There's a secret love language that thoughtful Midwesterners possess. Whenever life turns a major page — a baby is born, a loved one is sick, a new house is set to become a home or a life is lost — we pull out a special 9-by-13.
The pros have a special cover and warming carriers for their pans, and some are engraved and colorful. But all are known in the kitchen as the sweets-only pan used for making bars.
Those not from here might not pick up on the subtle, tonal differences of the way we say "bars." But a Midwesterner knows that when the tenor is deep and the inflection lands on the "b," that we're talking about a place where grown folks drink. But a softer-said "bars" — where the "a" bleeds into "ah" and the "r" is quick and sharp, but the "s" lingers like we do on a doorstep when we drop them off — is what we bake when we want to show someone that we care.
The detail of who created the original bar has been lost to time, but bars evolved from a cookie baked free-form on a tray. It moved from the tray to a pan and was eventually christened the cookie bar. (This also answers the perennial question of whether a bar is a cookie, which surfaced when the winner of the 2020 Star Tribune Holiday Cookie Contest was announced.) Bars usually possess a biscuity, cookie-like base with an endless variety of mix-ins, toppings or layers.
The bar rose to prominence in the 1940s and 1950s, when products began adding recipes to their packaging. Bakers, often women, would clip these recipes from boxes and inside magazines to fold into recipe boxes or swap with friends. Ground zero for these recipe creations was Minneapolis, where hometown favorites Betty Crocker and Pillsbury held landmark baking contests.
One of the first Betty Crocker bar recipes could be found in a 1948 recipe pamphlet, "Betty Crocker Picture Cooky Book," which included Date-and-Nut Squares, Toffee-Nut Bars, Hazelnut Bars and more. In 1955, Betty Crocker started selling a mix for home cooks to easily whip together their own Date Squares.
The popularity of bars rose steadily through the decades, and in 1972, Quick 'n Chewy Crescent Bars were the first bars to bring home the top prize in the prestigious Pillsbury Bake-Off. Quick Crescent Pecan Pie Bars, Chocolate Cherry Bars and Sour Cream Apple Squares all won in subsequent years, cementing the bar's legacy in lunchboxes, on kitchen tables and tucked into Christmas tins.
The Twin Cities can be considered the bar epicenter given that we're home to General Mills (owner of both Betty Crocker and Pillsbury) and Nordic Ware, which sells special bar-ready 9-by-13 pans. Even local restaurants recognize the importance of bars, serving them as desserts on both fancy and casual menus. Ann Kim's award-winning Young Joni offers a Church Basement Bars selection. In St. Paul, Brunson's Pub is a bar that put bars on the menu — a blueberry custard bar with an almost savory basil shortbread crust. In diners like Hen House in downtown Minneapolis or Relish in Northeast, there are Special K bars prewrapped on the counter for a quick treat to go.
But we all know that the best bars come from the kitchens of home cooks, where we can labor over the recipes with intention. Creaming butter, sifting in flour and considering the measured level of mix-ins is an opportunity to slow down a bit and add that time-tested and irreplaceable ingredient: love.
We send that love out in a covered pan to be savored — an easy and caring way to share a sweet bite of our Midwestern abundance with someone in need of a little comfort.
Just remember to write your name on a bit of masking tape, so your pan eventually makes its way home.
Chocolate Cherry Bars
Serves 48.
Francis Jerzak of Porter, Minn., brought home the Pillsbury Bake-Off grand prize in 1974 with these caky bars that get a little flavor boost from the cherries. They're pretty on a tray and a fun dose of nostalgia. Adapted from Pillsbury.com.
For the bars:
• 1 (18.25-oz.) pkg. devil's food cake mix, such as Pillsbury's Moist Supreme
• 1 (21-oz.) can cherry pie filling
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 3 eggs, beaten
For the frosting:
• 1 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. milk
• 5 tbsp. butter
• 1 c. semisweet chocolate chips
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-by-13 pan (or a 15- by 10-inch jelly roll pan).
