Salty Nut Bars

We're invited out tonight for pizza made in an outdoor wood-fired oven. Mmm-mm, should be good! I wanted something to take for a hostess gift so decided to make my husband's favorite goodie. Or I should say his favorite goodie that I make. At the top of the list of his sweet treats are the unbelievably scrumptious "Mounds Bars" his daughter makes for him. They are a gazillion times better than Mounds candy bars and even I, who is not a candy eating person, can't leave them alone. But I digress. (It happens a lot.) Where was I?

Oh, yes. It's definitely hiking season in these here parts, and these Salty Nut Bars are the perfect (I mean THE PERFECT) snack to take along on a hike. Or as my husband would suggest, to take on the walk out to feed the chickens, or to get some kindling from the wood shed, or up to his office. I got the recipe out of a little book called North Country Cabin Cooking, published in 1983. It contains recipes from real people (as opposed to fake people) who make the recipes to take to their family cabins with them or make them while at the cabin because they're easy, fast and don't require any fancy ingredients and usually are large enough in quantity to feed a happy crowd. Big batches of sandwich fillings, and stews, and salads, and casseroles . . . you get the idea. Anyway, I just love the book and have gotten many good recipes from it.

So, back to the Salty Nut Bars. The only ingredients you might not have on hand: the salted peanuts (not dry roasted) and butterscotch chips which you could pick up most anywhere.

SALTY NUT BARS

In a mixing bowl, mix 1-1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup brown sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. With a pastry blender, cut in 1/2 cup butter.

Pat this mixture evenly into a buttered 9 x 13" pan and bake for 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Over the baked layer, sprinkle one 12 oz. can of salted peanuts. (Make sure you get the naked ones, not the ones with the brown skins.)

In a medium saucepan, melt one 12 oz. package butterscotch chips, 1/2 cup light corn syrup, 2 tablespoons butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Use a low heat and stir constantly.

When melted and well combined, pour over the peanuts.

Then bake for 10 more minutes at 350 degrees. Cut into squares while still a little warm.

Store in a covered container. Hidden.