Tuesday, February 24, 2009

TWD - Caramel Crunch Bars

I had such high hopes for these bars. I mean come on, Caramel Crunch Bars: toffee, chocolate and a sablé crust all rolled into one cookie. How can it not be good? Well, apparently, I must have done something wrong because I thought these were... meh. The toffee was great because I made David Lebovitz' Buttercrunch Toffee minus the chocolate. So good! But the cookie part of these turned out greasy. I must have overmixed the dough or worked it too much while trying to "cajole" it into the pan. And the chocolate I sprinkled on top? It wouldn't melt! It just would not melt. I spread it as best I could, pressed the toffee bits on top and hoped for the best. The key word here is "hoped". The best? That didn't happen.

They don't taste bad, per se, they're just not what I had expected. But, as I said, it's probably me. I have the attention span of a coconut these days. That, combined with the fact that I waited until Monday to make the bars, well, let's just say that success was not written in the stars. Don't let my failure deter you though, please check out Whitney's blog, What's left on the table? for the recipe. And now I'm off to sulk in my corner see if the rest of the Tuesdays with Dorie gang fared better with this recipe than I did.
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39 comments:

Katie said...

Well for not having a total success they still look really good. So at least you can photograph a so so dessert so that it still looks really appetizing!

doughmesstic said...

I think they look great! I'd almost want to eat the rest of mine. Almost.

Jules Someone said...

Sorry they didn't turn out the way you thought they would. They do look yummy.

Anonymous said...

Awww! These actually didn't wow me much either, but were fantastic with ice cream! Maybe you should try ice cream? Everything is better with ice cream!

Sara said...

I was actually contemplating making these over the weekend, I think I'll pick a different recipe from the book. Yours still look really good though :)

chocolatechic said...

Meh? huh?


I'm so sorry.

I totally loved these.

I ended up taking a piece of waxed paper and pressed my toffee bits in with that, so my hands didn't get all dirty...

Anonymous said...

Ah hah.. coconut. You're funny.

TeaLady said...

They may not have turned out, but they look delicious.

vibi said...

Je suis déçue que tu ne les aies pas tellement aimé... chez moi, elles ont été un franc succès, mais encore... sur la plupart des blogs, elles sont considérées comme le "top du top".

Enfin... ça a au moins donné des résultats positifs... t'as fait du très bon toffee!!! Et... franchement, y'a-t-il quelque chose de meilleur que du toffee... Don't think so!

Amy of Sing For Your Supper said...

That's too bad! So sorry they didn't turn out for you! I looooooved them! They still look really, really good, though!

-Amy
www.singforyoursupperblog.com

Anonymous said...

These looks great, they were also not my favorite recipe. But your homemade toffee looks amazing. Yum!

Anonymous said...

Thats depressing... I hate it when things just don't quite work out like you would want... they do look good though...

Cookie baker Lynn said...

It's so disappointing when things don't turn out well. Especially if a lot of extra effort went into them.

Joy said...

I had the same thing! The greasy base, and then the chocolate that wouldn't spread. The base smelled amazing in the oven, I was convinced these would be a new favorite. Maybe another time :)

Anonymous said...

They did not wow me either. However, I turned them into Tyler Florence's Semi-Freddo and they were AWESOME. So put some ice cream or in my case some cream with them and they turn out lovely.

Anonymous said...

Too bad they weren't up your alley. They look great though! I love that you made your own toffee.

Unknown said...

I also had that problem with the chocolate...I think with some Lebovitz toffee on top, they can't have been all that bad! They look delicious...

Julie said...

Quel dommage! Je t'encourage à leur donner une autre chance, peut-être que ça ira mieux, sans compter que tu t'es donné la peine de faire une recette maison de toffee!!!
Mais quand même, mon p'tit doigt me dit que que tes enfants n'y ont vus que du feu, non?!

grace said...

i dunno, i hear that coconuts can remain pretty focused... :)
sorry they weren't as good as they had the potential to be!

Anonymous said...

They look pretty good, despite the problems. I'm sorry your base was greasy, though -- mine turned out great, even though I couldn't quite tell when to take them out of the oven.

Welcome to our crazy blessed life said...

Mine were a little greasy too. I figured I overmixed them as well. Sorry they didn't turn out. There is always next week! :)

Anonymous said...

Well, they don't look bad...so hope you can salvage something with that...I melted my chocolate before I put it on top and then sprinkled on the bits...the guys had no problem downing them one after another. It's always interesting to hear what everyone found challenging, etc. Thanks for sharing.

Isabelle Lambert said...

j'ai de la misère à t'imaginer bouder ! lol ! toi qui semble toujours de bonne humeur !!
c'est dommage que tu n'ais pas apprécié plus que ça..chez nous...ça a été dévoré !

Flourchild said...

Sorry you didn't like them much. I thought they rocked with ice cream. Hopefully the next recipe will be better for ya!

farah said...

I'm sorry these didn't live up to your expectations. They look fantastic though! Your toffee topping looks really, really good. Yum!

Anonymous said...

on my first taste these didn't hit me as "wow" but i really ended up liking them in the end. yours look really good though and "meh" is better than thinking they were totally awful, right? :)

Sharon said...

Sorry you didn't like them. The toffee looks really good.

Nancy/n.o.e said...

Whoah, I'd stop right at the homemade toffee. Scrape it right back off those stubborn bars and enjoy it! I had a few issues with my bars, too, but they were different issues. Weird. We liked them though.
Nancy

Cathy said...

Well, shoot. I hate it when I get a meh, and I almost always go pout in a corner when I feel like I did or didn't do something that resulted in the meh. But honestly, your toffee sounds incredible in and of itself, so you hardly needed those crunch bars anyway! I cannot WAIT for your cake next week!

Di said...

I'm going to have to check out that toffee recipe. I thought about making my own, but went in a different direction when I couldn't decide on a recipe. I'd much rather go with something recommended by someone than just take a chance on a new recipe.

Sorry these didn't work out quite the way you hoped they would!

Unknown said...

Don't feel bad, I didn't love these either. I was beginning to think I was the only one! Your bars do look great.

Anonymous said...

Hey, these look fantastic, trust me! Sorry they didn't turn out, but the end results look great, that's the important part! You made them look REALLY delish!

Stephanie said...

I'm sorry you had a tough time with these. They look great though!

margot said...

That homemade toffee looks wonderful. Sorry it wasn't a hit for you.

Banjo said...

Oh no!! Too bad they weren't your fav...but with sooo many recipes in Dorie's book it is bound to happen! :)

Engineer Baker said...

What exactly is the attention span of a coconut? :) Sorry you weren't a huge fan, but they look fantastic!

Shari said...

These look yummy. It's disappointing when they don't taste the way you expected. But the homemade toffee must have made up for it!!

ChichaJo said...

Even though they didn't turn out the way you were expecting they do look fantastic! :)

Molly Loves Paris said...

I had a similar problem with the chocolate cookies by Pierre Herme. The first half, which was totally unsliceable, was eaten raw by my kids. As I pondered the problem, I reread the recipe and saw that I didn't use enough butter. So then two weeks later I took the other roll and made a tart crust out of it, and that went great. My problem is trying to cook while keeping a wild two year old under control.