Bar Cookie

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 2 hr

"Here in Seattle, there's a place called 60th Street Desserts that makes fabulous lemon shortbread bars; the cookies are both sweet and tart," says Lucille van der Hagen of Seattle, WA. "Could you ask Joan Williams, the owner, for the recipe?" A crumb topping makes a nice addition to the classic bar cookie. Prepare the filling while the crust is baking; if the crust cools before the lemon filling is poured over it, the filling might seep beneath the crust.

Mexican chocolate, usually found in tablet form, contains cinnamon, sugar, and ground almonds — as do these fudgy squares.

Serve with a watermelon, kiwi fruit and grape salad. You can save any leftovers for an afternoon snack with coffee.

A favorite flavor combination in a fudgy brownie.

In 1897, the Sears catalog offered its customers a treat called brownies. No one seems to remember whether they were bar cookies or a chocolate confection named after a popular cartoon character. No matter; by the 1900s the brownie as we now know it had arrived. The recipe for these dense, moist brownies is from Heather Ho, pastry chef at Boulevard in San Francisco.

These brownies can be fudgy or cakey depending on how long you bake them.

You might be tempted to bake 2 sheets of brownies at a time in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Don't give in to this urge—they must go in the middle of the oven to cook through and brown evenly.

Two toppings — one mint, one chocolate — accent these luscious treats. Serve them with your choice of fresh fruit. Wrap the brownies in foil, and pack the fruit in an airtight plastic container.

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr

The lusciously sticky caramel-pecan top layer in this brownie was inspired by the chewy chocolate candies called "turtles."

Here's an excellent new use for maple syrup. These bar cookies are very sweet and deliciously sticky.

An inspired cherry-chocolate dessert.

Judith W. Harris of San Mateo, California, writes: "I recently made these chocolate almond bars for a tea. They were all consumed with requests for more." Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 2 hr