Saturday, March 5, 2016

Dreary March Weather & Delightful Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars


Last week, frustrated by the continually wet weather,  I found myself in need of a little sweetness in my life. I decided that now is the perfect time of year to pull out some the recipes that have recently made it onto my „MUST BAKE“ list. It seems to many people, including myself, that baking is just the perfect comfort-style activity for a soggy day in early March.




So to combat my dreary weather blues, I decided to give these Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars a go. The original recipe hails from the Guittard Chocolate Cookbook by Amy Guittard (here).

We ate these lovely treats mid-afternoon, still a bit warm from the oven, with steaming cups of tea. That explains not only why there were none left the first time I made them, but also why they are not cut into straight, razor-sharp slices but showcase a bit of a wobbly, comforting look. And while I am putting this post together this morning, it is still raining outside – cold and chilly. For sure, the right time to go and get baking some more.




Trust me, while we are still a few weeks away from Easter baking, this time of year is really good for pulling out some of these recipes that you have been wanting to try out for a while now. In this recipe the principal flavors are high-quality milk chocolate and a rich, deeply molasses flavored sugar as well as oats (I have come to greatly appreciate a mix of five wholemeal grains here – milled they way they are, they all do look like coarse oatmeal), coconut and tart cherries or cranberries that offset the sweetness of the chocolate in the most delightful of way. The Ceylon cinnamon and the pure vanilla sugar add more wonderful warm flavors to these chewy bar cookies.




We found these bar cookies to be at their best with high-quality milk chocolate not bittersweet or semisweet chocolate. Just do make sure to use the best dark milk chocolate that you can find, meaning that the cacao solids are more than 30%. And make sure to chop the milk chocolate very coarsely, so there will be big, discernible chunks in the finished cookie bars.




Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Ingredients
  • 1 1/3 cups (160 grams) AP (plain) flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp ground Ceylon cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
  • 8 tbsps (4 ounces, 115 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup (200 grams) packed soft dark brown sugar (I used dark muscovado sugar from Tate & Lyle, nice to use Fairtrade product here)
  • 1 egg, (L), free-range or organic, at room temperature
  • 8 grams pure vanilla sugar
  • 5 tbsps. milk (I used whole milk)
  • 3/4 cup (90 grams dried cranberries or sour cherries
  • 1 cup (90 grams) unsweetened coconut (nice to use organic, coarsely shredded coconut, easily available at the health food store)
  • 3/4 cup (60 grams) rolled oats, not the porridge oats (I went with a mix of five wholemeal organic grains, oats, wheat, rye, barley, and spelt)
  • 1 1/2 cups (255 g) milk chocolate chips or coarsely chopped milk chocolate, preferably with minimum 30% cocoa solids (get the best you can afford)




Preparation
  1. Preheat your oven to 350° F (180º C or 160°C fan-assisted)
  2. Lightly butter a 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33cm) rectangular pan and dust the inside with flour, tapping out any excess.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
  4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on high-speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg, vanilla sugar, and milk until smooth. At this point, the mixture is likely to look rather curdled but do not worry, it will all come together in the end.
  5. Stir in the flour mixture, then stir in the cranberries or sour cherries, coconut, oats (or oat mix), and chocolate chips just until combined. NOTE: The batter will be thick, like cookie dough.
  6. Spread the batter in the baking pan and even it out with your hands. You can use a little bit of water here to keep the dough from sticking to your fingers.
  7. Bake the bars until they feel like they are almost cooked in the middle, but not fully done, about 20 to 25 minutes.
  8. Let cool completely in the pan. When cool, cut into 3-inch (8cm) bars or squares.




Theoretically, these bar cookies are good keepers. Wrapped in foil, they will still be fine for a couple of days. But we found them to be at their best the same day they were made.

As far as the baking time is concerened, the original recipe said the bars will take 35 to 40 minutes to bake. But as with brownies, it is always better to undercook rather than overcook a bar cookie 20 to 25 minutes seems more reasonable, but, as ever, keep an eye on them and trust your own judgment over the clock.




Now, go get some sweet March baking done while the weather out there is still dreary...



16 comments:

  1. O, my,
    you make everything look like poetry and pretty and delectable.
    These bars look marvelous!
    How are you? I hope enjoying your day, darling girl. xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Kim, doing all right, thank you, just a tad too busy these days but I am hoping for things to ease up a bit soon...who knows. The weather is still not too great but that just seems to be one perfect excuse to bake some more tomorrow.
      Thank you for your wonderful words,
      Andrea

      Delete
  2. These look delicious Andrea, so warm and comforting for those rainy days... indeed perfect for baking!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Peggy, these are officially kid-approved treats - fun, delicious and perfect for March bad-weather baking.
      Thanks for stopping by,
      Andrea

      Delete
  3. they wouldn't last long at my house either Andrea. They look wonderful and I can only imagine how delicious they are when still a bit warm and the chocolate is a little gooey!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chris, yes, aren´t bar cookies with lots of good milk chocolate, oats, cranberries and some other goddies sometimes just the best?! These hit th espot and have become a new favorite at our house.

      Delete
  4. So many yummy goodies in every bite---the oats, dried fruit, coconut! Wow, these sound scrumptious!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sounds delicious! And I kind of like that "wobbly" cut book - it looks comfortable and homey.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Beth, the sun was disappearing and the kids were craving these, so I cut these bar cookies while they were still warm from the oven and didi not regret having done so.
      Thank you for stopping by,
      Andrea

      Delete
  6. I love all the different flavors in this delicious looking bar. I think it looks gorgeous just the way it is. I hope the sun comes out soon , I'm going to be in Germany over Easter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gerlinde, the sun was out yesterday and now we are back to rainy, cool, dreary weather but I am hopeful that Easter will be nicer and warmer, although it is rather early this year.
      You would enjoy these bars - especially on one of your outings to the cabin that you so lovingly wrote about last summer...
      Andrea

      Delete
  7. I can only imagine how good they would be for a sunny day, as well. Such wonderful flavors! Ich hoffe, dass die Sonne scheint bald! Liebe Grüße an alle! David

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. David, some days just seem to call for these kinds of treats...
      Andrea

      Delete
  8. Hi Andrea, I printed and pinned this recipe, love all the good ingredients in these.....will be making for Easter, lovely pictures!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheri - you will LOVE this recipe, we do...if you get a chance to make these, please let me know how they turned out for you.
      Andrea

      Delete