Happy - Week 5 - Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

I love love love chocolate chip cookies but hate hate hate making cookies. It's just too time consuming scooping out the cookies dough onto the cookie sheet and don't even get me started on remembering to take the cookies out of the oven at just the right time, one second to soon and they are too gooey and one second to late you end you with chocolate chip hockey pucks. Sooo I'm always on the lookout for good cookie bar recipes, so much easier to smoosh the dough into a cake pan, bake, and slice. 

I have tried several different recipes and last week we had 3 foster kids here for respit so I thought I would try a one that I saw on a blog I follow Skip To My Lou and had been saving. The kids liked them, my hubby liked them, I thought they were okay but too cakey (if that's a word) for me. I wanted something soft and chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside, you know just like the perfect chocolate chip cookie. Is that really too much to ask for?????

Well I think I found it...I searched on Just a Pinch Recipes, which is a very cool site and if you have never checked it out you must do so!! Anyways, I found a recipe there sounded and looked good so I tried it.  And it was perfect!!!!! 

So what made me happy this past week? 

The perfect chocolate chip cookie bars!!!

Here's what mine looked like sliced hot ... (after I ate several bites)

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

• 2 1/8 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 12 tablespoons butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted and cooled slightly
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Adjust the oven rack to lower-middle position.
2. Line a 9X13-inch baking pan with foil, letting the excess hang over the edges of the pan by about 1 inch so you can grab those edges and pull the bars from the pan after they have baked. Spray the foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.
3. Mix the flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside. Whisk the melted butter and sugars in a large bowl until combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix well.
4. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until just combined; do not overmix. Fold in the chocolate chips and turn the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the spatula.
5. Bake until the top of the bars is light golden brown, slightly firm to the touch, and edges start pulling away from sides of pan, 24-28 minutes. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature.
6. Remove the bars from the pan by lifting the foil overhang and transfer them to a cutting board. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.

 * I didn't have enough brown sugar so I used 1/4 c. brown sugar and 1 1/4 c. white sugar and added a drop of molasses. Also I cut the better down a few tablespoons and didn't use 2 cups of choc chips, just pored some in till it looked like enough.