If you follow me at all on social media you know that the past few months have been a bit sluggish on the recipe development and blogging front. Every time I thought about putting a recipe together or editing photos, it felt like hitting my head against a wall of immovable unmotivation. After sitting idly by for a while I decided to take action and get my butt moving.
I don't know if you can relate to this, but I found that part of what was holding me back was creating in a bubble. I love being inspired by others, and developing post after post solo ends up wearing on my creativity and leaves my brain empty. So to my email I went, reaching out to people that I'm inspired by to see if they would be down to collaborate on some projects. (Hint hint that means there are more collaborations to come). Ana, from Rosemary and Rye, was one of those people.
She and I first crossed paths when she attended our Calligraphy & Culinary Workshop back in February. We were both a part of Denver Blogger's Club, and continued to see each other at events around town. Girl runs a tight ship! She has a full time job on lockdown and still manages to post to her blog multiple times a week. This is something I still haven't figured out how to do. We got together over a cup of coffee and decided to bring you nostalgic dessert recipes that are ready for any 4th of July celebration. MERICA!
The first dessert from our collaboration is a twist on a Nichols family recipe that I found in one of Chad's Grandmother's old recipe boxes. A couple of years ago we came across 11 entire boxes, FULL her recipes - frayed yellowed index cards scrawled in her own hand, and many adorned with newspaper and magazine cut-outs. We gave it a modern twist with a splash of bourbon, but you could also add candied orange or chocolate chips. Two more recipes coming to the blog soon!
Bourbon Pecan Bars
You can make these as boozy or mild as you want, not to mention this super easy crust is going to make its way into many other bar recipes.
Ingredients
2c flour
1c brown sugar
1/2c melted butter
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1c butter
3/4c brown sugar
1/4c bourbon
1t vanilla
pinch of salt
1c pecan halves, toasted
For the crust
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix 2c flour, 1c brown sugar, and 1/2c melted butter together in a bowl. The mixture should be crumbly but hold loosely together when pressed.
- Pour mixture into 9x13 baking dish and press into bottom of the pan.
For the Filling
- Combine 1c butter, 3/4c brown sugar, 1/4c bourbon in a medium saucepan over medium heat until bubbly.
- Off heat, stir in salt, vanilla and toasted pecan halves.
- Pour filling into pan with crust and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let cool 1 hour before serving.
