1.30.2011

Over the Top Cookie Bars

When I started thinking about creating this I had a clear head, then I woke up Saturday morning with a cold, but preceded to go on with the experiment today. I was inspired by VanillaSugar blog, she always has something super creative coming out of her kitchen, though clearly she has more experience under her belt. My brain was not working at full capacity (from the cold itself and the cold medicine), but I managed to bust it out, though not exactly how it should have been. I knew I would have some issues completing this successfully when I forgot to add the egg in the cookie dough...

The stuff added to this chocolate chip cookie bar is literally over-the-top with chocolate, peanut butter and crackers. This sweet, salty, cheezy, peanut buttery combo hits the spot, just have to get the ratio of layers right. The issue I had this time around was too much cookie, not enough Cheez-its!

But now that I've tried assembling them and tasting, here are directions that will have them turn out how they should have...

Chocolate Chip Cookie Layer

Get a basic cookie dough recipe ready, even the pre-made stuff and press it into a greased large (6-capacity) muffin tin, or an 8x8 baking dish. It should be about 1/4 inch thick. (mine were too think). You'll have cookie dough left over especially if you only make this in the muffin tins. Bake in oven and let cool in the pan. Loosen the cookies by running a knife around the edge and still leave them in the pan.

Peanut Butter Layer
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup + 1/3 cup peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup butter (at room temperature)
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • salted peanuts (optional)
Mix all ingredients except the peanuts with a mixer until smooth. Gently mix in peanuts. Spread evenly over the cooled cookies. Place in fridge until set (or close to set).

Chocolate Layer
Ingredients
  • 1 Cup white chocolate chips (or any type of chocolate you like)
  • 2 tbsp butter or vegetable shortening
  • 1tbsp light corn syrup
  • 2 cups slightly broken Cheez-its and/or pretzels
Melt the chocolate chips (use good quality, melting white chocolate can be tricky), butter and corn syrup in a double boiler with as little heat as possible. Stir vigorously. As soon as my white chips started to melt, I took it off the heat entirely and stirred as hard as I could until it became silky.

Gently mix in the Cheez-its/pretzels into the chocolate. Poor the warm chocolate over the cooled cookies and let set in the fridge until hard.

* I didn't do my layers in this order, but I think it should all stick together better with the hard chocolate on top.

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