Mud Hens

Four ingredients. One bowl. Thirty minutes in the oven. Mud Hens are a vintage bar cookie that’s been passed down through church cookbooks and potluck recipe cards for decades, and the simplicity is exactly why they’ve survived.

Bisquick baking mix, beaten eggs, a full box of light brown sugar, and chopped pecans get stirred together and baked in a glass pan. The brown sugar melts during baking and creates a chewy, almost caramel-like base with a thin, crackly top. The pecans toast in the oven and add a buttery crunch throughout.

Beat the eggs well before mixing them in. They’re doing all the structural work here since there’s no butter or oil in the batter. Well-beaten eggs give the bars lift and hold everything together.

Pro Tips

• Use a glass pan as specified. Glass bakes more evenly at lower temperatures and gives the bottom a better texture than metal.
• Grease and flour the pan well. The brown sugar makes these incredibly sticky.
• Let them cool completely in the pan before cutting. Warm Mud Hens crumble apart.
• These firm up as they cool. If they seem soft when you pull them from the oven, they’re done. Overbaking makes them dry and hard.

Variations

• Add a cup of chocolate chips to the batter for a chocolate-pecan version.
• Use walnuts instead of pecans if that’s what you have on hand.
• Sprinkle flaky sea salt over the top before baking for a sweet-salty contrast.