Double Chocolate Cranberry Bars

I made these bar cookies for dessert when Jenny and her family came for dinner and that night I think I was really full because they tasted good, but didn’t knock my socks off. But they must have gotten better because over the next couple of days Curtis and I (well let’s be honest here, it was mostly me!) managed to polish off the rest of the pan. I’d put these in the same category as the coconut cookies we love so much. Curtis keeps hinting I should make them again soon!

I used kosher salt which I think gave them that addictive combination of salty and sweet. And the cranberries offset all the chocolate with a little bit of tartness. They’re quick and easy, so I’m planning to make a batch before Thanksgiving so we’ll have cookies to share with our crew of out of towners.



Double Chocolate Cranberry Bars
Food & Wine (November 2011)

Gooey Chocolate Layer

Ingredients:
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
One 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Line the dish with parchment paper, leaving 1 inch of overhang on the long sides.
In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate chips in the sweetened condensed milk over low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the vanilla and let cool to room temperature.

Dried Cranberry and White Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 ½ sticks unsalted butter (10 ounces), at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 ½ cups white chocolate chips (I only used 1 cup)
1 ½ cups dried cranberries

In a medium bowl, mix the flour with the oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter and both sugars at medium speed until creamy. Add the egg followed by the egg yolk and vanilla, beating well between additions and scraping down the side of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the dry ingredients, then add the white chocolate chips and cranberries and beat until incorporated.

To make the bars:

Press half of the cookie dough into the prepared baking dish. Pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the dough and spread evenly. Top with small dollops of the remaining cookie dough; don't worry if the dollops don't completely cover the chocolate mixture. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 350, until the top is lightly browned. Let cool completely before cutting into bars.