Aunt Clo Bars
This weekend our wrestling club is hosting a tournament and all the families have been asked to bring a pan of bars. Around here, "bars" can be used as a loose term that represents "desserts". This is sort of like how in some parts of the country when you order a Coke and they ask what kind they don't mean Diet or Regular, they mean all POP, or again if you're not from here SODA. The last time they asked for bars I brought cupcakes and I could see that I was in good company with the wide variety of treats represented at the concessions. But this time, in the instructions they spelled out that the bars should be cut and placed into ziplocks so I knew that they really meant that they wanted ACTUAL BARS.
Up until a year ago, desserts were not my thing. And even now, desserts are only my thing as long as they are cupcakes and the recipe comes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. So when I realized that I had to bring actual bars, I had to look up some recipes. I don't know that I've ever made an actual pan of bars before (I KNOW!), and I don't have a fallback recipe. As I often do when I need things like this, I turned to my collection of Church and Nursing Home cookbooks. As I started flipping through the pages, I realized that what I was really looking for was something that would be tasty and chocolaty, sort of like Aunt Clo Bars. And that's when I remembered the Hall Family cookbook and pulled it off the shelf.
Many years ago, somebody in my dad's family published a cookbook of family recipes. Here's a picture of the start of this clan - Anna and Mathew Hall. They immigrated from Germany c. 1885 and settled in St. Cloud, MN.
It was here that they built a business and raised a family of ten children. In the back row on the right is my Great Uncle Al - he's the oldest in the family and he was born in 1893 (could be 1892, I'm not 100% on this one). And in the front row on the left is my Grandma Evie (also known as Evy, and Grandma Muder) - she's the second youngest in the family and she was born in 1910. Really important to this story is the woman in the front with the tan colored top and the sassy plaid skirt. That's my Great Aunt Clo (short for Clothilda) and she's the one who made this recipe famous.
Back Row: Herb, Erv, Lawrence, Al
Front Row: Evie, Jerome (Fr. Edmund), Marie, Clo, Louise, Marcellus
I flipped through the cookbook until I got to the recipe for Aunt Clo Bars hoping that they wouldn't be totally dairy laden and that I'd be able to make this my new go-to bar recipe. Unfortunately for me, two of the key ingredients do have dairy - one of which has a decent substitute, the other of which just gets left behind. Did you know that Special K Original cereal has dairy, but that their Special K Protein Plus variety does not? And, did you know that there does not appear to be a non-dairy version of Butterscotch chips (but if there is, please, please tell me)?
I made a pan of the original recipe and a pan of the new non-dairy kind and they were both good. I will say that while the dairy version is DIVINE, the non-dairy version is still delicious.
A few important things to note:
- When you press the cereal mixture into a 9 x 13 pan it will seem like there is not enough to go around. You kind of have to smash it flat and spread it around and it will create a thin layer at the bottom - and this will be perfect. If you feel like maybe you should be using a 9 x 9 pan so that the bar will be thicker, you will be wrong, and you will create a bar that could pull out the loose teeth that your kids may have. Trust me on this one - the 9 x 9 version I made just about caused me to have to get dentures.
- When mixing the cereal mixture, it should seem a bit on the dry side. I noticed when I made the non-dairy version that the texture of the Special K Protein Plus cereal is different than the Special K Original and you may need to add a bit more cereal. It should not actually be dry, but just not totally gooey.
- If you make this for your family or friends, they will love you forever. It's practically guaranteed.
Print it: Aunt Clo Bars Original Recipe (includes dairy)
Aunt Clo Bars Non-Dairy Version
Up until a year ago, desserts were not my thing. And even now, desserts are only my thing as long as they are cupcakes and the recipe comes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. So when I realized that I had to bring actual bars, I had to look up some recipes. I don't know that I've ever made an actual pan of bars before (I KNOW!), and I don't have a fallback recipe. As I often do when I need things like this, I turned to my collection of Church and Nursing Home cookbooks. As I started flipping through the pages, I realized that what I was really looking for was something that would be tasty and chocolaty, sort of like Aunt Clo Bars. And that's when I remembered the Hall Family cookbook and pulled it off the shelf.
Many years ago, somebody in my dad's family published a cookbook of family recipes. Here's a picture of the start of this clan - Anna and Mathew Hall. They immigrated from Germany c. 1885 and settled in St. Cloud, MN.
It was here that they built a business and raised a family of ten children. In the back row on the right is my Great Uncle Al - he's the oldest in the family and he was born in 1893 (could be 1892, I'm not 100% on this one). And in the front row on the left is my Grandma Evie (also known as Evy, and Grandma Muder) - she's the second youngest in the family and she was born in 1910. Really important to this story is the woman in the front with the tan colored top and the sassy plaid skirt. That's my Great Aunt Clo (short for Clothilda) and she's the one who made this recipe famous.
Back Row: Herb, Erv, Lawrence, Al
Front Row: Evie, Jerome (Fr. Edmund), Marie, Clo, Louise, Marcellus
I flipped through the cookbook until I got to the recipe for Aunt Clo Bars hoping that they wouldn't be totally dairy laden and that I'd be able to make this my new go-to bar recipe. Unfortunately for me, two of the key ingredients do have dairy - one of which has a decent substitute, the other of which just gets left behind. Did you know that Special K Original cereal has dairy, but that their Special K Protein Plus variety does not? And, did you know that there does not appear to be a non-dairy version of Butterscotch chips (but if there is, please, please tell me)?
I made a pan of the original recipe and a pan of the new non-dairy kind and they were both good. I will say that while the dairy version is DIVINE, the non-dairy version is still delicious.
A few important things to note:
- When you press the cereal mixture into a 9 x 13 pan it will seem like there is not enough to go around. You kind of have to smash it flat and spread it around and it will create a thin layer at the bottom - and this will be perfect. If you feel like maybe you should be using a 9 x 9 pan so that the bar will be thicker, you will be wrong, and you will create a bar that could pull out the loose teeth that your kids may have. Trust me on this one - the 9 x 9 version I made just about caused me to have to get dentures.
- When mixing the cereal mixture, it should seem a bit on the dry side. I noticed when I made the non-dairy version that the texture of the Special K Protein Plus cereal is different than the Special K Original and you may need to add a bit more cereal. It should not actually be dry, but just not totally gooey.
- If you make this for your family or friends, they will love you forever. It's practically guaranteed.
Print it: Aunt Clo Bars Original Recipe (includes dairy)
Aunt Clo Bars Non-Dairy Version
I have just reviewed your blog and need to set the record straight. I'm not the youngest, that would be my brother, Jerome (Father Edmund OSB.). He was born in 1916. I always enjoyed Clo's bars. Could you bring some on your next visit?
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thank you grandma! I've made the corrections - so glad you stopped by and helped me to get all the facts straight.
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I love these bars and last fall I searched high and low for a reciept and never found one that I thought would be exactly like the wonderful "bars" I remember at various sporting events. (My mom never actually made them). I ended up taking a few ideas from several receipts to come up w/ my bars and they were ok. Now that I have this one I'll be all set. I think I'll make them this weekend!
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