Saturday, February 11, 2012

Valentine Goodie Boxes and Southern Pecan Bars recipe


My husband had such a good time delivering cookies and Christmas that I mentioned I was game to make Valentine goodie boxes. Really, I am game to make sweets most any time of the week. I just love to bake and share sweets with others. I show love through flour and sugar :)

So, this time around, we ordered gable boxes from Shop Sweet Lulu. I love her site. These boxes were perfect for holding about 2 dozen cookies. I added two shipping labels on the boxes- one had the contents of the box and the other a Valentine poem:

Roses are Red
Violets are Blue
Business is Sweet
Especially from You



Here is a close-up of the cookies inside. I had fun trying to pull a variety of cookies to fill the box. You may remember a couple of these from Abby's Milk and Cookies party.

Lemon Sugar Snaps
Cake Mix Cookies (I did strawberry mix and added in coconut)
Andes Mint Cookies
Sugar Cookies with sprinkles (straight from the tube)

The final addition was a new one for me to make- my Mom made these amazing pecan bars at Thanksgiving and I swear I ate my weight in them. So, I scribbled down the recipe on the phone with her and made a batch of these bars. It made about 24 total bars which wasn't nearly enough for 10 goodie boxes. I have a feeling they will be the favorite!


Southern Pecan Bars


Mix together the following:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Pat into greased pan (I used a 9x13 deep cookie sheet) and bake for 10 minutes at 350. Cool.

In mixer, beat the following:
2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 t. vanilla

Set aside. In regular bowl, mix the following:
2 T flour
pinch salt
1 t baking powder
1 cup finely chopped pecans

Add this mixture to the egg mixture and beat until well mixed. Pour on top of crust and bake for 20-25 minutes on 350. Allow to cool before cutting. Enjoy!

Labels: , , ,