Derby Pie Bars

I don't really care which horse wins the Kentucky Derby. They're all beautiful, graceful and strong.

Photo by Sam English

I like the colors of the silks that the jockeys wear.

And of course the ladies' hats are.. so... interesting.

As with many sporting events (except state championship football), I am mostly interested in the food.

I heard they eat pimento cheese in the south.
(Wait...is Kentucky even considered to be the "south"?)
So when I saw some at Scratch Baking Co. this morning, I grabbed it, along with a baguette. I'm pretty sure they eat pimento cheese on plain white bread in the south, but the baguette seemed like a good idea to me.
An even better idea?
Spread the cheese on baguette slices and put them under the broiler for a few minutes.

Dinner!

Well, that was easy. And tasty too.

How about dessert?
There's the traditional Derby Pie, an extremely sweet confection of chocolate, walnuts and bourbon.
Since I was already betraying tradition by serving pimento cheese on a baguette, I figured a could go a step further and desecrate the beloved dessert as well.

Thus we have Virgin Derby Pie Bars, the handheld, alcohol-free version.
I know...gasp!
 These bars probably don't deserve to even be in the same sentence as Kentucky Derby, but there it is.
But I'm just working with what I have.
If you happen to have bourbon in your pantry, by all means, use it.

The big run for the roses may be over, but feel free to make and enjoy this dessert any time. The top gets nice and puffy and delicate, but it's all pretty sweet. Small pieces are recommended.
A scoop of vanilla froyo on top is an excellent accompaniment.
Taking the bastardization of southern cooking one more step.

Derby Pie Bars
adapted from thekitchn.com


For the shortbread crust:

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350.
Combine powdered sugar, flour and salt in a medium bowl. Add cubes of butter, and using a pastry cutter (or your hands) cut butter into dry ingredients, until it resembles corse meal. Firmly pat the mixture into a 9 x 13 baking pan. Bake the crust for about 20 minutes, until lightly browned.

For the filling:

1  1/2 sticks (12 Tbsps.) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1 /2 cups sugar

3 eggs

3/4 cup  all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract + 2 Tbsps. water OR 3 Tbsps. Kentucky bourbon

1  1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans (or walnuts, if you like them better)

Cream the butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each. Add flour, salt and vanilla/water or bourbon and continue to mix until well-blended. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts. Spread butter over partially baked crust. Bake until filling is set and top is slightly browned and puffy, about 30 minutes.
Allow to cool at least 30 minutes before cutting into bars.