Shall we take a trip to the dump? Dump Bars Recipe

We had a crazy weekend last week.   (Um, October is a crazy month for high school marching bands.  Every post I make this month might start with a "crazy weekend" sentence!) Katie Blue was performing at a game on Friday night and then had to be up very early, hair and make-up at least started and get on a bus to make it to the competition site before 9:00.  They had to wait all day to find out the results of the daytime performance and know if they would perform in the finals competition of the evening.  It was Wednesday of last week when I started asking myself what on earth I was going to make for Sunday when I wasn't going to have time on Saturday night to get it done.  (And, if I was out to midnight, would I really want to get up on Sunday morning at 4:30 to do something, let it cool, cut it and plate it for an 8:30 departure time?  Um, no.)

I began searching recipes for things I could do on Saturday morning or even on Friday that would wait patiently for Sunday morning delivery.  It had to be moist but not sticky.  Of course it had to be tasty.  What on earth would I make?  I started thinking about some of the things from my childhood and for whatever reason it lead me to a book I own called "The Church Potluck Supper Cookbook" by Elaine Robinson and started to flip through it.  It makes me laugh because I honestly don't know when or where I got this book and I can't tell you what drew me to it this month, but I promise you I will be using it more in the future.  There were some great dessert recipes and lots of interesting recipes for meals that don't have sugar, chocolate and nuts in them.  

I was able to make these bars early on Saturday morning and leave them cooling while we were at the competition.  I cut and plated them when I got back to the house Saturday evening and went to bed grateful to be able to "sleep in" to 6:00 AM!!  Enjoy!

Dump Bars

2 sticks butter

1 pound brown sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups, plus 1 tablespoon flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup coconut

1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used almonds in one pan, walnuts in another, both worked.)

1 cup chocolate chips

Set oven to 325 F and grease a 9 x 13" pan.

Melt butter, add sugar and stir to combine.  Add eggs, vanilla and salt.  Mix well.  In a smaller bowl combine flour, baking powder and coconut and add it to the liquids.  Pour into prepared pan and sprinkle the top with nuts and chocolate chips.  Bake 35-40 minutes.