If you read my blog or check out my recipe index, you will see that I love, love, love (did I say love!) bar cookies. Why do I love bar cookies so much: they are easy to make, and you only need to bake one pan thus saving on electricity; they can be “down home” or “uptown” depending on the recipe; you can freeze them without cutting them into bars, thaw and then cut them for fresh cookie taste.
Because I love bar cookies so much, I have decided that my 12 Christmas treats for 2013 will be bar cookies. Each week I will share a different bar cookie recipe. Some will be for 9x13-inch pans and some for 10x15-inch pans. I hope that each of you finds one or two new favorites in the bunch.
This first bar cookie was adapted from a Pillsbury Bake-Off recipe that was submitted sometime in the first 18 years of the Bake-Off. That would have been from the late 1940’s to the late 1960’s. The recipe comes from Pillsbury”s Bake-Off Cookie Book. My copy is well used, missing its covers and half the index.
This is a cookie for the person who cannot make up their mind what they want. Want a brownie, it’s in there; want a graham cracker, it’s in there, want a chocolate chip cookie, it’s in there. No matter what you’re craving this cookie has you covered.
I used Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa for a deep chocolate flavor, but regular cocoa is OK. I also used mini semi-sweet chocolate chips because I wanted chips in every bit, but regular chips are OK, too.
Graham Cracky Bars
1 3/4 c. all purpose flour
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. baking soda
3/4 c. butter, softened
1 c. sugar
1/3 c. milk
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
2 T. cocoa (I used Hershey’s Special Dark)
1 T. vegetable oil
3/4 c. chopped toasted pecans or walnuts
15 single graham crackers
1 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (regular can be used instead)
In the bowl of a electric mixer, combine flour, salt, soda, butter, sugar, milk, eggs and vanilla. Mix at medium speed until well blended. Remove half of the dough to a medium mixing bowl. Mix together the cocoa and the vegetable oil. Add to the dough in the mixer bowl and mix at medium speed until cocoa mixture is well blended in. Stir in pecans or walnuts by hand and spread chocolate mixture evenly in the bottom of a foil-lined and greased 9x13-inch pan. Arrange the graham crackers over the chocolate dough. Add the chocolate chips to the dough in the medium bowl and mix until well blended. Drop dough by tablespoons over the crackers and spread carefully and evenly to cover. It may help to use a metal spatula that has been dipped in water to do this. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overbake. Cool and cut into bars. Makes about 36 bars.
To see the other treats that fellow bloggers have shared this week, check out the links below. If you would like to join us for the next 11 weeks or whenever you can, the information about joining the fun is here.
Linking to these great parties:
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