Tasty Tuesday: Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

We celebrated another wonderful holiday -- National Chocolate Chip Day! (I'm starting to wonder why we never celebrated these special days before.) The tasty morsels definitely deserve a day devoted to their honor! And who am I to deprive them of it???

We've made chocolate chip cookies, giant chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream - all desserts that allow the chips to shine in all their tastiness. Here's a list of recipes in which the chocolate chips compliment the recipe as a whole.

Butterfingers

chocolate bowls

chocolate chai bread
chocolate fudge

chocolate turtle cake

Girl Scout peanut butter patties
indoor s'mores
Jake's special cake (recipe created entirely by my 6 year old)
peanut butter bars
peanut butter brownie torte
peanut butter cream pie
s'mores ice cream
snack mix


So, after all those desserts with chocolate chips, what were we going to make on the day in which we celebrate its existence? Chocolate chip cookie bars! I hadn't made these in years, and this was the perfect time to make them again.

Measure.

Dump.

Pour.

Mix.

Crack.

Stir.

I'll skip all the boring stuff and jump right to the guest of honor.

The chocolate chips! We used a combo of milk, semi-sweet, and white. After all, we wouldn't want to show favoritism to a single kind.

Mmm, these bars are so yummy! A slightly crispy outside and ooey-chewy inside. Perfection.

These are phenomenal by themselves, but what do you add to really make a dessert shine???

Why, ice cream, of course! Warm cookie fresh out of the oven, cool sweet ice cream, and rich melted chocolate.

There's only one thing that could be better.

A second bar on top!


Please show the mighty chocolate chip some love and whip up a batch of these delicious bars. You will not be disappointed!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Ingredients:

2 1/8 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
12 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 c chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325° F. Spray a 9x13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the melted butter and sugars together until combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix on low, just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

4. Pour cookie dough into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the spatula. Bake cookie bars for 25-30 minutes or until the top of the bars are light golden brown and the edges start to pull away from the pan. Cool bars on a wire rack to room temperature. Cut bars into squares and serve.
Recipe adapted from two peas & their pod