The week is coming to an end and I have yet to share how the past holiday weekend was. My 4th of July was a pretty low key one. I attempted to grill indoors, which wasn’t the greatest idea and also watched the local fireworks from my front steps. Then the actual weekend consisted of seeing my favorite band, Honor Society, play shows two days in a row. Let me just say that I always have a good time seeing those guys! And this week, outfit looks just happen to be on the back burner so I’m bringing you all a yummy new recipe. Now I do love making cookies from scratch, but sometimes the process of taking it from the mixing bowl to cookie sheet to oven and then repeat can get time consuming. The answer to less clean up and repetition is cookie bars! Yes, the dough is baked in one baking pan and then cut into bars once cooled. These are quite good, easy peasy and were hit with my Thai relatives who were here visiting recently. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
2 1/8 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Adjust the oven rack to lower-middle position. Line a 9X13-inch baking pan with foil, letting the excess hang over the edges of the pan by about 1 inch so you can grab those edges and pull the brownies from the pan after they have baked. Spray the foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Mix the flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.
3. Whisk the melted butter and sugars in a large bowl until combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until just combined; do not overmix.
4. Fold in the chocolate chips and turn the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the spatula.
5. Bake until the top of the bars is light golden brown, slightly firm to the touch, and edges start pulling away from sides of pan, 24-28 minutes. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Remove the bars from the pan by lifting the foil overhang and transfer them to a cutting board. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.
(recipe source: Mel’s Kitchen Cafe) 