Sweets

Walnut Squares

December 21, 2019

My Mom is the BEST baker! Every Christmas, she bakes for about a week straight. She makes 12 different kinds of cookies and 4 different types of candy. She assembles these cookies on Christmas plates and gives them to all our family and friends. People literally wait all year for these. It is so hard to pick just one favorite, but if I had to choose, these Walnut Squares would be my #1. They are one of her OG cookie recipes, and to me, they just taste like Christmas. Since I’m currently dairy free, soy free and gluten free (because my Son has food allergies and I’m breastfeeding), this really limits the type of cookies I can have this holiday season. So I decided to make a dairy free, gluten free version of these squares. See recipe below.

Ingredients:

2 cups of butter, softened, divided
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 1/2 cups walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together 1 cup of butter with 1/2 cup of white sugar. Continue mixing and add in the egg. Then add the flour and mix until combined.

Butter a 15 x 10 inch jelly roll pan (see link below to buy the one I have). Use your hand to press the dough into an even layer in the pan. Bake for about 15 minutes until lightly golden.

White the crust is baking, prepare the filling. Place the brown sugar, corn syrup and remaining cup of butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until combined. Bring to a boil and allow to boil gently for 2 minutes. Then stir in the walnuts and pour over the cooked crust. Spread evenly and then place back into the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes until dark golden brown and bubbling.

Once it is finished baking, remove from the oven. Then sprinkle chocolate chips on top of the hot pan. Use a rubber spatula (I like to put mine in the freezer before this step so that all the chocolate chips don’t get too melted) to press the chocolate chips onto the squares. All to cool completely before cutting up the squares.

Dairy & Gluten Free Version

Ingredients:

2 cups of vegan butter, softened, divided (I use this Miyoko’s Butter now for all my baking!)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
2 3/4 cup gluten free all-purpose flour (I like Arrowhead Mills but I’m currently testing out a few different ones)
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 1/2 cups walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chunks (These Enjoy Life chocolate chips are hands down the best dairy free chocolate out there!)