double chocolate cookie bars

Cookie bars obviously one of my baking obsessions.
I've made countless varieties and don't plan on stopping anytime soon.
I haven't made a chocolate version--say what?
I know!
So I took the version that I use all the time, Jacques Torres version and tweaked it a bit to
make it a chocolate--a double chocolate version.
It came out perfect.
And the same rule of thumb applies to this as it does the original version: the longer the dough sits in the fridge to "marinate" the better the flavor.  The process is almost like a souring process, but in a good way; think of if you were to add a hint of buttermilk to a chocolate chip cookie recipe--a nice gentle, sour/twangy flavor in the background.  So good.
And I'm willing to bet if you find a higher cacao chocolate powder it would be even better.
I used a run of the mill chocolate powder: Ghiradelli, but would love to try it with something better/higher cacao.
Yes, this does look like a brownie, kind of tastes like it too, but very light and far more crisp than a brownie.



For me, this raw version is perfectly fine.




After baking, it truly needs a couple hours to firm up/set up.

If you dig into this straight out of the oven it will be very gooey and delicate—which isn’t a bad thing. But it’s also very good in a harder, cookie-like version. 

double chocolate cookie bars
(loosely based on jacques torres infamous cc cookie recipe)

print recipe

1 ½ cups cake flour

1 ½ cups bread flour

½ cup cocoa powder

1 ¼  ts baking soda

1 ½  ts baking powder

1 ½  ts coarse salt

2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter

½ cup light brown sugar

½ dark brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 ½ cups bittersweet chocolate chips (use one with a high cacao like Ghiradelli)

couple handfuls of chopped pecans (or walnuts), optional

Cook Notes:  

I do not recommend using milk chocolate chips in this recipe—it would be overkill sweetness.

I divided the dough into 2/3 and 1/3 piles, as I wanted the top of the cookie bars to have a nice crunch to them.  The 2/3 is the bottom/pressed in layer, and then the 1/3 is left like a crumble topping—loosely placed on top, as I did with the sprinkling of the nuts.

It truly needs a couple hours to firm up/set up.  If you dig into this straight out of the oven it will be very gooey and delicate—which isn’t a bad thing.  

But it’s also very good in a harder, cookie-like version.

Lastly, you all know by now I don't have a mixer so I did this recipe by hand. 

The dough is very tough and hard to mix, so I used my hands--great workout! 

But if you have a mixer, please go ahead and use it.

Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes.

Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds.

Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them.

Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for at least 4 hours- overnight. I highly recommend chilling overnight to let flavors truly meld together.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 9 x 13 pan with non-stick spray.

Divide dough into 2 piles: 2/3 and 1/3.

Take the 2/3 dough and line the bottom of the baking pan with it, making sure to get all the corners, making sure there aren’t any holes or gaps in the dough.

Take the 1/3 remaining dough and in clumps, place on the top. Also make sure to take any dough and close up any gaps you see in the corners.

Don’t push the crumble down into the dough, just leave it on the top—it’s ok to have spaces in the crumble—gaps are good on the top, it will let crumbles will bake up nice & crisp. If you want to add nuts then sprinkle on a couple handfuls of chopped nuts.

Bake until golden brown but still soft, roughly 25 – 34 minutes.

Look for golden brown edges, non-jiggly middle.

The middle will be a bit soft, but once it completely cools it won’t be as gooey; it sets up really nice.

You really have to let this cool at least an hour before slicing.

Slice with a sharp knife.

Makes about 20-24 bars depending on how you cut them.

friday links

It's been absolutely lovely outside here on cape cod. Our weather is finally turning around for the
better, and I'm making sure to witness it all.

corporation beach, dennis, ma

chatham, ma

chatham, ma

chatham, ma

Quite possibly the best sign of spring after a long, cold, hard winter.

Do you like corn dogs?
How about cheesy baked corn dogs?

Best way to use up those last two apples sitting in the fridge.
Apple-cheddar muffins.

Want to make your own pb eggs for Easter?

Or maybe a homemade coconut egg is more your style?

