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End of last year I read in one of my cooking magazines that cookie bars will have a revival in the year 2011. I was wondering if any of you might know why they ever went out of style?
Personally, I think, that a cookie bar is a very time saving baked good. All of the dough gets pressed into a baking dish and you are done. “How easy is that?” (Ina would have definitely said that!) No measuring and dropping individual cookies on a baking sheet. That sounds great to me.
Here is my very first homemade cookie bar. I decided to go with a healthy version of a walnut chocolate chip bar using whole wheat pastry flour instead of regular flour. You could switch the nut to almond or pecan and also add some dried fruits of your choice for a chewier bar.
Ingredients:
* 1 cup (120 g) walnuts, toasted
* 4 tablespoons (57 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
* 2 tablespoons (30 ml) canola oil
* 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (75 g) granulated sugar
* 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (75 g) light brown sugar
* 1 large egg
* 1 teaspoon (5 ml) pure vanilla extract
* 1 1/2 cups (180 g) whole wheat pastry flour
* 1/2 teaspoon (2.4 g) baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon (2.4 g) kosher salt
* 1 cup (160 g) semisweet chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C). Line a 9-by-13 inch ( about 23-by-33 cm) baking dish with parchment paper.
Mix the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
In kitchen machine or a hand held mixer, beat butter, oil and both sugars until creamy. Mix in the vanilla and egg. Scrape the bowl and sooth out the dough. Add the flour mixture at low speed until just combined. Stir in the nuts and chocolate chips until incorporated.
Press the dough into an even layer into the parchment lined baking dish. Bake for about 20 minutes, until lightly browned and almost set in the center.
Let the bar cool in the baking dish, lift it out with the parchment paper and cut into cookie sized slices.
Inspired by a recipe from Food&Wine magazine March 2011.
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
The bar looks perfectly baked! Would love to have a piece right now, I'm drooling over your photos! Looks really, really, good… !
These look amazing! I'd love to have a few of these right now.
If bars have gone out of style, I certainly didn't know; as you said, they are so easy to make. Brownies certainly are a bar and they haven't lost their appeal.
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I absolutely love this kind of blondie bar and find them totally addictive! Great recipe!
You had me at walnuts! I can never resist them, these look fabulous!!
They look divine!
Ooh these look good! Wishing I had one (or 5) of those right about now
I have no idea why bar cookies fell out of fashion, good question!
I've always loved cookie bars too. They are so easy and delicious. This is a definite crowd pleaser!
I've never tried cookies in a bar-form. This looks great! Next time I will bake my cookies in bar-form.
Cookie bars went out of style? Oopsie … I never was one to be moulded into the latest wave though so I've always loved making these kinds of treats. My mother in law is in hospital at the moment and I reckon these guys would be just the thing to help cheer her up a bit. Thanks for sharing.
I agree, as far as I'm concerned, cookies have always been in style. As always these look wonderful Kirsten. If I lived any closer to you I'd weigh about 2 billion pounds.
Oh my gosh, I could eat the entire sheet of those! They look amazing!
Those look just wonderful! Walnuts and chocolate speak to me:) This is my first visit to your blog – found you through A Spicy Perspective. Lovely header photo – I used to live in Denver and think of it often. I'll be back!
I'm not much of a cookie baker because I find them to be too much trouble but I don't mind baking bars either. These really look great.
oooh – sounds yummy. They'd be terrific with pecans. I ADORE pecans !
siliconemoulds.blogspot.com
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I don't bake cookie bars very often, but I certainly don't think they were ever out of style either. They are timeless in my opinion.
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Das Rezept schaut klasse aus. Wird mitgenommen
Ich wuensche Dir einen schoenen Freitag!
funny … my wife has been claiming for a while that she hates walnuts. too bitter. but she didn't know i had been sneaking them into some cookies and bars for a while now. then she had a salad with some sort of caramelized walnuts, which gave her the confidences to try them straight up again … leading to a recent announcement that she now loves walnuts. "I knew that," I replied. "Huh? How?"
"Because you've been eating them in my granola, cookies, and whatnot for years now." Cheers!
I'm first time in ypor blog and I must say,,its a wonderful blog.I luv baking cakes,,tons of breads and cakes are just drool worthy.luv to follow your blog,
Happy cooking,
Nikki
titilating-tastebud.blogspot.com
If only i cant take it home right away i would do it lol….