mars bar – fabrefaction

In England we tend to leave Santa a sherry or a brandy and a mince pie. I’ve heard that in some Scandinavian countries he gets ‘treated’ to porridge…lucky guy. Well this post is a nod to our North American friends from whom Santa receives milk and cookies. I decided to jazz up the traditional a little, after all, you hard working parents deserve a little more than a glass of milk on the 24th.

I should start off by saying that the recipe leans more towards a sort of whoopie pie consistency than a cookie, a whookie if you’d like. Perhaps if you wanted to commit to whoopie pies you could sandwich them with the salted caramel buttercream I made a couple of months back.

Without further ado here’s an easy Bailey’s (Irish cream) cocktail (which is more like a pudding really) and triple chocolate Mars Bar whookies.

You will need

260g/9 oz Plain flour

150g/5.5 oz Soft dark brown sugar

100g/3.5 oz Unsalted butted

100g/3.5 oz White chocolate chips

40g/1.5 oz Cocoa powder

50-100g/2-3.5 oz Dark chocolate

3 Eggs

3 Mars Bars

1.5 tsp Baking powder

1 tbsp Full fat milk

For the Bailey’s cocktail

Bailey’s Irish Cream

Chocolate milk

50g/2 oz Dark chocolate

Rum/Brandy if you have some (I went without)

A sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg

Step one

Chop the Mars bars into small chunks.

If you, like me, can’t control yourself around chocolate, you might want to add an extra one to the mix. There’s just something about chopped up Mars bar that is excessively moorish.

Step two

Combine all the dry ingredients (minus the chocolate) in a large bowl.

Step three

Make a well in the middle and add the eggs, milk and butter. Stir to combine. Ideally your butter will be room temperature, otherwise you’ll be mixing for a while.

Step four

Add the white chocolate and Mars bar and mix again until the chips and chunks are evenly distributed.

Step five

Drop dessert spoonfuls of the mixture onto baking trays lined with greaseproof paper. They won’t spread too much so flatten down a bit.

Step six

Bake on 180C/gas mark 4/350 F for about 15-20 minutes.

Step seven

Leave to cool and then melt the dark chocolate and drizzle over the top.

Step eight

Melt the remaining dark chocolate in a small bowl and dip your glasses in to coat the rim.

Step nine

Add a shot of Baileys (and a dash of rum if you have it). A sprinkle of both cinnamon and nutmeg. Top up with approx 150ml of chocolate milk.

As you can probably tell, I didn’t exactly measure this one out, so go with your taste as a measure.

Step ten

Leave out for Santa.

If your country doesn’t stock Mars bars then I am truly sorry…for these are delicious, and you will probably never experience the joy of tasting one. If you live in the UK then get down to your local newsagent, there’s no time to be wasting.

A little disclaimer before I begin: the combination of the fact that a) I was making these for a charity bake sale and b) I couldn’t find a regular 4 pack of Mars bars means that the recipe below is rather substantial. Divide in half or into thirds if you are baking these for home and don’t fancy obesity as a life choice (you won’t be able to stop eating them).

You will need

6 Mars bars

3 tbsp Golden syrup

250g Unsalted butter

9 cups of Rice crispies

(this is basically a whole box – I used the cheap Tesco knock off kind, no need to break the bank)

400g Milk chocolate

An appointment with your GP to test your blood sugar levels.

Makes 24 (at least)

Step one

Chop up the Mars bar.

Oh go on then, there’s at least one piece going spare…

Step two

Put Mars, butter, and golden syrup in a pan on a medium heat to melt.

Those fluffy bits in the middle of the Mars bars take what feels like forever to melt, but they do get there, just keep stirring, and maybe stick a bit of Dragon’s Den on or something.

Step three

Put most of the rice puffs in a big bowl. I always hold a few cups back to add later, as this isn’t an exact Science so you won’t always need them all.

Pour the melted mixture over the puffs. You probably deserve another little taste at this point.

Step four

Stir together until rice crispies are evenly covered. It’s up to you whether to add the rest that you kept to one side or not, I added the whole lot to mine.

Step five

Line a couple of tray bake tins with foil and distribute your mixture accordingly. Again, it’s up to you how deep/shallow you want your crispy cakes to be, so choose your tins with that in mind.

Step six

Squash the mixture down with the back of a spoon until it fills the various crevices (or with your hands when you get tired of doing it the PC way – wash them first though, there are some standards to be upheld).

Make sure the mixture is squashed down firmly or it will all fall apart later. Literally.

Step seven

Melt the milk chocolate and cover the top of the crispy cakes evenly. Again this will sort of depend on what tin you use and what consistency you want as to how much you need, as you want enough to cover it all. If you chose a shallower tin then you’ll need a bit more chocolate and so on.

Step eight

Cut the crispy cakes into slices now before it all sets up, it’s just all a bit easier that way.

Step nine

Devour.

Happy Monday all.

Tag: mars bar

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