Butterscotch Bars - Testing

Adapted from from Amadea Morningstar's "The Ayurvedic Cookbook", pg 239

1 - I'm trying this as closely to the original recipe as possible, given I've already changed things. But I wonder two things: 

• if I melt the butter directly in the baking pan as the oven is heating up to grease the pan, then pour out the rest to mix in the with the sugar, would that work?
• Would it be better to boil the sugar and butter together for 7 minutes like I do for the pecan squares at work? This would make it not viable to melt the butter in the oven since I'd have to cook the sugar and butter mixture on the stovetop. 
• Made it and thought it was fine. There's something missing. Ronnie wanted vanilla ice cream and Ben wanted creme anglaise. In talking it through I think maybe a thin layer of some sort of icing might do the trick, and/or a cookie base. To my taste they're just a bit flat.

2 - Trying to adapt a pecan bar caramel to this. So far, the recommended time to boil the syrup is too long and the sugar starts to burn. I was going for 7 minutes but 5 is more likely. The trick is paying attention to the smell! A rich, brown sugar aroma is good, but it turns acrid and that is too much.

Crust

1¾ cups all purpose flour

¼ cup sugar

¾ cup cold butter

1 egg yolk

1. Throw everything in a food processor and blend until a dough is formed.
2. Line the baking dish with parchment paper and press the dough onto the bottom with your fingers.
3. Bake at 350F for 25 minutes.

1/2 Cups Butter

1/3 cup golden treacle

2/3 Cups Brown Sugar

2 Tablespoons Cream

1⁄3 cup (5oz/76gr) + 1Tbsp (1⁄2 oz/14gr) butter

1 cup (7oz/200gr) brown sugar

1⁄2 cup whole wheat flour (try barley flour, decrease butter by 1 Tbsp)

1 tsp baking powder

1⁄4 tsp salt

1⁄2 cup (67gr) walnut pieces (or roasted hazelnuts?)

1⁄4 cup sunflower seeds (optional)

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 1⁄4 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Melt the butter and take off the heat. Stir in the brown sugar.
3. NOTE I tried cooking the sugar and butter together for about 5 minutes, instead of the above instructions. It made the rest more difficult - since it was boiling hot I couldn't add the egg so I let it sit, then it became super thick and didn't loosen until I added first the egg and then, surprisingly, it totally loosened when I added the baking powder! Huh. Curious to see how it turns out.
4. Stir in the flour, baking powder, salt and walnuts (and sunflower seeds if using).
5. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until the mixture is uniform in consistency.
6. Grease the exposed sides of your 8x8" baking pan (if doubling the recipe, use 2 pans for best results; don't use a larger pan).
7. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
8. Cool completely before cutting into bars and serving.