and milk. Spoon the cake mixture over the berries in the muffin tins. Bake for 30-40 mins, or until tester comes out clean. Cool in tins for 5 minutes, and then invert onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place on serving plates; top with fallen berries, some reserved syrup, and vanilla ice.

ice cream sandwiches

Jeff's birthday is right around the corner so I had a great excuse to make ice cream sandwiches.

I used this Martha recipe for the chocolate cookies and spread half with vanilla and half with mint chip ice cream. Yum!

I've made these twice before -- little Christmas trees with green mint ice cream for the holidays and hearts with strawberry ice cream for Valentine's Day -- but this is the first time that I've made them in summer. Because who associates ice cream and summer, right?

And while we're on the subject of summer treats...

Isn't frozen fruit great?! Definitely less labour intensive than homemade ice cream sandwiches, and it's just so refreshing. I love frozen cherries, mango, and peaches. Oooh, and chocolate-dipped bananas! Man, it's been a long time since I've had those.

This frozen pineapple looks good too. Note to self: gotta get some pineapple and try that.

The other treat we've had this summer is homemade fudgesicles. Frozen Jello chocolate pudding -- you know, the kind from a little box -- works great in freezer pop trays. And sometimes a fudgesicle totally hits the spot.

pumpkin bread

I've got Christmas on the brain. But before I get so far into thinking about upcoming holiday goodies that it hardly feels like the season for pumpkin, may I recommend a moist pumpkin bread?

Sorry, I'm not sure where this recipe came from -- copied from somewhere on a scrap of paper.

pumpkin bread

1 loaf

2 C all-purpose flour

2 teas baking powder

1/2 teas baking soda

1/2 teas salt

1 C packed brown sugar

1 teas cinnamon

1/2 teas ground nutmeg

1/2 teas ground cloves

2 large eggs

1/2 C butter, melted

1/3 C pure maple syrup

1 C canned unsweetened pumpkin (or pureed, fresh steamed pumpkin)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9x5x3" loaf pan and set aside.

Mix flour, powder, soda, salt, sugar, and spices in large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, butter, syrup and pumpkin. Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and fold together. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake for 45-55 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. Carefully turn out onto wire rack and let cool a bit before serving. Serve warm or room temperature.

drunk crisp

Happy May Day!

Pretty soon it won't be crisp season any more -- my summertime desserts are more along the lines of simple fresh fruit. And in the meantime, well, what is a springtime dessert? It doesn't feel quite right to make a baked apple anything when the weather is teasing us every few hours... cupcakes maybe?

But while we're still bundling up at night and waiting for fresh berries, I'll share this recipe for apple, prune and brandy crisp.

drunk apple and prune crisp
serves 4 (originally from Gourmet magazine)

1/2 C brandy
1 C pitted prunes, halved
2/3 C flour
1/2 C packed light brown sugar
6 Tbs cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes
1/4 teas salt
1/8 teas cinnamon
2/3 C old-fashioned oats
6 McIntosh apples (or a mixture of sweet and sour apples)
vanilla ice cream, of course

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Bring brandy to a boil in a small saucepan and remove from heat. Stir in cut prunes and let stand while making topping.

Mix flour, 6 Tbs brown sugar, butter, salt, and cinnamon together until mixture resembles coarse meal. (Food processor works great so you don't melt the butter with your fingers.) Add oats and stir to just combine.

Peel, quarter, and core apples and cut into 1/2" wedges. Transfer apples to a 1 1/2-quart shallow baking dish and toss with prune mixture and remaining 2 Tbs brown sugar.

Sprinkle topping evenly over filling and bake in middle of oven until topping is golden brown and filling is bubbling (about 30 mins.)

I tend to like my crisp cold, the next morning, but enjoying it warm with vanilla ice cream is a close second.

milk n' cookies

Three cheers for ginger cookies!

I usually halve this recipe 'cause it makes a ton, but I was sleeping on the job tonight and ended up making a whole batch. 4 1/2 cups flour and 1 1/2 cups butter (!!) later, I have a lot of yummy ginger cookie dough in the freezer.

chocolate sugar almond bombs

Here's a bonbon that kind of bombed when I tried to make it. I guess chocolate covered almonds are only easy if your chocolate behaves differently than mine did...

The idea of the recipe is to first coat the almonds in a warm sugary cinnamon mixture, then freeze the coated almonds, then pour melted chocolate over the chilled almonds (this is when my process broke down), allow to drip on a wire rack, chill again, then toss in cocoa to coat.

