Salty-Sweet Pine Nut Bars
Happy Halloween!!
This is one of my favorite holidays because everyone gets to dress up and pretend to be someone or something else for the night, and who doesn’t like the idea of getting free candy. Nowadays it isn’t just about me though, I love how hard my kids think about what they want to be and how excited they get when they put on their costumes. It just makes my day. This year Abbigail decided to be Rapunzel or Tangled as she knows it, and Ryan decided to be a black Ninja. I will try and post a picture of them in my next post. Ok well enough about Halloween and on to the good stuff.
I was immediately intrigued when I saw this recipe in Cooking Light, first because my sons favorite nuts are pine nuts and two because I love sweet and salty combinations. They came together really fast and turned out delicious.
Salty Sweet Pine Nut Bars
Nutritional Information: 24 servings
Calories: 99 · Fat: 3.2g · Cholesterol: 18mg · Sodium: 87mg · Carbohydrates: 16.2g · Fiber: 0.2g · Protein: 1.7g · WW+: 3pts
Ingredients:
2.7 ounces cake flour (about 2/3 cup)
½ cup powdered sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
5/8 t. salt
3 ounces low-fat cream cheese
2 T. butter
Cooking spray
¾ cup maple syrup
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
½ cup pine nuts
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife. Combine flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch, and 1/8 teaspoon salt, stirring with a whisk. Cut in cream cheese and butter with a pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Transfer mixture to a 9-inch square metal baking pan coated with cooking spray; pat mixture evenly into pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 18 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees
- Combine maple syrup and next 3 ingredients through eggs, stirring with a whisk. Stir in pine nuts. Pour syrup mixture over crust, spreading nuts evenly over top. Sprinkle with remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until set. Cool. Cut into 25 squares and enjoy.
Adapted slightly from Cooking Light]]>
