Chocolate Bars for a Potluck

My son told me about his school’s family potluck dinner this week after we had already done the grocery shopping, and I just didn’t want to go shopping again for ingredients, so I went hunting online for a new recipe to try that I already had all the stuff for. I ended up over at Worth Her Salt where I found these simple to make bars that I already had all the ingredients for.

Here are my bars.

Mine are thicker than hers because I used an 11 x 7 inch pan instead of her 9 x 13 and this required a longer cooking time, I think about 40 minutes. I also found that her 2 cups chocolate chips was just a bit too much. I ended up not incorporating all of them into the dough because it seemed really full of chips and there was still a pile of chips left in the bottom of the mixing bowl. So, I’m going with a cup and a half from now on.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Here is my slightly adapted version:

1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

1/2 cup white sugar

1 1/2 sticks butter

1 whole egg

1 egg yolk

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 cups (or more if you wish) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 and grease your 11 x 7 baking dish. You can use a 9 x 13 inch dish for more, thinner bars, but adjust the cooking time down about 10 minutes.

Dump the sugars in a large mixing bowl. Melt butter (I use my Pyrex 2 cup measure) in the microwave and pour into the sugars. Mix well, then add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Mix well again.

Dump in the flour, baking powder, and salt, then mix until just combined. Pour in the chocolate chips and fold them in. I always need to use my hands at the end to get the chips all combined.

Take the dough and place it in your greased pan. Use your hands to push it down and spread it out somewhat evenly.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Check frequently near the end. You want to bake just until the center is set.

Remove from the oven. Let cool. Cut into bars with a sharp knife.

These bars received good reviews at the school’s December potluck. They were definitely not the most inventive or impressive looking dish at the party, but they are very rich and tasty, and had a nice texture. Everyone who tried them enjoyed them. I’ll definitely be making these again. They were super easy and I didn’t have to go shopping for the ingredients. My thanks to Lacey at Worth Her Salt.

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