I’m going through a walnut dessert recipe phase right now, so when I happened upon this decadent chocolate walnut bar recipe, I knew I had to try it. This gem of a dessert recipe is on allrecipes.com and was created by Joanna. It has a delightfully light and fluffy chocolate topping that pairs brilliantly with a walnut-crunch crust. Because of the crust, this bar is sweet, but not too sweet – rich, but not too rich.
I made very few adjustments to this chocolate walnut dessert recipe, so I’m not going to repeat it here. However, I did make some adjustments, so I’ve included the tips and my photos below. I’m curious to hear if anyone encountered similar issues or had a particularly successful substitution.
Click here for the Chocolate Walnut Dessert Bars Recipe from Joanna.
Chocolate Walnut Dessert Recipe Tips
Tip 1: Do use an 8×8-inch baking tin if you have one.
Using a larger or smaller pan will alter the thickness of the crust. For example, if you use a slightly larger pan, you will not only have a thinner crust, but it will cook much faster than anticipated. Also, you might not love the new ratio of walnut crust to chocolate when it is finished.
Tip 2: The bake time will swing depending on whether you use an electric or gas oven and altitude.
Here, in Los Angeles, the crust was completely baked and browning at the 18-minute mark, so I pulled it out. Knowing it goes in Part 2 of the bake, you’ll want to ensure it doesn’t burn in Part 1. Otherwise, your final crust will be too hard to cut well when you serve it.
Tip 3: You might see small bits of butter floating on top of the blended chocolate mixture.
Some people might want to melt the butter rather than just soften it to get a completely smooth mix, but it doesn’t hurt the final product if the butter doesn’t thoroughly blend. You do want to avoid big chunks, though.
Tip 4: The topping will be very liquidy.
Don’t panic. That’s the way it is supposed to be. It will set in the oven. To avoid spills, pour the liquid onto the baked crust after placing it in the oven rack and then gently push the oven rack into place for the bake. This way, you aren’t carrying a warm tin with sloshing liquid to the oven.
Tip 5: The suggested bake time may take longer.
The suggested time is about 20 minutes. For me, it took about 24 minutes to set the topping fully.
Tip 6: Completely cool the bars before chilling them in the refrigerator.
Consider putting cling film down on the top of the bars to avoid condensation.
Tip 7: I like waiting until just before serving to add the confectioners’ sugar and extra walnuts.
However, if you want it as a grab-and-go dessert or snack, you can put them when you store them in the refrigerator. The sugar might not look as defined, but that’s not the end of the world.
Chocolate Walnut Dessert Bar Photos
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