Tuesdays With Dorie: Rewind: Snickery Squares

I don’t own a torch so I decided not to attack the Creme Brulee this week. Instead, I made a rewind from before I joined Tuesdays With Dorie –Snickery Squares. These were originally hosted by Michelle. You can find the full recipe on her site or by purchasing the book, Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

The first step was to make a buttery, shortbread crust. I threw all of the ingredients into my Cuisinart (my second favorite kitchen toy — after my KitchenAid) and it turned out lovely.

I pressed the dough into the bottom of an 8×8 pan and began caramelizing peanuts. The first step is to stir water and sugar over medium high heat. Once the mixture starts to darken, toss in the peanuts.
Once the peanuts have reached an amber color, spread them onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Viola!!
While my peanuts cooled, I poured the caramel over the top of my crust. Wasn’t it pretty?
Finally, I sprinkled the caramelized peanuts over the caramel sauce, and then finished it all off with a thick layer of melted chocolate.
The end result, while appearing ooey-gooey and good, really wasn’t something to write home about. It was almost too rich. Overall, I was disappointed. I finally had an opportunity to complete a rewind recipe and I didn’t find it wonderful. As Mike said, “it was fine.” And it was. But it wasn’t wonderful….

I took the leftovers to school to share with the lunch crew. Jason thought they were good. Ben thought they would have been better without chocolate. He apparently doesn’t like chocolate that well. And Mandy thought they were way to messy to attempt to eat during class. Hopefully, next week’s chocolate, caramel, and peanut cake will be a bigger hit!