There was no dripping chocolate to be had with mine. The chocolate (perhaps not warm enough?) just glommed on to the almonds, resulting in big globs of sticky chocolate. Very messy!

But, they are quite good, especially the cinnamon crunch beneath the powdery chocolate chew.

sticky buns

Hi. Has it been long enough since Christmas breads and buns for this? Are you really serious about your New Year's resolutions or can I tempt you with something sticky sweet and carb-laden?


I know I've mentioned these before, but they really do deserve their own post. Pecan sticky buns (or in this case, walnut sticky buns) are one of my favs. Thanks, Martha Stewart.

You have to plan ahead a bit, as the dough needs to sit overnight and they need to be shaped and rise again in the morning, but I'm telling you they are worth the wait. And since they're best eaten fresh, I'd wait for a time when there aren't just two of you sitting around the fire... although we've done that too.

I rely on my Kitchenaid mixer to do all the work with this recipe. Since I've never tried kneading it all by hand, I'll just give the mixer instructions...

pecan sticky buns
makes 12

1 1/4-oz package active dry yeast
1/2 C plus 1 Tb warm milk (not hot!)
3 C all-purpose flour
1/6 cup granulated sugar
1 teas salt
2 eggs
1/2 pound (2 sticks/1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut in pieces, plus more for buttering tins
1 1/2 C pecan halves
1 C light corn syrup (or just get the squeezable bottle and don't bother measuring)
about 2/3 C packed brown sugar
a little more than 1/4 C sour cream
about 1/2 Tbs ground cinnamon -- several shakes of the cinnamon shaker

The night before...

Line a glass baking pan (13x9) with parchment paper and set aside. In a small bowl, combine yeast and milk. Let stand until the yeast is creamy (10 mins.)

In the bowl of your magic mixer (fitted with the dough hook) combine flour, granulated sugar and salt. Add yeast mixture and eggs. Mix on low until completely combined.

Raise speed to high and add butter, several pieces at a time. When all the butter has been added, continue mixing until the dough is smooth and shiny. This takes a long time, like 8 to 10 minutes to fast mixing. (Now you see why I entrust this job to a machine.) Transfer the dough to the lined baking pan and spread it out. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill overnight.

The next morning...

Take dough out of the fridge and let stand at room temperature until slightly softened (15 mins.)

Meanwhile, generously butter a standard muffin tin. Chop most of the pecans, and with about 1/2 cup of the pecan halves, split them lengthwise. Keep the two types separate. In the muffin tin, pour a bit of corn syrup in each cup. With my corn syrup in a squeeze bottle (how industrial does that sound, eh?!) I just add enough to cover the bottom, maybe a 1/8-1/4 inch deep. Add about a teaspoon of brown sugar to each and divide the halved pecans among the cups. Set aside.

Roll out dough lengthwise, 1/4 inch thick, and into a rectangle (about 12 x 15 inches.) Spread sour cream over the surface, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Sprinkle cinnamon and 1/3 C brown sugar over the sour cream. Cover the mix with chopped pecans. Roll the dough lengthwise.

Using a sharp knife, slice the roll into 12 slices and place in the muffin tins. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cover muffin tin with parchment paper and let rise in a warm place for another 30 minutes. I put mine on the preheating oven.

Transfer sticky buns to the oven. I recommend placing a cookie sheet on the rack below to catch any drips. Rotate the pan to get even baking. Bake until buns are dark golden brown, about 40 minutes.

Remove from the oven and immediately turn buns out onto a sheet of parchment paper. Replace any pecan halves that fell off the buns, and let cool a bit before eating. Wow. Yum.

lemon poppyseed shortbreads

These crumbly morsels are a martha original. They are so stinkin' cute that I think I may have to make them for every holiday...

This recipe was handy because the shortbread dough can be frozen easily, although it doesn't 'thaw' like other cookie doughs though because of the... ahem... high butter content. It's a bit more work to roll into balls straight from the fridge, but totally doable.

makes 3 dozen cookies (I halved this recipe for about 16 cookies, which was perfect amid holiday baking overload)

shortbread:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
2 cups flour
3/4 teas salt
1/2 cup granulated (*or confectioners' sugar)

*I used granulated sugar, but apparently confectioners' sugar gives the cookies a finer texture

lemon poppyseed frosting:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1 teas poppy seeds

Sift together flour and salt in small bowl. In large bowl, cream butter until fluffy, 3-5 mins. Add sugar and contine to beat until very light and fluffy. Add flour mixture and beat on low until flour is just incorporated (dough sticks together.)