Or maybe a homemade version of a Nestle Crunch bar? (chemical free)

around the web:

watermelon for sore muscles?
3 easy stretches to start your morning
why do women do this to their eyebrows?
5 second rule on bacteria
clarissa wright of two fat ladies has died (I loved her)
James Beard nominees--congrats all!
henry miller 11 commandments on writing
why you should never quit exercising
bacon, egg & cheese french toast
13 hidden Google tricks
brother loses basketball bet and has to dance in public for 30 minutes (HILARIOUS!)
these gross things are harmless
cinnamon roll sandwich!
what happens to your body when you exercise
sitting around really does give you a bigger bum
thank your gut bacteria for making chocolate good for you
fragmented sleep accelerates cancer growth
oh what I wouldn't give for a josh early easter egg!
fig keplers (like a fig newton but better)
whole grains, fiber & colon cancer
major study exonerates saturated fat
12 hours: travel guides for people like you
20-year old hunter thompson's advice on how to find your purpose
side by side photos of how animals see the world differently than us
a reason NOT to keep hazardous chemicals under the sink (please watch)
bottlenose dolphin gets a nice little rescue from a friend (dolphins are so smart)
genetic link between fried foods & obesity?
7 smart ways to deal with toxic people
DIY salted caramel spread

Have a wonderful weekend!

cinnamon-oatmeal cookies

I swear each time I get on one of those "5-minute let's bake something really healthy kicks" it always turns out to be a butter-laden cookie with sugar and add in's, with only one healthy ingredient involved.
I try, I do, to bake more healthy, crunchy-granola things, but I get distracted when I open the
cupboard to see what items I am craving need to use up.
My brain wanders off thinking 'hey I think I can make a healthy cookie with cinnamon chips!'.
Maybe this is called "baker's attention deficit disorder'?
So here is my "what should be a healthy cookie" aka cinnamon-oatmeal cookies, which btw have oatmeal in there, so we're kind of covered.




Cinnamon and oatmeal in a cookie, you really can't go wrong with that flavor combo.
These are crispy, buttery cookies with a hint of cinnamon.
They would be perfect for ice cream sandwiches filled with a cinnamon ice cream.

cinnamon-oatmeal cookies
recipe from vanillasugarblog.com
based on my salty pumpkin-oatmeal cookie recipe
print recipe

2 ½ sticks unsalted butter, room temp (20 TB)
1 cup light brown sugar, NOT packed
1/2 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup bread flour
1 ½ cups cake flour
1 ts baking powder
1 ts baking soda
1 ts sea salt
3 dashes of cinnamon
1 ½ cups of rolled oats (not quick cooking!)
1/2 cup of cinnamon chips (they are strong so I didn't use a lot)

cook notes:
I used a medium ice cream scoop for the dough balls, you can use a smaller one,
just watch the baking times as they might bake up faster if you make them smaller.
Once the dough is mixed, it really needs to chill and set up.
Normally I do not like the taste of cinnamon chips on their own,
but mixed into a cookie dough they taste really good.
As always I like to remind everyone that I don’t have a mixer, so everything I mix is by hand;
if you have one lucky you!

In a medium bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients including the oats.
In a larger bowl, cream the butter and both sugars; add in the eggs, and mix.
Add dry ingredients to the wet and mix till just combined--don't overmix.
Next, by hand, add in the cinnamon chips.
Cover dough well with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least three hours or overnight.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Line up two baking sheets with parchment paper or whatever method you use for baking cookies.
Using a medium ice cream scoop, scoop out and place on cookie sheet about an two inches apart.
Bake for about 13-15 minutes.
Rotate pans halfway through baking.
You'll know they are done when the bottoms are almost crisp/set up and the tops have a gentle crisp to them. It's really easy to overbake them, so definitely check at the 13-minute mark.
Makes about 25-30 cookies

friday links

Happy Friday!

It's Pi day.  Did you make a pie?
Do you want to make a pie?
Let me entice you with a few of my favorites....

Raspberry-cheddar hand pies. The pie crust is very easy and adaptable to pie or hand pies or pop
tarts!

Or maybe a savory beef & cheddar hand pies?

A list of pies wouldn't be complete without a blueberry pie in there.
This one is blueberry-toasted coconut pie.

