Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars (aka, Blondies)

Tasty little buggers.

Essentially, these were a vehicle to try out a bag of Nestle Chocolatier 62-percent Cacao bittersweet chocolate morsels. Shane and I tasted them along with Ghirardelli's 60-precent Cacao bittersweet chips. Alone on the tongue, I preferred the Nestle (!!!) but in baking, the Ghirardelli still has my heart (and palate). (Shane liked the Nestle alone, too, but I forgot to ask him if he preferred it to Ghirardelli in a baked good.)

In any event, these cookie bars have a lot of virtues: easy to whip up, comforting, chocolately. They're not my favorite, and they won't make anyone swoon with pleasure, but that doesn't mean you won't be sneaking samples from the cookie jar, either.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars (source)
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups (packed) golden brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (about 4 1/2 ounces)
3/4 cup chopped pecans (I used walnuts - LR)

Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Butter and flour 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan.

Mix flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda in medium bowl. Melt butter in large saucepan over low heat. Remove saucepan from heat. Add sugar and whisk to blend. Whisk in eggs and vanilla extract. Gradually stir in flour mixture (batter will be thick). Fold in chocolate and nuts.

Spread batter in prepared pan. Bake blondies until tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 25 minutes. Cool blondies in pan on rack. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.) Cut into squares and serve.

Makes about 24.

Grade: B to B+ range

Tags: baking, cookies, blondies, Nestle Chocolatier, Ghirardelli