Saturday, November 12, 2011

The Great Cookie (or Treat!) Countdown Week 4: Chocolate Chip Bars with a Salty Pretzel Crust

Hi, and welcome to my recipe-testing series. I'm trying out some "new" recipes -- challenging myself to test drive some new and exciting recipes! This week, I wanted to try these Chocolate Chip Bars with a Salty Pretzel Crust, from Simply Scratch. They sounded delicious, especially if you like the combination of sweet and salty all in one. These definitely fit the bill! Here's how I made them:

Butter and sugars into the mixing bowl:

 Beat until creamy:
 Add eggs and vanilla:
 Beat until combined:
 Add flour, one third at a time, until all is combined. Scrape down the sides.
 Add chocolate chips, mix only to combine.
 Crush pretzel sticks. I used a plastic bag and my big rolling pin.
 Toss crushed pretzel with melted butter:
 Spread pretzel sticks in bottom of lined baking pan. Cook for 8 minutes in preheated oven.
 Drop cookie dough by small spoonfuls across baked pretzels. Press the dough into place with your fingers (a spritz of baking spray now and then will help keep your fingers from getting too gooey!) Then use a spatula to carefully spread the dough in an even layer. Into the oven it goes! Remember, if you're going to take a picture, take it before it goes into the oven, not 5 minutes later....
Cook until a toothpick comes out clean. Mine took a few minutes longer than the recipe, probably because I used a glass baking dish. If these hadn't finished when they did, I might have had to cover these, they were brown enough!
 When cooled, remove from the pan (gotta love that parchment paper) and put on your cutting board for slicing.
 Yum, ready to eat!



Chocolate Chip Bars with a Salty Pretzel Crust
 from Laurie McNamara at Simply Scratch

Ingredients: for the cookie dough:
3/4 cup Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
3/4 cup Dark Brown Sugar (I used medium brown)
2 large Eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons Real Vanilla Extract
2-1/4 cups All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
3/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 bag Milk Chocolate Chips
Ingredients for the crust:
3-1/2 cups Pretzel Sticks, crushed into tiny pieces
3/4 cup Unsalted Butter, melted
Preparation:
  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Line a 9x13x2 baking pan with parchment paper  -- leave some sticking up over the wide edges of your pan so you can lift the cookies out when they are done and cooled.
  3. Beat butter and sugars at medium speed until creamy.
  4. Add eggs and the vanilla, beating until just blended.
  5. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
  6. Whisk until airy and gradually add the flour mixture to the sugar/egg mixture, mixing well after each addition.
  7. Scrape down the sides and add in the chocolate chips, Mix one last time for a second then set aside.
  8. Combine the crushed pretzel pieces with the melted butter, stir to combine. Spread pretzel mixture over the bottom of your prepared pan and bake for 8 minutes.
  9. Drop large spoonfuls of the cookie dough and scatter it over the pretzel crust, carefully and evenly spread the batter over the warm pretzels. With your fingers, press the dough into the pretzels. Smooth top with a spatula.
  10. Place the pan in your preheated oven and bake for 20-24 minutes, rotating the pan half-way through the cookie time.
  11. Remove when the bars are golden and a tester comes out clean.
  12. When bars have cooled, remove by carefully lifting the parchment paper and moving to a cutting board. Cut into bars.
  13. Enjoy!

These are definitely a hit with my family -- salty, chocolatey and tasty! Give them a try!

This post is linked to the following blog hops -- check them out for many more great recipes!


1 comment:

Related Posts with Thumbnails