Chocolate Chip Dream Bars

Sometimes chocolate makes everything better.  Or at least that’s what we’re sometimes led to believe.  And why not?  It can certainly make us feel good for a moment and take our mind off whatever is weighing heavy.  I promised a friend I’d keep her in chocolate on Monday, and had every intention of making a batch of cookies, using a new recipe I had found.  A typo in the recipe led to that batch being thrown away, and me scrambling at the last minute.  I had to follow through on my promise.  Chocolate.

I grabbed a cookbook off my shelf and started thumbing through it, looking for a delicious recipe.  With chocolate.  And ingredients I had on hand.  And something easy since I was a bit behind schedule.  I spied the picture for Chocolate Chip Dream Bars and was hoping it would do the trick.

Now even if you don’t cool the bars in the pan for an hour before refrigerating, these are good.  Even if you refrigerate them for way longer than the suggested hour, these are really good.  Let’s just say that it’s a good thing some of the directions are a bit forgiving, because I was in a rush and didn’t have time to follow it to the letter.  Once the dish came out of the oven, I quickly did the glaze, drizzled it on and popped the whole thing in the fridge for a few hours, hoping I wasn’t ruining it in the process.

A few minutes before I left the house, I took the bars out, cut them neatly and plated them up.  I stole one and ate it on the ride over.  You know, quality control and all that.  OMG.  Rich.  Chocolatey.  Slightly gooey and soft.  My first thought was that it’s a good thing I was taking 90% of these out of the house, because faint sweet tooth or not, I don’t think I would be able to withstand the temptation.  My second thought was that if a bite of these babies doesn’t momentarily transport you to your happy place, I don’t know what will.  I snuck one off the plate and shared it with another friend in the car pool lane.  The kids after school got some.  My mom got a few.   A neighbor too.  There are exactly six left on the plate in the kitchen.  I told the babysitter she better come and get her share.  Before they’re gone.  Go on and make them.  Please.  And find your happy place.

Project 365
February 9, 2010, Photo #39

My apologies in advance to anyone who has these curtains.   I really don’t like them.  They’re just not me. And they are on four windows in the kitchen.  I bought them four years ago when we first put this house up for sale.  I had something a little darker in the kitchen, and went with a more neutral curtain to stage the house a bit.  They’ve been there ever since.  They need to go.  The kitchen is my next painting project and will soon be a pale ice blue, the same blue I did the living room ceiling in.  All the cabinets are white.  The countertop is beige, as is the floor.  I feel like I’ve looked everywhere to find the perfect kitchen curtains and I’m still coming up empty.  I want something light.  Bright.  Fun.  Everything I see is either too dark, too floral, too frou-frou or too predictable.  Open to suggestions – have you got one?  Please say yes.

Chocolate Chip Dream Bars
Recipe courtesy of Betty Crocker’s Baking for Today

Bars

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 bag (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (1 cup)
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips

Chocolate Glaze

• 3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In medium bowl, mix 1/2 cup brown sugar and the butter. Stir in 1 cup flour. Press in ungreased rectangular pan, 13x9x2 inches. Bake 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in medium bowl, mix eggs, 1 cup brown sugar and the vanilla. Stir in 2 tablespoons flour, the baking powder and salt. Stir in semisweet and milk chocolate chips. Spread over crust.
3. Bake bars 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.
4. In 1-quart saucepan, heat all Chocolate Glaze ingredients over low heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate is melted. Drizzle glaze over cooled bars. Refrigerate at least 1 hour until firm. For bars, cut into 8 rows by 4 rows. Store at room temperature.

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