Bar Cookie

Adding macadamia nuts and ginger transforms familiar brownies into something truly extraordinary. For a festive summer finale, serve them with strawberries.

Nobody can resist brownies, especially when they’re studded with chunks of white chocolate and served with strawberries.

The prepared poppy seed filling is available in the kosher food section of most supermarkets across the country.

These thick, chewy brownies have a peanut-butter base and a chocolaty top.

Two toppings — one mint, one chocolate — accent these luscious treats. Serve them with your choice of fresh fruit. Wrap the brownies in foil, and pack the fruit in an airtight plastic container.

In 1897, the Sears catalog offered its customers a treat called brownies. No one seems to remember whether they were bar cookies or a chocolate confection named after a popular cartoon character. No matter; by the 1900s the brownie as we now know it had arrived. The recipe for these dense, moist brownies is from Heather Ho, pastry chef at Boulevard in San Francisco.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Wheatmeal crackers (sometimes called digestive biscuits) have a flavor similar to graham crackers. For this particular recipe, we prefer Carr's brand wheatmeal crackers, which are available at supermarkets and labeled as "whole wheat crackers." (Don't use Carr's Wheatolos, which are a bit too sweet.) Active time: 45 min Start to finish: 9 3/4 hr (includes chilling)

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 3 hr

You might be tempted to bake 2 sheets of bars at a time in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Don't give in to this urge—they must go in the middle of the oven to cook through and brown evenly.

Susan Richardson of Edina, Minnesota, writes: "My mother worked full-time when I was growing up, so as the oldest daughter in a family of six children, I did a lot of cooking. From the time I was seven years old, my mom taught me how to cook and bake — salad, bread, vegetables, and dessert were pretty much part of every dinner. Even today, I make it a point to prepare and eat dinner with my two teenage children. Though we're very busy, we'll never abandon our dinner ritual. It's the time when we can talk and reconnect."

"On our way to and from the Washington coast, we often stop at a small restaurant in Montesano called Savory Faire," says Thelma Laird of Fox Island, Washington. "They serve outstanding cinnamon rolls and imaginative sandwiches, but the recipe I'd most like to have is the one for pecan squares."

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 2 hr