With their buttery cookie base and caramelized pecan pie-type filling, these bars are nothing short of addictive. (In fact, looking for more excuses to enjoy them, we created the variations below.) Chopping some of the nuts and leaving others whole creates a pretty mosaic effect.
Yes, there is effort involved, and time. If you read through a recipe before attempting it, you'll know that. I decided to toast my hazelnuts at 325 over 350, and pulled them out at about 12 minutes. They were smelling fragrant, and had turned a nice light golden color. Trust your instinct/nose/skill/whatever on this. Burnt nuts aren't worth pursuing! I followed as described when making the top layer - using 1 C roughly chopped filberts and 1 C whole. I used a cleaver to cut the triangles once it had cooled and firmed up a bit. Just like brownies, you don't want to cut it too soon or you likely won't be happy with the results. This recipe has great flavor. I had dried cherries to try the "fruity" variation, but stuck to the original recipe, and am glad I did. Though I'm sure it's wonderful with cherries, also.
I gave these as Christmas gifts and some people said they were the most delicious things ever had. It is a fair amount of work, and like the other reviewer frustrating to cut. Do not leave in pan overnight to cool as I did, because it was impossible to get out. I'd butter both under the tinfoil and over it. Also, I'd chop the hazelnuts for top layer smaller so they don't fall off as much when you cut. I personally wouldn't add chocolate as i think it would distract from the flavor. I used a very good (Grade B) maple syrup and roasted the Hazelnuts myself.
This was a fair amount of work. When we tried to cut this and it was impossible to get it to not break into random crumbs and chunks. We did add chocolate chips which elevated the flavor. Flavor was a 4, but for the amount of work involved in it's prep and the inability to cut into individual portions dropped it to a 2.
