Tag Archives: chocolate chip

Cookie Bars with Added Frosting

I love cookie bars.  They’ve got all the flavor of a cookie, but since they’re cooked in a dish and not all exposed to the air, they’ve got all the squidginess of brownies.  A perfect combination.  So when my birthday came up and I had an excuse to bring something baked in to work, I went with Cookie Madness’s Big Batch Chocolate Chip Bars.

But when they came out of the oven, they looked a little sad and lonely:

I couldn’t decide what to do about it, until at the last minute I decided to frost them (and was almost late to work because of it).

Much better.

The recipe that follows is mostly the same as the one on Cookie Madness, but I used the half recipe.

Big Batch Chocolate Chip Bars

  • 4 oz (one stick) butter
  • 1/2 cup white sugar, then another 1/8 cup
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • semisweet chocolate chips to taste (keep adding them until the dough looks chippy enough)

Preheat oven to 350º.

Then it’s the usual cookie routine: Mix dry ingredients in one bowl.  In another, cream together butter, white sugar, brown sugar.  Mix in eggs, then vanilla, then dry ingredients.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Spread into a greased 13×9″ pan.  Bake about 20 minutes (but check on it!).

For the frosting:

  • 2 cups chocolate chips
  • 3 cups marshmallows
  • 3 tablespoons butter

Microwave all three ingredients together in a bowl until melted, stir.  Pour on top of cooled cookie bars and spread with spatula.

Peanut Butter, Banana and Chocolate Chip Bread

Recipe from Cookie Madness.  Here’s how it came out:

I played this recipe pretty much straight without adapting it.  I do quite like bananas, so I used 3 bananas instead of 2 and cut the milk down to half a cup.  This bread is very mild and sweet, not oppressively peanut-buttery at all, and is plenty moist since it has five wet ingredients.  It tastes very wholesome, that’s what.  It didn’t blow me away, but it’s something I’d like to keep in my recipe box.

Here’s another shot, to illustrate crumby texture:

And here’s the recipe:

Peanut Butter and Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 ripe large bananas, mashed (1 cup)
1 cup milk
3/4 cup chunky peanut butter
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two 9×5 inch loaf pans with flour-added cooking spray.

Stir flour, sugars, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together in a large mixing bowl.

Combine mashed bananas, milk, peanut butter, oil, vanilla and egg in a second bowl. Add banana mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter into the two loaf pans and bake on center rack for 50 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool thoroughly on a wire rack. Wrap and store overnight before serving.