Salty caramel-apple pie

Someone was trying to help me eat my lunch.
He got really close.

Pretty cool to see them this close.

Here on cape cod, after we shovel out the snow, we shovel out the sand.

This flag has made it through the winter.
Last winter, the flag left early, and last winter was not as long and rough as this one, so I'm
curious how this flag has made it this long.


These harbors have been quiet; hard to think that a couple months from now all this
'ghost-town'-ness will be busy again.

I almost went in. When I took this shot, it was a freak-weather kind of day with 53 degrees out
and sunny. But the ocean temp is 34-36 degrees!

This is how I want my cupboards to look (photo from latest King Arthur Flour catalog)

Around the Web:

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what does healthy really mean?
is Vit. C heat-sensitive?
18 healthy brown bag lunches
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should I ever take up knitting, this is what I will make: arctic wrap (gorgeous!)
mummified remains (6+ years) of a woman missing found in garage
smashed garbanzo bean breakfast quesadillas 
DIY craft: paper plate basket
crappy engagement photos (hilarious!)
cup-o-noodles man is shoveling snow (great pic)
best time to take creatine
yoga for back pain: interview with instructor
what's the difference: steel cut oats, rolled oats & quick oats
magnesium: the missing link to better health
how to learn better at any age
is your kitchen making you sick or fat?
new tick-borne disease found
raw chocolate-coated caramel YOLO balls
coconut muffins made with coconut oil
peach + marzipan hand pies
the dark psychology of being a good comedian
which foods are the most flammable?
(touching article) ' to the man who judged me on the westfield track'
what are prebiotics? How important are they compared to probiotics?
tips & hints for natural hair care
hidden dangers in personal care products
snacks, supplements & scents to help you sleep
14 terrible pies in celebration of pi day
who owns the moon?
salted caramel peanut pie
does sunshine help lower blood pressure?
25 hilarious tweets of people posting their problems
DIY lunchbox using a milk jug
7 little mistakes that steal your happiness
the sunlight you don't see but your cat does
on march 11, the world wide web turned 25
bay leaf pound cake
the quiet greatness of eudora welty
scrabble contest seeks new words
what does the term 'successful writer' mean to you?
creativity & madness: on writing through the drugs
7 secrets how creative people stay innovative
cronut creator has now made 'milk & cookie' cookie
'stuff being thrown at my head' by kaija straumanis


Have a wonderful weekend!

2-ingredient cookie

The 2-ingredient cookie.
Have you heard of it?
Have you tried it?
I did.
And my results?
It needs more ingredients.

Who doesn't love a fast and easy cookie recipe?
Even I loved the list of ingredients that read: ripe bananas and rolled oats*.
(*And hey, since I get asked this all the time: rolled oats are the same as old fashioned oats).
So smitten with the list in fact that I didn't listen to my gut when it said "this will suck...there is
no sugar in there...".
Yeah it wasn't good--at all. Tasted like mashed, wet cardboard.

So the first batch went to the round file, and the second batch got an uplift by adding in a little peanut butter, pecans and chocolate. Much better.
Literally you can add in anything--AND I suggest you do.
Chocolate helps--a lot. And my addition of peanut butter helped too.

Where did this recipe come from?
I think it started on Oprah or O Magazine a couple years ago?
I saw it for the first time here at Foodlets.com





2-ingredient cookies
print recipe

cookie base:
2 very ripe bananas
1 cup old-fashioned oats

add in's:
dried cranberries, walnuts, pecans, peanut butter, raisins, etc..
(about 1/4 cup of each)

cook notes:
if you are adding in peanut butter, add in an additional 1 TB of oats for every 1/4 cup
of peanut butter. The cookies do not spread at all while baking, they actually keep the exact same
shape they had in dough form, so you might want to push the cookies down into a uniform circle.
I added in a pinch of salt to the dough if I added chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mash the bananas well.  Add in the oats and stir.
Then add in your add in's, mix again.
I covered the bowl and place in fridge to firm up.
Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop out balls onto parchment lined baking sheet, about an inch apart. Cookies don't spread at all, so you need to gently push the dough balls down a bit to get them round.   Bake for about 11-15 minutes. Hard to know when they are done, but look for set dough.