Rickety Uncles with Warm Nutella™ and Flaked Hazelnuts
When I was visiting my parents this past summer, my mom gave me some hand-written recipes from my grandmother to keep. For me, "hand-me-down" recipes are the best kind of gift to receive. They have been carefully written down, marked up with notes, splattered with butter, and are torn and brown at the edges. It makes me wonder what hand-me-down recipes I'll be leaving my kids since most of my recipes will be typed up in a blog. Does it have the same personality? Should it?
This is one of the handwritten recipes I found in the pile: Rickety Uncles. It was one of my favorite treats growing up. When visiting my aunt as a child, I would often hope that she had these on the table for our traditional gather-around-the-table-and eat-and-catch-up time after our two-hour car ride to her house.
Rickety Uncles. It's such an unusual name. I found another similar recipe in my grandmother's notebook, but it's called Oatmeal Squares, which doesn't have the same charm. After a bit of digging, one
source said it was published in the Milwaukee Journal in Wisconsin around the mid 1950's. I'm not sure this is true. I always thought they were named after my cousin "Rick"!
Although I love these bars plain, I thought I'd improve them slightly by icing the bars with some warm Nutella and flaked hazelnuts. Wow!
Recipe: Rickety Uncles with Warm Nutella™ and Flaked HazelnutsMakes: 1 8x8 pan
Ingredients:
For the Rickety Uncles:
2 cups rolled oats
½ cup margarine (I used unsalted butter), melted
¾ cup brown sugar
Pinch of salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
For the frosting:
4 tablespoons chocolate, hazelnut spread such as Nutella
¼ cup flaked hazelnuts
Instructions:
For the Rickety Uncles: Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Melt the margarine or butter either on top of the stove or in a microwave. Stir in rolled oats, brown sugar, salt, and vanilla. Press into an ungreased 8x8 pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool.
For the frosting: Heat the Nutella either on top of the stove or in a microwave and spread on the bars. Sprinkle with flaked hazelnuts.
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From my mom (a scan of a photocopy)
From my grandmotherHave you heard of Rickety Uncles before? Do you know how it got its name? Do you have a hand-me-down recipe you could share?
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