Not Really Tuesday: Tony's Slacker Almond Bars

I was super excited today because I got a new recipe book, however I quickly learned that it's not a good idea to try and bake when you're suffering from a lack of sleep. In the past two days, I'm thinking I've averaged a total of 9 hours of sleep and I'm one of those people that needs a billion hours per night just to function like a normal human being, so is it really any wonder that I burnt my bars?

No, I didn't think so.

For awhile, I was super snobby about my baking, deciding that I wouldn't bake anything unless I could make the whole thing from scratch, but that just got old after awhile and now I'm completely okay with using recipes that call for the use of boxed cake mix. Of course, the first one I attempt, it didn't turn out so pretty.

Tony's Slacker Almond Bars

Ingredients

Base: 

1 package of Betty Crocker SuperMoist white cake mix

1/2 cup of butter or margarine, softened

2 eggs

Almond Topping:

2/3 cups of sliced almonds

2/3 cups of butter or margarine

1/2 cup of sugar

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon of milk

Directions

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.) Beat cake mix (dry), butter and eggs with electric mixer on low until dough forms or mix with a spoon. 

3.) Press into the bottom of an ungreased jelly roll pan (15 1/2 x 10 1/2).

4.) Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and crust begins to pull away from the sides.

5.) In a 2-quart sauce pan, add almonds, butter, sugar, flour and milk.

6.) Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved and mixture thickens slightly.

7.) Once the base is finished, pour almond topping over it immediately and set oven control to "Broil".

8.) Broil for 2-3 minutes or until topping is golden brown and bubbly.

Notes: The book indicates that you have to watch the almond topping carefully as it burns easily, but apparently I wasn't paying attention. Also, I had trouble with my hands sticking to the batter when I was pressing it into the pan, so I sprayed my hands with cooking spray. After I had the batter basically spread, I used wax paper on top of the crust to roll it with a rolling pin and make it even.

 

  

  

  

  

 

As I said, I burnt them :( Not the actual base, but the topping. Luckily, they still taste yummy despite how ugly they are.