Darci Hannah: When I was a kid, I was obsessed with horses. Every year I’d ask for one for Christmas, and, of course, every year Santa disappointed me. That’s mostly because my parents weren’t horse people, and because we didn’t have horse property in our suburban backyard where we lived. However, my parents let me buy books on horses as well as giving me riding lessons, which I still appreciate to this day.
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| Adult me with my friend's mini horse, Merlin! |
One of the ways my mother supported my horse obsession was by making a big to-do about the Kentucky Derby horse race. Honestly, we both loved any party or occasion that highlighted food and where big fancy hats were encouraged. Although we never went to the derby, we always enjoyed watching it on television. I remember that one year Mom made pimento cheese sandwiches, which we all found interesting, but not great. However, her Kentucky Derby Pie, which was essentially my favorite Thanksgiving pie, pecan, with chocolate chips mixed in, was a big hit. It was fun watching those gorgeous horses run while wearing fancy hats and eating pie. Really, shy of owning your own horse, what could be better?
Years later I ran into this recipe in a Paula Dean magazine and scribbled it down, saving it for my own Kentucky Derby celebration. My three sons could care less about horses or horse races, but I have to say, they do stick around for the food and the mint juleps!
Kentucky Derby Bars
Prep time: 20 minutes. Bake time: 50 minutes. Makes about two dozen.
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup butter, cut into little cubes
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup dark corn syrup
½ cup butter, melted
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons bourbon, Kentucky bourbon is always best
2 cups chopped pecans
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a 9 x 13 baking pan with parchment or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine flour, granulated sugar, and salt. Mix well. Next, add the cubed butter. Using a pastry blender, incorporate the butter into the flour mixture until nice and crumbly. Press mixture firmly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.
In another large bowl, whisk together brown sugar, dark corn syrup, eggs, melted butter, and bourbon until smooth. Stir in pecans and chocolate chips.
Pour mixture over prepared crust and bake for another 30 minutes, or until the center is set. Cool completely before cutting. Store leftover cookies in refrigerator for up to a week. Enjoy!
You can print a copy of the recipe
here!
Readers, in the comments below let me know if you watch the Kentucky Derby, and if you have any traditions while watching it.
Darci Hannah is the bestselling author of the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series, the Food & Spirits Mystery Series, the Very Cherry Mystery Series, and two works of historical fiction, The Exile of Sara Stevenson, and The Angel of Blythe Hall. Darci grew up in the Midwest and currently lives in a small town in Michigan with her husband and two dogs. Darci is a lifelong lover of the Great Lakes, a natural wonder that inspires many of her stories. Passionate about family, dogs, food, baking, history, books, lighthouses, laughter, good conversations, coffee, and the paranormal, Darci feels especially blessed to have found a way to combine her interests in the stories she writes. It brings her great joy to be able to share them with you.
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After Bunny serves a feast fit for a 17th century king, including lamb chops with plenty of fresh herbs, she heads outdoors for the ghost hunt. But in the dark, dense fog, someone fatally plunges from the clifftop over the loch. The sound that follows is a mournful, otherworldly bagpipe . . . and once the body of another perished piper is retrieved, Bunny is determined to solve this Highlands homicide—and prevent a killer from getting off scot-free . . .
Trade Paperback Release!
Book #1 in the Food & Spirits Mystery Series
While filming at a haunted English manor, chef Bunny MacBride’s big break on her first reality TV show may be cut short by an unscripted murder in Darci Hannah’s new Food & Spirits cozy mystery series . . .
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Coming this July!
Book #7 in the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series
When Lindsey Bakewell leaves behind her lighthouse bakeshop, her boyfriend, Rory, and her Newfoundland dog, Wellington, for a glamping trip with her mother in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the bears leave them alone—but a killer doesn’t. . .
Converting the old Beacon Point lighthouse into a bakery is as adventurous as Lindsey cares to get. Her mother, Ellie, a former 80s fashion model, likes her creature comforts even more—until she sees a business opportunity for her Beacon Harbor fashion boutique when she’s invited by the Mitten Kittens Glamping Club on a woodsy getaway.
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Because no one is out of the woods yet.
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