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.