Roll dough into 1-inch balls and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Bake on cookie sheet until firm and barely starting to colour around the base of the cookie, 20-25 mins. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, make frosting by whisking together the sugar, cream and lemon juice until smooth. Stir in poppy seeds.

When cookies are totally cool, dip top half of shortbread balls into frosting and let set on parchment. Store in an airtight container.

easy as... chocolate cake

Moist chocolate cake. Is there anything better? And one made entirely in one pot? A keeper, for sure.

I loved the Sex and the City episode when Miranda scarfs chocolate cake and thinks she should be checked into the Betty Crocker Clinic...




one-pot chocolate cake
makes 8x8 cake (or you can double it for a double-decker cake)

2 Tbs butter
2 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, broken into pieces
1 C milk, divided
1 C sugar
1/2 Tbs vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
1 C flour
1/8 teas salt
1 tsp baking soda

In a medium sauce-pan over low heat, melt butter and chocolate, stirring continuously. Once melted, add 1/2 C of milk. Stir over low heat until it thickens a bit. Take off burner, then add sugar, vanilla, and egg yolk. Stir well. Then add flour, salt, and baking soda. When mixed, add remaining 1/2 C milk. Bake at 350 degrees, until a toothpick, inserted into the center of the cake, comes out clean (about 25-35 mins.) Let cool completely before icing with frosting.

And speaking of frosting...

chocolate frosting
makes 1.5 C frosting

2 Tbs butter
2 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, broken into pieces
2 C powdered sugar
1/3 C milk
2/3 teas vanilla extract
a pinch of salt

In small saucepan, over low heat, melt butter and chocolate together. Once mixture is melted and smooth, pour into large bowl and add powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt. Beat with an electric mixer until well blended. Refrigerate 10 minutes or so, until the frosting is of spreading consistency. If you need to keep it in the fridge for several hours, be sure to allow time to bring the frosting to room temp before trying to frost your cake. I used a little hot water bath to bring mine back to being spreadable.

oatmeal and cranberry goodness

This recipe comes from Martha's 2001 special holiday magazine -- a whole issue devoted to cookies. It had some super cute decorating ideas for sugar cookies (of course--it's Martha) and several keeper recipes as well, including this oatmeal and cranberry number.

oatmeal cranberry cookies
makes about 3 dozen

2 C all purpose flour (I substituted 1 C for whole wheat flour)
1/2 teas salt
1/2 teas cinnamon
1 teas baking powder
1 teas baking soda
1 Tbs pure vanilla extract
3 Tbs milk
2 eggs
1/2 lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 C packed light-brown sugar
1/2 C granulated sugar
3 C old-fashioned oats (I used quick oats, not instant, and it turned out just fine)
1 C dried cranberries

In medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside. In small bowl, whisk together vanilla, milk, and eggs. Set aside.

In large bowl, combine butter and sugars. Beat until light and fluffy. Beat in egg mixture. Stir in flour mixture until just combined. Finally, stir in oats and cranberries. Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 2 hours, until firm.

Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Shape dough into balls and flatten a bit with your palm.

Bake until light golden but still soft in the center, about 15-17 minutes (rotating half-way through) Make sure not to over-bake! Remove from oven and transfer to wire rack, or just slide parchment onto the counter-top for cookies to cool.

Before chilling the dough,
I put away some of it into the freezer for later.

My future-self will thank me. :)

chock-full granola bars

I love granola bars, but most of the ones you can buy in the store are just too darn sweet.

Enter homemade granola bars -- as sweet, crunchy, healthy, and chocolaty as you want 'em.


granola bars
makes 9x13 pan

2 C rice krispies
2 C quick rolled oats
2/3 C dried fruit -- a mix of raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries, golden raisins, etc
1/2 C roughly chopped nuts -- try a mix of peanuts, almonds, and hazelnuts
1/2 C packed brown sugar
1/2 C light corn syrup
2/3 C peanut butter
1 teas vanilla extract
1/2 C milk chocolate chips

Combine rice krispies, oats, dried fruit, and nuts in a large bowl. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, bring sugar and syrup to a boil over med-high heat. Stir frequently so the sugars don't burn. Remove from heat and add peanut butter and vanilla. Stir until blended.

Pour peanut butter mixture over cereal mixture. Stir until coated. (I tend to use my hands at this point to blend everything together well.) Let stand a few minutes to cool, then add chocolate chips. Press into 9x13 pan. Once completely cool, cut into bars.

This year, my Santa is getting a granola bar with milk.