Makes 8 very generous servings
- 1 cup roughly chopped walnuts (about 4½ oz)
- 6 Tablespoons butter (3 oz)
- ⅓ cup white sugar
- ⅓ cup dark brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup Turkey Table Syrup (or substitute corn syrup)
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- ¼ cup bourbon
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ cup flour
- 8 oz semisweet chocolate squares, roughly chopped
- ⅛ teaspoon very coarse sea salt (optional)
Special equipment
- cast iron frying pan
electric handmixer
parchment paper Method
- While you’re preheating your oven to 350°, throw the walnuts into
a dry frying pan over medium heat and roast. Stir the contents of the pan frequently so the nut pieces don’t burn.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter with the sugars. Beat in the eggs one at a time until frothy. Quickly beat in liquid sweetners, bourbon, and spices. Mix in flour in two parts, then fold in nuts and chocolate bits.
Trace your baking tin onto a piece of parchment paper and cut an inch larger around the perimeter. Then cut the corners at a 45° angle to the outline. This will help you fold the corners neatly with in the pan. Pour into the now-lined lined 9-inch square baking pan and bake for about 25 minutes or until the center has just set. Remove and let cool completely. Top with coarse salt before dividing and serving.
Notes
- Hrmmm, this sure does sound familiar. That’s because we wanted to make a portable version of the wonderful flavours of our Mabinogi Inn
Chocolate Walnut Bourbon Pie .The parchment paper is absolutely vital. Trust us: no amount of greasing will help free these squares from your baking pan.
Why Blackjacks? Because with its black chocolate, golden dough, browned walnut bits with their pristine white centers, and crystaline salt, each piece looks like a chunk of the mineral Sphalerite, also called Blackjack. Yes, it’s a bit of a conceit, but Blackjacks sounds much more appealing than the Filling for Chocolate Walnut Bourbon Pie Made Into Portable Brownie-like Cubes With Maybe Some Salt Ontop.
Suggestions
- Substitute bits of pecans for the walnuts and drizzle salty caramel (melt 4oz of commercial caramel cubes with 2 teaspoons of water, ¼ teaspoon + 2 ddashes of salt until creamy in a double boiler. ¼ teaspoon of salt is not enough and ¼ is too much) across the top and you’ve got luscious Timmyjacks.
