Krusteaz Shortbread Pecan Pie Bars and Giveaway

I'm going to try and make this short and sweet....although I've never been able to accomplish that in the past.

But I'll try.

This is another Krusteaz Giveaway....with some really cool things

8 boxes of cookie mix!! (2 - Shortbread, 2 - Butter Vanilla Sugar, 2 - Snickerdoodle and 2 - Triple Chocolate Chunk), Then....there is a tote bag, an E-Z Deco Icing Pen, Edible Markers (SO COOL!!!) and a set of Christmas cookie cutters.

This set-up is perfect! Especially for kids. But since my kids are adults now, I had to borrow one, just to prove how much fun kids will have with this stuff. I let him do it all...start to finish (I did help with rolling out the cookie dough a little) and he was busy all day. Loving it. From mixing to icing to drawing with the pens.

And he did a great job!

Of course an adult would have loads of fun too. And I did, Only I made other things.

Like these Thumbprint cookies, using the Shortbread mix. The recipe is on the back of the box.

And of course I made the Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies but those didn't last long enough to photograph.

What I personally had the most fun doing, was making Shortbread Pecan Pic Bars.

Easy and delicious.

I started off by following the recipe for Krusteaz Shorbread. Instead of rolling it out and cutting it into rectangles, I placed the dough in a 13 x 9 casserole dish that was lined with parchment paper. I pressed it along the bottom, as evenly as possible, and up the sides a bit. This went into a 375' oven and baked for about 15 - 20 minutes, or until golden brown. 

What I didn't do...was prick the bottom with a fork. I didn't want holes that would allow the pecan mixture to escape through. Instead, once it was out of the oven, I let it cool some and then pressed the dough down. I does puff up....so in order to have a smooth surface for the pecan mixture...you will want to press it down with your hands.

But...make sure it's cool enough to the touch so you don't burn yourself.

Then I let it cool completely.

While the dough crust cooled, I prepared the filling:

Pecan Filling:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 TB honey

2 TB granulated sugar

2 TB heavy cream

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups pecan halves

1/2 tsp vanilla

In a medium sauce pan over high heat, combine the butter, brown sugar, honey, granulated sugar, cream and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

Boil for about 1 minute, or until the mixture coats the back of your spoon.

Remove from heat and stir in the pecans and vanilla. 

Pour into your crust.

Reduce the oven heat down to 325' and bake for about 40-45 minutes, or until the mixture is bubbly. If you want a crispier crust, you can bake it a bit longer. 

Allow to cool completely before cutting.

And *POOF* you have yummy little sweets to share with everyone. Along with all the other cookies you've baked.

Ok...now for the important stuff....

How do you get a chance at winning all these goodies? Look below and do what it says. The more entries, the better your chance! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is open to continental US residents only. This giveaway will run from Wednesday, December 7, 2016 through Saturday, December 10, 2016 (11:59 pm PT). A winner will be notified within 48 hours of the close of the contest and given 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen. 

I was not compensated for this post, however Krusteaz supplied me with samples. They are also supplying the products for the giveaway.  

All opinions are my own.

Buttermilk Skillet Cake with Pecan Praline Topping

This week for the the Joy the Baker Cookbook Spotlight and Cook-Off sponsored by Hyperion and hosted at girlichef we got to choose what ever recipe we wanted to show you all. This recipe caught my eye on several levels........

I have a thing for cast iron skillets.

I have a thing for praline.

I have a thing for buttermilk in baking recipes.

And now...I have a very serious thing for this recipe alone. Ooh....MY....gawd! This cake is flippin' amazing. Light, fluffy....not too sweet because the praline has that roll. And it does it well! The scale is going to be yelling at me if I don't stop eating it.

If you end up purchasing Joy's cookbook....you'll find the recipe on page 113, titled Buttermilk Skillet Cake with Walnut Praline Topping.  I happen not to like walnuts. So I automatically swap them for pecans whenever called for in a recipe.

Buttermilk Skillet Cake with Pecan Praline Topping
Printable Version

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
6 TB unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk

Praline Topping:
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
good pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans (or walnuts if that's your thing)

Preheat your oven to 375' F. Grease and flour an 8" over safe (ie: cast iron) skillet, along the bottom and up the sides. Joy says a 9" cake pan will work as well. Don't make up your mind yet....please.

I want you to see how big...errr...small an 8" skillet is. You'll see in a minute the importance of this.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In another medium bowl, with a stand or hand mixer, cream together the granulated sugar and butter until fully incorporated, about 3 minutes.

Add the egg and yolk, one at a time, beating for 1 minute between the two.

Beat in the vanilla.

Now....with the mixer on low, add half of the flour. Beat until incorporated. Add the buttermilk, and beat again until incorporated. Finally, beat in the remaining flour until almost fully incorporated. Stop beating and continue with a spatula to fully incorporate the flour.

Pour / spoon the batter into your prepared pan.

Smooth the batter in the pan evenly. (clears her throat)....put a pan on the bottom rack. Just in case. Bake for 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

While things of unknown magnitude are going on in the oven....you should make the pralines.

Combine the brown sugar, butter, cream and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a soft boil and let boil for 3 minutes. Keep an eye on it. It likes to get a little rambunctious....just stir it down.

After 3 minutes, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and nuts. Allow to set for about 20 minutes to thicken up a bit.

I don't know why....something I did maybe? Or just one of those quirks...but (clears her throat)...I had a bit of a mishap.

I'm really glad that pan was in there to catch the mess. At first I was fretting a bit. But then I decided to let it ride. I turned the oven down to 350' and let it cook a bit longer since the center wasn't set yet. And hoped that my house wouldn't be inundated with that burned sugary smell.

Once I had determined (with aforementioned toothpick test) that he cake was done,  I let it cool for a minute and then placed the pan on a plate.

It needed examining. How was I going to pull this off? Scrap it and start over? I have a thing about throwing away perfectly good food. So that thought didn't linger long. I considered cutting off all the crunchy edges (oh the pain of the thought) and inverting the pan so the cake would come out. but I knew I'd mess it up even more.

I decided to....embrace the rustic. Forget the perfection and clean beauty of the intention. And just pour the praline over the whole thing....skillet and all

And then discovered the raw beauty that only a cast iron skillet can pull off with such comfort.

What happened next was pure taste-bud nirvana

I want to say....you should probably cook this cake in a 10" skillet or a cake pan. But there's a part of me that has a thing for this bad boy.....just as it is.