Sympathy Bars

This recipe is from a 4-H cookbook that has a lot of great desserts. No explanation as to why these are called Sympathy Bars. Just tried these and they're very good. Very much like a brownie. I'm not big on cherries, so I skipped the garnish. I used semi sweet baking chocolate because it was what I had in the pantry. I screwed up the frosting a bit by not watching the butter (I stuck it in the warm oven to soften) and it melted. However, the frosting still turned out fairly well.

• Ready In: 50 mins
• Serves: 24

Ingredients

• 1  cup butter, softened
• 2  cups sugar
• 4  eggs
• 3  teaspoons vanilla
• 2  cups flour
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 2  cups walnuts, chopped
• 2  ounces baking chocolate, melted

• Frosting

• 5  tablespoons flour
• 1  cup milk
• 1  cup butter, softened
• 1  cup powdered sugar
• 2  teaspoons vanilla

• Garnish

•  maraschino cherry, drained and cut in half
•  chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream butter.
3. Gradually add sugar and beat until fluffy.
4. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
5. Sift together flour and salt.
6. Gradually add to creamed mixture.
7. Blend in nuts.
8. Divide batter in half.
9. Spread one half on the bottom of 9x13 inch pan.
10. Mix chocolate into remaining half and spread on top.
11. Bake 25-30 minutes.
12. Cool.
13. Frosting: In saucepan, mix flour and milk.
14. Cook over medium heat until paste thickens, stirring constantly.
15. Cool thoroughly.
16. Cream butter, sugar and vanilla.
17. Gradually add paste and beat on high speed for 5 minutes.
18. Spread on bars.
19. Garnish with nuts and cherries.