Given the success of the Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars, I thought I would experiment by trying it with another cookie recipe, one the my wife enjoys immensely. While both cookie recipes are stellar, the speed and ease of making them in bar form is hard to pass up. There’s no chilling, no messy hands, no worrying about over-baking. I made these cookies and a batch of the Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars (with mini M&Ms) in about 30 minutes with another 30-40 minutes of baking time.

The only adjustments I made to the recipe were to use melted butter, to add an egg yolk, and to swap half of the cocoa powder with special dark cocoa powder. I didn’t incorporate any Rolos, although I debated pressing one into each anticipated bar, nor did I add chocolate chips. Instead, I added white chocolate and butterscotch chips for a contrast of color and flavor. Ultimately, you can add whatever candy you’d like.

These Dark Chocolate Cookie Bars took about 10 minutes longer to bake than the Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars using 8×8 inch pans. I let them cool for about 90 minutes at room temperature then stuck them in the fridge for an hour or so before cutting.

I would characterize the experiment as a success. In my opinion, these bars are not quite as good as the Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars, but they are very good. My wife liked them both and would not give me any indication which ones she thought were the best. I think that I will tinker a bit more with the recipe to try to make the bars more chewy, perhaps increasing the brown sugar ratio and increasing the butter in lieu of the milk.

DARK CHOCOLATE COOKIE BARS
Based on this recipe.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
1/3 cup (29 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup (29 g) special dark cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (100 g) dark brown sugar
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. whole milk
1 1/2 cups (270 g) chocolate chips/candy (I used half white chocolate, half butterscotch)
Coarse salt to top

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 8×8 or 9×9 inch pan with parchment paper or foil, and lightly grease. Set aside
2. In a medium bowl, sift flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together melted butter and sugars.
4. Whisk in the egg, yolk, and vanilla.
5. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, then stir in the milk.
6. Fold in the chips/candy.
7. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly with spatula.
8. Add a few chips/candy for decoration, if desired, then sprinkle with coarse salt.
9. Bake 35-40 minutes (mine took 40 minutes), or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet for 1 hour to cool completely.

NOTE:

• After cooling. chill in refrigerator for 30-60 minutes before cutting for the cleanest edges.