Saturday 10 December 2022

The First of Seven Baking Posts




 I have seven different treats that will be made for Christmas (time, not necessarily just that day). For those who like to make something or something different, or for those who just enjoy it when someone else does, this and the following six posts will feature recipes that are quite likely familiar to most of you.

Today’s treat is Hello Dollies. They may be called something different where you live. Let me know if they are!



Along the way, I’ll add the money saving tips I used this year because we are ALL watching our pennies ( even though Canada cancelled pennies ) . 

This recipe called for a half a cup of butter, but since you need a second mortgage for things like butter ( and romaine lettuce!), I scraped the last bit of butter off the wrapper from the butter I bought a little while ago on sale and the rest was the cheapest margarine I could find. 

Apologies for the vertical picture. Didn’t realize that you can’t change that on your phone ( or I don’t know how).


If you tilt your head, you can see that the butter/ margarine was melted in the baking dish while the oven preheated. Edited to add: make sure you grease up the sides of the baking dish a bit, too, so it isn't too hard to remove the squares when they are all done.


Next, add 1 1/4 cups of Graham cracker crumbs to the melted butter. I mixed it up a bit and pressed it down a bit with the back of a spoon ( careful - the baking dish is hot!)


Then put your cup of chopped walnuts or pecans on the Graham crumbs. SAVINGS: pecans were not on sale. Walnut pieces were! I chopped them myself.


After that, add 1 cup of chocolate chips. At this time of year you can often get the larger bags for a good price. Trust me when I say the rest of the bag will get used! These are semi- sweet.



Next comes coconut. I didn’t buy the sweetened coconut because lord knows this will be sweet enough!


You need 1 1/3 cups of coconut.


Buy the cheapest sweetened condensed milk you can find. Who will even be able to distinguish a difference?? And if they can, they likely won’t eat your Hello Dollies anyway!


As an aside, anyone remember the pull tab top puddings we had as kids? Now of course, they are plastic tops as the fear of lawsuits from life threatening pudding top cuts are too much for our society and the fact that children couldn’t possibly be expected to learn how to open them safely without direct supervision…( ok, I’ll stop).


Pour your sweetened condensed milk all over the top.


Oooops, I need direct supervision for taking photos!!




Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. This is what it looks like after baking. Let it cool, then cut into smallish squares as they are pretty rich!

And that, my friends is my first dive into the holiday baking on December 10th. I don’t know if I’ll bake something else today or not, but it will be a different day’s post. 

What have you made? Are you familiar with these? Do you have a coconut hater in the family? Can you discern the difference between cheap and luxury sweetened condensed milk?

39 comments:

  1. Just finished making a similar recipe... but different. Chocolate Pecan Graham Cracker bark. I will post a pic on my next blog and how they are made... not too different. You use a 15X18 pan and put aluminum foil (Reynolds wrap) in the pan and down the sides. Then boil brown and white sugar with butter for 4 mins. Take off heat and pour over graham crackers. Bake in oven 10 mins. (until bubbly). Take out and pour chocolate chips over top (while hot). Wait 2 mins for chips to melt and spread evenly over top. Add chopped pecans (or if you're not into nuts - leave off). Wait for it to cool... (it will harden) and then break apart!
    And I've never heard of Hello Dollies, but it sure looks good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I make something very similar but with saltine crackers instead. I’ve never put nuts on top but I’ve seen some people use sprinkles or such.

      Delete
  2. Wow! I bet the cheaper ingredients make no difference to its deliciousness. I'd buy the same. I even sub olive oil for marg when I can because we always have it on hand or sub a spoon of vinegar for an egg..
    Love reading about what you're baking this Christmas. So far I'm managing to keep away from sweets but there's a lot of temptation!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vinegar as a substitute for egg? I’m intrigued. I’ve never heard that!

      Delete
  3. I have not heard of Hello Dollies before but I am not a fan of coconut. I wonder what else I could sprinkle on there?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've never heard of these, but they sound good! And the recipe seems simple enough. I might have to add this to my list of holiday goodies. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You’re welcome! I would also recommend you grease your baking dish up the sides a bit ( she says after she just spent minutes trying to run a knife around the edge!).

      Delete
  5. We, in Minnesota, have a very close recipe to your Hello Dollies. We call them 7 Layer Bars. You just need to add butterscotch chips. And they are very sweet!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ahh yes, butterscotch chips! Another holiday baking staple! Stay tuned for the chow menu noodle cookies ( a.k.a. spider cookies).

