-It ain't the prettiest dress at the prom, but it's everyone's favorite.-
Sadly, not all food is photogenic. Not every vegetable is going to win a beauty pageant, no one will pinch the cheeks a horribly splotchy plantain, and certainly no one is going to gush over these cookie bars of mine. They're dark, mottled cookies. Skinny and flat they're nothing that'll turn your head lustfully at the beach. It's a just-rolled-out-of-bed dessert.
Still, looks aren't everything. There's always inner beauty. You can't judge a book by its cover. And these cookies have a wonderful personality. Rich and fragrant from brown sugar and golden honey. A taste that's earthy with a husky scent from the buckwheat. The texture is dense and slightly sticky; different from any other bar cookies you've had.
Brownies are great and rely on tired and true chocolate. Blondies are delightfully old-fashioned, but old-fashioned is another word for predictable. These flavorful, aromatic, heavy with honey and buckwheat tasty squares of awesome are something else. They may not be a feast for the eyes, but for the mouth they're a banquet.
Honeybucks
Serves 9
1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), melted
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of honey
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
1/4 cup of buckwheat flour
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Whisk together the butter, sugars, and honey until well combined.
2. Whisk in the egg and vanilla extract until well combined.
3. In a separate bowl sift together the salt, baking powder, and flours. Add to the butter mixture all at once and mix together until just combined.
4. Pour into a lightly greased and floured 8 or 9 inch baking pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Because of the buckwheat and honey it will be very dark and look burnt. Go by the toothpick test and by smell.
5. Cool on a wire rack. The mixture will have risen during baking but will sink during cooling.
I don't think those bars are ugly at all! They look delicious to me. Good basic recipe I like it.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the name---Honeybucks. I've been making blondies day in and day out, it seems. Maybe it's time I shake things up a bit and try some of your variations (the proportions between our two recipes are almost exact).
ReplyDeletejennifer - The base recipe came from my blondie recipe which you may have seen over at Simply Recipes. =)
ReplyDeleteGarrett,
ReplyDeleteDo you think that chopped nuts and/or chocolate would compete with the flavors? I know...I may as well just make blondies then!
(I think they look positively edible!)
Patty - I think it is a matter of taste. Try them regular first then see what might work, thought I think chocolate would compete with or dominate the other flavors. Cocoa nibs or dark walnuts might work.
ReplyDeleteThese sound delicious and hearty, a great after-school snack or something to munch on in between classes. It also can be made out of things I regularly carry in my rather sparse pantry - except for buckwheat. I hardly ever use buckwheat, and so it doesn't show up in my kitchen often. Do you think the buckwheat could be replaced by oatmeal in a pinch?
ReplyDeleteI think these look really yummy. I like the idea of the brown sugar and dark honey flavours. It defnitely sounds like a hearty afternoon snack. Perfect.
ReplyDeleteAin't nothin' ugly 'bout a nicely caramelized top crust and gooey goodness in the middle. In fact, it looks quite beautiful to me.
ReplyDeleteI think these sound great. I love the nuttiness you get from buckwheat, must taste fab with the honey
ReplyDeleteyou mention baking powder in the ingredients list, but use baking soda in the recipe directions. Which is it? I'd love to make these but don't want the mistake. Looked up the blondies recipe but it used both! help~!
ReplyDeleteAnnonymous: Powder. Sorry about the mix up.
ReplyDeleteRandom addition: if you're gluten intolerant (like me) you can do half regular flour (I was too chicken to do 3:1 but will next time) and half chick pea flour.
ReplyDeleteI also added the tiniest dusting of grated nutmeg.
Delicious! And my roommates (not so tolerant of crazy food and substitutions as I am) loved em too!
Thanks!
This is a last minute query (since I'd love to make these tomorrow to take to my boyfriend's aunt's house). I have tried and tried (without success) to locate buckwheat flour! I have only been able to find pancake/crepe mixes that HAVE buckwheat flour. Suggestions for a substitute?
ReplyDeleteJulie - Maybe amaranth or some other interesting gluten free grain flour?
ReplyDelete