bars and cookies.....

[shroomgirl]

recently sold a Tex Mex party with dessert bars/cookies, and to make things interesting I've never made any of them before.....so looking for what you're thoughts are on.....Pool party heat of July, desserts are fingerfood...will be inside house.

Mango bars....totally made it up, I'm thinking ground oat, coconut cookie base with a mango thick compound goo and some crunch on top.....thoughts?

Key Lime bars....hmmmm.....two thoughts come to mind, make a lemon bar with Key lime juice or more of a key lime pie bar which is messier....hmmmm
thoughts?

Lemon bars...self explainatory

Mexican cookies....this one I was thinking of a choc (coco based) sand cookie with cinnamon, chipotle, toasted pinion nuts and possibly some small choc chunks.

assorted other cookies....nothing specific.

[foodpump]

Mango sounds good, I do the same thing with blueberries and with cranberries (Partner ordered two CASES of cranberry preserve last Thanksgiving...)
Nanaimo bars are good, and for my "regs" I like to do a version of Florentines--flaked almonds, cherries with butter, honey and sugar on shortbread base. Pecan pie also goes well in bar form.

[castironchef]

I was once toying with a Mexican brownie recipe I found on the 'net, when I was planning a Mexican-themed outdoor catering gig. I ended up doing a Carolina BBQ, instead, so I never made it.

The key to the recipe was using Ibarra - Mexican chocolate, which is mixed with cinnamon and lecithin. I LOVE the stuff for hot chocolate on cold mornings.

Everyone loves brownies, and the more mellow taste of the Ibarra version would be good and a bit surprising for the guests.

[shroomgirl]

found mango paste.....seemed more viable than mango jam.
Nanami bars...yum.

[AprilB]

Nanaimo bars are a little Canadian eh?

Actually they are great, but are so incredibly rich (this coming from someone that cooks with whole cream and butter constantly) that it's almost impossible to eat more than a half of one at a sitting.

It's going to sound kind of kindergarten, but what about brownies using Mexican chocolate/coffee/cinnamon kinds of spices. Chipotle chocolate? Never had it but I know mixing weird peppers into sweets is a trend right now.

Anyone ever do anything with Mole? Same idea. Lemme see...coffee, Kalua, Mexican wedding sand cookies. Wonder how they'd taste using pine nuts? Papaya seems more South of the border than Mango, but they're so similar. Tequila? (that's for after tearing your hair out about what to make ) I wonder if you could use candied cactus for something? They make all kinds of Jams and jellies using it and different chilis. Hey, what about a Lindzer cookie using Jalapeno jelly instead of raspberry?

Hey, and what about Mexican Poutine? LOL! Or, what about sweet potato or plaintain bars?

What I find interesting is that I've never personally seen a sweet avocado dish. I'm sure they exist, but...

Since I'm kinda plunkd down in the middle of the Western desert and grew up about 100 miles from the Mexican border...Heck, I'll think of something.

OK, now that we're all totally confused, I'll shut up now...

April

[shroomgirl]

The menu listed"
key lime bars, lemon bars, Mexican choc. cookies, mango bars and assorted cookies....

I just found some interesting recipes in Andy Husbands cookbook....going with molasses cookies (he adds cumin, dry and candied ginger), lemon-lime bars, Maida Heatter's cookie book is at my catering kitchen and I forgot to pick it up this afternoon but I'm wagering she has an adaptable choc. sand cookie I can juice up...., mango bars...I'm going for something like a date nut bar only with mango paste and coconut, I really like the pepper jelly idea....

Dessert was not a big ticket item so I'm not going to spend outrageous amounts of time.....bars, drop cookies......
It would have been alot of fun if they had gone with the ice cream sandwiches...they also bypassed the flan, key lime pie, tropical fruit tarts....wanted to go the less exspensive route.

[lentil]

I sell a desset platter to nearly every function. I always keep a few staples in the freezer and add to it on the day of the party. One of the staples is a very rich brownie to which I've added cinnamon. They're the first to go every time. Those and lemon squares. I cut them in 2 inch squares and then on the diagonal, stack a variety of them on a footed platter, add some mint or other garnish and the platter comes back empty every time.

What about Mexican wedding cookies? Fast to make and look pretty, too. I know cannolis are Italian, but maybe filled with some exoticly flavored ricotta-pineapple, mango, or other tropical fruit?

Mini coconut cupcakes?

[Patricia E.]

Yep...we do that at the restaurant for weekend brunches...A new favorite on the dessert line is actually a mistake...but we made it work...
A rich chocolate brownie base, with melted semisweet in the batter, didn't rise high enough to be the bottom element for the new "Redondo Fudge" dinner dessert because we didn't use a collar on the sheet pan...So we melted white chocolate ribbons into sweetened condensed milk and layered THAT over the brownie...Created a marbled effect with dark chocolate chips scattered on the brownie base before smearing on the white chocolate...A little melted bittersweet chocolate squeezed from a bottle for a bit more decoration...
Super for ease of prep in a pinch, ease of handling, and long holding time in hot temperatures...Plus it's a great freezer bar...Sometimes "more simple" is more better !!!

[shroomgirl]

This is what i made:
lemon bars

Key lime pie bars.....graham crust, key lime goo....thin but just like the pie

mango bars.....flour, butter, p.sugar crust with mango paste melted and rum added spread on base topped with brown sugar/butter/flour/coconut

dbl choc brownies with chipotle and cinnamon

ginger cookies

Then the piece de resistance......I ran low on brown sugar so whipped 1/2# butter with approx 1/3-1/2 c brown sugar, 1 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/3 cup treacle (light), eggs, flour, salt, soda, milk choc chips, coconut, toasted pecans.....made them thin, crisp and chewy.....they were the hit. Now to recreate that recipe and write it down.