      Delete
  6. Oh man, I wish the U. S. would cancel penny use!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, here in Canada, we have lots of coins as our $1.00 and $2.00 currencies are also coins. It was very strange when they were no longer in use!

      Delete
  7. I don't think I've ever had Hello Dollies, but then I am (true confession time) a coconut hater, so I wouldn't have tried them even if available. I intend to bake 3 different treats for Christmas but we'll see if that actually happens.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh do tell! Shortbread? Fudge? Something with miniature marshmallows? Fruit cake ( please don’t).

    ReplyDelete
  9. Your Hello Dollies look delicious and having sharing special treats for the holidays adds to the celebration. With friends, family and neighbors stopping in, I like having sweets to serve. Believe it or not, I do not bake or prepare deserts. Historically, my baking attempts have not produced great results. That said, I do buy. Mango Mouse cake is a must have. Individual fruit tarts, cookies, and fudge are all on-hand as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There are so many wonderful things to buy around the holidays! Why not!

      Delete
  10. they are called 7 layer cookies here... our boxer got to a pan of them on the kitchen counter (way back when) and promptly threw up all over the house. Chocolate not good for dogs!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh dear! No dog here. So, do you also have butterscotch chips as another ingredient?

      Delete
  11. I haven't heard of this recipe before; it's new to me! I don't think you can tell the difference in brands of sweetened condensed milk at all so, for sure, go for the most economical! No coconut haters here but my daughter once dated a fella who would turn green and almost toss his cookies (not the baked kind, if you know what I mean) at the mere sight of shredded coconut or coconut flakes. Aren't our taste buds different? I have my list of Christmas goodies I want to bake but that's as far as I've gotten so far. You're way ahead of me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Our daughter is not fond of coconut either but not to that extreme. I’m ahead of me, too with my baking. When I was working full time it often happened the weekend before Christmas in a marathon session.

      Delete
  12. A friend in WI called for my new address to send me a tin of her Christmas cookies. As much as I would relish them, I don't need them and asked her instead to send the to Ann's kennel. And will jump for joy when they come, a surprise out of the blue. And I haven't heard a word, yet.

    ReplyDelete
  13. That sounds like a crowd pleaser, though I've not heard of them either.
    Shortbread, Dundee cake, Chocolate peppermint sandwich cookies, sugar cookies, gingerbread cake, red velvet cupcakes, and butterscotch confetti so far, with Rice Krispie squares and another batch of shortbread to be made before Christmas. I gave away half of the first batch of shortbread and the Dundee cake and we've eaten the other half of the shortbread along with the butterscotch confetti. :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. I’m going to look up Dundee cake. That’s one I haven’t heard of.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I have the same recipe but it's called Magic bars. Try it with macadamia nuts sometime, amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Enjoyed your post, Jenn, and yummy looking squares. I make Turtle Squares, with a shortbread-like base, pressed firmly into the pan, then chopped nuts (your choice) spread on top, a boiled brown sugar and butter sauce poured over, then bake, and sprinkle the choc chips over as soon as it comes out of the oven, so they melt a bit, but still hold their shape. I'll have to try your recipe. Love your humorous touches, as it gives a glimpse of You.

    ReplyDelete
  17. You can do loads of things with editing of photos on phones. On android click the thing that looks like a pen under the photo and then start editing and to spin the photo round click on a thing that looks like an circle with an arrow. Iphones will have similar edits.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Oh my that looks rich and desirable. Can't make anything like that this year OH just been given news he's type 2 diabetes (at last taking seriously some advice that his rubbishy food preferences are not doing him any favours. I've tried for years to modify his sugar intake and now he's like a quit smoker....lecturing me about carbohydrates in food!)🤔

    ReplyDelete
  19. I know these well! My mom used to make them at Christmas or other special occasions and they are SUPER delicious! I have to start baking - and soon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, they've been around for a long time. I remember them at holiday gatherings when I was a kid.

      Delete
  20. Lovely! Alas I can't eat coconut.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I think the sweets are the best part of the holidays! I have very fond memories of treats my mom and many other adults I knew made this time of year.

    ReplyDelete
  22. This looks delicious; I love anything with coconut!

    You had me giggling about the pudding cups. I do remember the ones with the metal tops; hey, iff you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough. (of course not in 2022 though!)

    ReplyDelete