In large bowl, combine the cake mix, cherry pie filling, almond extract and eggs; stir until well blended. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 25 to 35 minutes. (For a jelly roll pan, 20 to 30 minutes.)
In small saucepan, combine sugar, milk and butter. Bring to a boil. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in chocolate chips until smooth. Pour and spread over warm bars. Cool 1 1/4 hours or until completely cooled. Cut into bars and serve.
Gluten-Free Raspberry Rhubarb Crumble Bars
Makes 14 bars.
Amanda Paa's stunning cooking blog Heartbeet Kitchen is always an excellent resource for recipe inspiration, and her gluten-free baked goods are always crowd-pleasers (even for the gluten-full). The original recipe calls for an 8-by-8 pan, but is easily doubled. Adapted from Heartbeet Kitchen.
For the compote:
• 2 c. diced rhubarb (frozen or fresh)
• 1 1/4 c. raspberries (frozen or fresh)
• 1/3 c. plus 1 tbsp. raw cane sugar
• Zest and juice of one lemon
• 3 tsp. cornstarch or tapioca starch
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
For the base:
• 3/4 c. gluten-free old-fashioned oats
• 1 c. oat flour
• 1/2 c. lightly packed brown sugar
• 1 tbsp. tapioca starch (or cornstarch)
• 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 c. melted organic vegetable shortening like Nutiva coconut/palm oil spread, or butter
• 1 1/4 c. raspberry rhubarb compote
Directions
For the compote: Combine rhubarb, raspberries, sugar, lemon zest and juice in a heavy-bottom saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a hard boil, stirring, and let simmer for 10 minutes. Add cornstarch or tapioca starch, and stir to dissolve. Let cook for 3 minutes longer, until mixture has thickened slightly. Stir in vanilla. Remove from heat and let cool for 15 minutes.
For the bars: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together oats, oat flour, brown sugar, tapioca starch, baking powder, sea salt and cinnamon. Stir in butter and mix well so no white streaks remain.
Using the back of a spatula or spoon, firmly press a heaping cup of oat mixture into a parchment-lined 8- by 8-inch baking pan. I find a spoon works really well to press it together and get it smooth.
Prick crust with fork a few times. Bake for 12 minutes, until crust is fragrant and lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
Top with 1 1/4 cups of rhubarb compote, then sprinkle the top with the rest of the oat mixture. Bake for additional 25 to 30 minutes, or until topping is browned. Set aside to cool, then refrigerate. Cutting them after they're refrigerated gives them the best texture — firm and sturdy.
Brunson's Lemon Basil Blueberry Bars
Makes 36 bars.
One of the delights out of the kitchen at St. Paul's Brunson's Pub is finding the unexpected upscale twists that chef Torrance Beavers uses with standard pub fare, such as these bars. If you want to mimic the Brunson's experience, serve it with your favorite blueberry sauce or sprinkle with fresh, sugared blueberries. Adapted from Brunson's Pub.
For the crust:
• 2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 c. (2 sticks) salted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 bunch fresh basil
For the custard filling:
• 2 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. flour
• 6 eggs
• 6 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 c. blueberries
• Whipped cream, for optional garnish
• Basil leaves, for optional garnish
Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
To prepare the base: Finely chop basil. Place butter and basil in the base of a stand mixer and mix on medium speed until mixture is smooth and green. Gradually add the flour and sugar and mix on medium speed until just combined.
Press into a greased 9- by 13-inch pan, and then perforate with a fork.
Bake for 15 minutes and remove from the oven. Cool on the counter as you mix the filling.
To prepare the filling: Wipe out the bowl of the stand mixer. Add flour and sugar and mix on low speed briefly to combine.
Add eggs and then lemon juice. Mix until just combined. Scrape down edges and fold in the blueberries.
Spread filling over crust. Bake until the middle is set and no longer jiggles, about 45 minutes (depending on the material and thickness of your baking pan). Chill in the refrigerator for 4 hours to overnight. Top with a dollop of whipped cream and a basil leaf before serving, if desired.
