Butterscotch Crunchies are an easy to put together, delicious treat for any group, especially active young people. It is a vintage recipe that works for today. How do I know? My husband is a retired swim coach and we were going through old notes to be thrown out. Like, swim rosters and race assignments from at-least-20-years-ago old notes. Right in the midst of the swim coach notes was this recipe. What the heck?
He didn’t know the handwriting and I didn’t either. We figured that long ago a swim mom had brought this to a team get together and received rave reviews. “Madge, you’ve got to give me this recipe!”
So I have a hand scrawled recipe written in red ink (probably from the scorer’s table) that someone thrust into the coach’s hand to copy for the moms. What a hoot! It looked delicious and it is. Sweet and crunchy with a wonderful cream cheese filling. The textures work together nicely and that butterscotch hit makes butterscotch lovers do a happy dance.
I made the recipe as I found it, with just a few tweaks. My first try disappeared when I took it to church for Sunday School snacks. It is delicious, very sweet and crunchy. In other words, of course, a keeper!
Notes for this dish:
- I noticed that some packages of morsels are now 11oz. instead of 12oz. You could either buy two 12 oz. packages of the butterscotch morsels, or add a heaping tablespoonful of any nut butter instead.
- Be sure to chop the walnuts into very small pieces. You want the bottom crust to be a relatively smooth surface, and large walnut pieces can hinder that.
- When cooled completely these bars are very easy to pick up. So napkins will be needed for crumbs!
Butterscotch Crunchies
Butterscotch Crunchies are an easy to put together, delicious treat for any gathering. The butterscotch and cream cheese give a great texture contrast that makes everyone come back for more! If you like butterscotch you will love this bar.
Ingredients
Bottom Crust and Topping
Cream Cheese Filling
Instructions
Bottom Crust and topping
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Preheat oven to 350°F
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Lightly spray a 15” x 10” baking pan with nonstick spray.
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In a large bowl, combine the graham crackers and walnuts.
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Place morsels and butter (and nut butter, if using) into a microwaveable bowl and microwave 30 seconds, then in 10 second bursts until the mixture is melted. Stir thoroughly as you check for melting. Melted morsels will still be thick but should be stir-able.
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Stir the melted morsels into the graham cracker and walnut mixture. Stir to mix thoroughly.
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Reserve 2 cups of this mix for the topping.
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Press remaining mixture into the prepared baking dish, using a flat bottomed cup for a smoother surface.
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Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes.
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While bottom crust is baking, mix cream cheese, lemon juice, sugar and flour at medium speed. Beat until creamy and fluffy.
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Add eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition.
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Pour over hot baked crust and sprinkle remaining crumb mixture evenly on top.
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Return to oven and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.
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Remove from oven and let cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting.
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Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
