Nut Cracker Bars

A nutcracker sweet, if you will.

Join me in my continuing efforts to work my way to the back of my baking cupboards, weeding out bits and bobs that need using up. Step up several bags of nuts well beyond their sell by date but mercifully not rancid, and one and a half packets of crackers that outlived the Christmas cheeseboard. Tins of condensed milk and bars of chocolate, regardless of use by / sell by dates, will always be in season in my kitchen.

INGREDIENTS:

Base:

150g plain salty crackers

30g soft brown sugar

90g smooth peanut butter

40g melted salted butter

Topping:

50g dried cranberries

180g walnuts, pecans and almonds

60g salty crackers

100g 70% dark chocolate

397g sweetened condensed milk (one tin)

HOW TO:

• Line an 8 inch / 20cm cake tin.

• Add the base ingredients to a food processor, blitz to a damp sandy texture and press into the tin.

• Scatter 180g of nuts over the base. You can use whatever nuts you prefer in whatever proportions you like, I used walnuts, pecans and flaked almonds in roughly equal quantities. Using just salted peanuts would be a delicious, cheap alternative and give you a really good sweet / salty hit.

• Dot the cranberries over the nuts so they’re evenly distributed. You can use different dried fruit if you prefer, raisins or chopped, dried apricots are a good alternative.

• Roughly crush 60g of crackers with your hands over the nuts and fruit.

• Break up the dark chocolate and stud the shards evenly across the base into the other toppings.

• Pour an entire can of sweetened condensed milk over the top, except of course the final scrapings that you should dribble directly into your mouth.

• Bake in the middle of the oven at 160ºc for 40 minutes in which time the condensed milk will melt and nestle (I didn’t even plan that) down into the topping as the surface slowly bubbles and caramelises.

• Leave to cool completely to at least room temperature before cutting into squares and eating.

• These last well for 2 weeks in an air tight tub.

Tat x