Chocolate Highlander Cookie Bars by JoAnne Fluke in Strawberry Shortcake Murder
As part of my series on "The opposite of a great truth is also true," I present one part of the next set of contradictory truths:
Follow The Recipe
I enjoy eating. I'm not what I'd consider a food snob -- after all, the dish that says "home" to me is Granny's fried chicken and biscuits made with Crisco (and gravy, so there!). While growing up, my dad spoiled me with hot chocolate chip cookies, and every December my mom had me baking holiday treats like a machine (one year I made at least ten pumpkin rolls). But once I was grown and gone, Dad's endless supply of chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, and "loaded oatmeal" cookies, well, ended.
Alas, my sweet tooth did not.
Thus began my baking odyssey. Baking is a therapeutic activity for me. I love the precise measurements, the rhythm of mixing things by hand, the magic of a melange of ingredients going into the oven and being transformed by heat into something delicious (usually).
After surgery, one of the things I missed most was baking. So on Saturday, Mark did the heavy work and we made a recipe from one of the mysteries I read while recuperating the first week. In the interest of full disclosure, I'll confess I tweaked the recipe a smidge: I added some cinnamon to the chocolate layer. But other than that, I followed the recipe. And it's safe to say that the end result was magical. A dense, not-too-sweet chocolate layer atop a perfect shortbread crust. I highly recommend using Ghiardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips -- it's what Daddy uses so it's got to be okay.
Here's the recipe, which is almost verbatim out of the book but not given proper credit on the Web site I copied/pasted from (link at the end of the post):
Ingredients
Directions
Read more: http://caloriecount.about.com/chocolate-highlander-cookie-bars-recipe-r61710#ixzz0m9qPZsfZ
Warning: if you go to this Web site, you'll find out just how unhealthy these cookies are. So why torture yourself?
Follow The Recipe
I enjoy eating. I'm not what I'd consider a food snob -- after all, the dish that says "home" to me is Granny's fried chicken and biscuits made with Crisco (and gravy, so there!). While growing up, my dad spoiled me with hot chocolate chip cookies, and every December my mom had me baking holiday treats like a machine (one year I made at least ten pumpkin rolls). But once I was grown and gone, Dad's endless supply of chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, and "loaded oatmeal" cookies, well, ended.
Alas, my sweet tooth did not.
Thus began my baking odyssey. Baking is a therapeutic activity for me. I love the precise measurements, the rhythm of mixing things by hand, the magic of a melange of ingredients going into the oven and being transformed by heat into something delicious (usually).
After surgery, one of the things I missed most was baking. So on Saturday, Mark did the heavy work and we made a recipe from one of the mysteries I read while recuperating the first week. In the interest of full disclosure, I'll confess I tweaked the recipe a smidge: I added some cinnamon to the chocolate layer. But other than that, I followed the recipe. And it's safe to say that the end result was magical. A dense, not-too-sweet chocolate layer atop a perfect shortbread crust. I highly recommend using Ghiardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips -- it's what Daddy uses so it's got to be okay.
Here's the recipe, which is almost verbatim out of the book but not given proper credit on the Web site I copied/pasted from (link at the end of the post):
Ingredients
| 1 | c butter (softened) |
| 1/2 | c powdered sugar |
| 1/4 | tsp salt |
| 2 | c flour |
| 4 | eggs (beaten) |
| 1 | c butter, melted (cooled to room temp) |
| 1 | c sugar |
| 1 | tsp baking powder |
| 1/4 | tsp salt |
| 1/2 | c flour |
| 2 1/2 | c chocolate chips |
| 1/3 | c powdered sugar |
- First cream butter with 1/2 c powdered sugar and salt. Add flour and mix well. Pat it out in a greased 9 x 13 pan with fingers.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. That makes the shortbread crust. Remove from oven.
- Second mix eggs with melted butter and white sugar. Add baking powder, salt and flour, and mix thoroughly. Melt the chocolate chips in double boiler. (Be sure to stir chips may maintain their shape even after they're melted.) Add melted chocolate to bowl and mix thoroughly.
- Pour this mixture on top of the pan just baked and tip the pan so it covers all of the shortbread crust. Stick back in oven and bake for another 25 minutes. Then remove and sprinkle with additional powdered sugar.
- Let cool thoroughly and cut into brownie-sized bars. You can refrigerate these, but cut them before you do. (They're pretty solid when cold.)
Read more: http://caloriecount.about.com/chocolate-highlander-cookie-bars-recipe-r61710#ixzz0m9qPZsfZ
Warning: if you go to this Web site, you'll find out just how unhealthy these cookies are. So why torture yourself?
I remember those pumpkin rolls well! And I'm excited but not surprised to discover that we love baking for the same reasons. As for your recipe: chocolate + shortbread? I'll definitely be baking some of these!
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