Junk in the Trunk Bars & January's Give-Away

The inspiration for the name of these bars comes from a phrase my DH deemed for our new kitty--Rosie.  When we got her, we were surprised how "chunky" she was from still being in with other mama cats who were tending to kittens; her diet consisted of a high-calorie dry food for a nursing cat.  However, those extra pounds didn't stop Rosie from jumping to where ever she wanted to be, so my DH would say, "my, how can she jump with all the junk in her trunk!"

She is slimming down, much like the rest of us after the holidays.  In fact, I read that 98% of people making resolutions have losing weight near the top!

And...Here is this month's apron for the next Give-Away.  One of my dearest friends birthday is in January and since her birthstone is a Garnet, this fabric just spoke to me as the next apron.  I love the colors and if you look closely, you'll see some Queen Anne's Lace.  One of the paintings my mother did for me for a birthday was of this favorite wild flower--I cherish it.

To be eligible for the apron, just comment on any of the posts I do for the month of January and you're entered!

Junk in the Trunk Bars
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
4 cups dark brown sugar, lightly packed
4 large eggs
1 T vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup dried cherries (or cranberries)
2 cups lightly toasted pecans (or walnuts) broken into pieces
1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate bits
1 1/2 cups pretzels, crushed

Preheat oven to 325F-degrees.  Butter a 9" x 13" baking pan.  I used my springform pan, if you don't have one, I would suggest you line the bottom with parchment and butter the parchment too.

In a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the brown sugar and melted butter thoroughly.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.

Add the dry ingredients, dried cherries, 1 cup each of pecans, bittersweet chocolate bits, and pretzels and mix until combined.

Spoon batter into the prepared baking pan.

Smooth the batter and then add, 1/2 cup crushed pretzels and bittersweet chocolate bits and 1 cup of broken pecans on top.

Bake 40 to 45 minutes, covering the top with aluminum foil after 25 minutes of baking to insure the  center bakes evenly.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool about 1 hour before cutting into squares.

Having removable sides certainly helps!  The nice thing about this recipe is that you can customize it to suit what "junk you like in your trunk!"  You can change up the nuts to walnuts, cashews, or peanuts; add coconut, or do a mixture of baking bits--peanut butter, butterscotch, semi-sweet, etc.

Rosie is on her way to being a slimmer kitty as are we with watching our diets for the new year too.  BTW, everyone who is having beautiful snow, let me give you a peak at what I'm seeing outside my door.

Yes, that's my daffodils daring to pop up!

 Enjoy!