Bittersweet Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

When I asked Jeff on Saturday what sounded good for this week's Wednesday Treat Day, he said he's really had a craving for your basic, everyday chocolate chip cookie (because you know it's all about him anyway... right? I'm sure his co-workers would tell you the same thing!). But actually, that sounded darn good since it had been awhile since we've done that. Instead of doing them in individual drop form though, I thought we'd try these Bittersweet Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars.

Whipping a mass of butter (I know you clutch your heart when you look at the amount... but hang on, wait until you see the pan size!) with a pair of sugars until the fusion had become smooth, luscious and spoon-worthy got us running right out of the gate. You can play around with the balance of sugar if you like, but I went with a heavier amount of brown sugar to granulated because we were looking for bars that had a hearty, dense chew to them. Sloshing in a couple eggs and an honorable splash of vanilla brought the wet ingredients together, making the mixture ready to swallow the dry ingredients.

When the flour mixture went in, stiffening the dough, the star element was stirred in - bittersweet chocolate! Because I wanted plenty of chocolate nuggets to go around, I tossed in just shy of a pound, using a mixture of chips I had in the pantry and chunks taken from an excellent bar we were given over the holidays (which was an effortless process using that Chocolate Chipper my sister got us!).

Using a large half sheet pan (it must have sides), the chocolate-studded dough was spread over the bottom and baked until the giant cookie was richly browned around the sides, lightly golden in the center and the top was set. Cut them into more modest squares if you like, but to get the full, lavish experience, I cut them in thirds down the middle, then sliced the two rectangles into pudgy fingers. If you wanted to serve this for a party, you could also leave it whole and decorate the top with your favorite frosting, just like they do in those mall shops.

Jeff already has devious plans for the next batch we make by dividing the dough into two portions, adding M&Ms to one and chopped pieces of those miniature Reese's peanut butter cups to the other. Whatever you decide to do, it's hard to go wrong with a big, hunky slab of baked cookies!

Recipes
Bittersweet Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars