Skip to main content

#5 Date Bars 1945

The finished bars - full of promise.

"Graham crackers!?"

In what I think of as a fairly well-stocked pantry, I haven't kept graham crackers since my children were about five.

"Doug," I called to my husband, "I'm going to buy graham crackers."

In the aisle of my basic neighborhood grocery store, I was horrified to learn that graham crackers, something I'd considered wholesome snacks, no longer hold up to health food standards (partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil and high fructose corn syrup). My image of graham crackers as nutritious snacks lies in its history. Sylvester Graham, a Presbyterian minister, invented them in 1829. It turns out he promoted his "Graham bread," made of coarse whole wheat flour, to curb excessive lust. He also preached temperance and a vegetarian diet. Little did I know this was the heritage of one of my own favorite snacks as a child - I couldn't get enough of these crackers with butter and jam sandwiched between them. You could say I lusted after them. But I digress...

Use all 18 crackers in a package for 1 1/4 cup of crumbs.
I dutifully threw 14 graham crackers into the food processor and came up short; 14 graham crackers no longer make the required quantity. The recipe notes (which I should have read right off) calls for 1 1/4 cup of crumbs. Even graham crackers are victims of shrinking product size, which masks price increases. It now takes the whole inner package of 18 crackers to give the 1 1/4 cup of crumbs.

Imagine these cookies baked without a foil pan liner.
After combining with nuts, date pieces, 3 eggs and minimal leavening, I wondered at the editors' note about lining the 9 X 9" pan. I was to crisscross two sheets of foil (Reynolds Wrap had not been sold until 1947), which would prevent the batter from touching the pan itself. What kind of mess did the original recipe create? I soon learned.

After 30 minutes of cooling, I tried to lift the block of cookie bars by the foil, but the foil quickly ripped and dropped the cookies back into the pan. Where the batter touched the pan in the tiny corner wedges, the cookies stuck fast. I ran a knife around the pan rim. The baked mass seemed in no danger of breaking apart, so I turned the pan over, onto a piece of parchment. I oh-so-slowly peeled back the foil to remove it from the cookie block.

I'll now confess that I cut these in my car, and took these cookies to share with my basketry retreat planning committee in a library conference room. I was glad I'd brought more than one cookie variety with me. Although my committee members were polite, these are better door-stop material than food. Both flavor and texture are lacking. I have never tried to eat a memory foam mattress, but biting into this cookie is exactly how I'd imagine the experience, except the mattress wouldn't leave your teeth coated with goo.

I really tried. I made these bars last weekend and I tasted them each day hoping to find a single redeeming quality. Their photo shows such promise, much like 1945, the year this recipe was published. The world anticipated decades of peace and prosperity at the end of  the war. I wish I could say the cookies that represent Gourmet Magazine in that year were an apt tribute to the country's optimism at the time, a turning point in history. These bars don't cut it.

You can find this recipe here, but don't bother.

Sources: About graham cracker history:  http://inventors.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_053.html; About product introductions in the market: http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl/1999_3183896/down-home-favorites-vie-with-classics-for-status-t.html
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

#33 Almond Bolas (Portuguese Almond Cookies) 1975

Three almond balls ( bolas ) in a row. "This one is good," my sister-in-law Jill told me. She tried not to express too much surprise, but I have regaled her with too many tales of failed cookies. And forced her to eat a few duds. I was glad this one made the grade. I liked it, too. You might think I am a hopeless romantic to fall for another almond cookie. (Italy, almond cookies. Almond cookies, Italy.) The fact is every country that can grow almonds has its special recipes for almond cookies. Portugal is no exception. The ground blanched almonds combine with dry bread crumbs, then the usual sugar, egg whites and almond extract. The dry bread crumbs are key. When the cookies are fresh from the oven, the bread crumbs add a perfect crunch to their rustic, nutty texture. Holes in the center ready for filling. These cookies don't "drop." You roll them in a ball ( bola ) and press a hole in the center, as for jelly-filled thumbprint cookies. Egg yolk ...
1 comment
Read more

#36 "Shoe Sole" Cookies 1970

I wish I could say these cookies had an interesting shape, or showed off the baker's talent, or boasted a great flavor combination. Three strikes. I'm giving "Shoe Sole" Cookies the boot. Small round shapes were easiest to form. First, what could be appetizing about a cookie that in any way resembles a shoe? I'm thinking leathery, flat and hard. Not much going for it in the marketing department here. In fact, the only resemblance to a shoe sole is the shape. The recipe has us using an oval cookie cutter to mimic the shape of a shoe - not a pretty shape in my opinion. I cut mine into circles and sprinkled them with cinnamon sugar. A ring around the edge remains white because that is the part that is puffing up during baking, and not browning. These do have a light texture, owing to the Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry. That's right, "puff paste" and sugar - the only two ingredients in this recipe. Pastry from the freezer and sugar? No talent nec...
Post a Comment
Read more

#17 Brazil Nut Crescents 1958

Light as a feather, these cookies showcase the Brazil nut. After my fiasco of many ingredients (the Oatmeal Molasses Cookies seem so last month), I wondered if only four ingredients would be enough to make a decent attempt at a cookie. I creamed the butter, added sugar, flour and finely chopped Brazil nuts, as instructed. I kneaded the dough on a floured surface a bit, and formed my 2-inch cylinder of dough. The ridged crescent shapes emerge when you cut off each slice. As you cut, each round compresses into more of an oval or square. Help it shape by giving it a pat on top. Then, poke a finger sideways into the middle of each slice, and pull the ends toward you to form the crescents. Cookie rounds flatten as you slice them. I expected a firm cookie, like the Mexican Wedding Cakes I've made. But these are lighter. When I bit in, they crumbled like an abandoned sand castle. OK, edible sand castle. I wondered how they had stayed together until then. The texture difference c...
Post a Comment
Read more