This is no exaggeration. I am hanging up my chocolate chip cookie recipes for good.
I have always found most cookies a bit disappointing - sometimes marketed as chewy, often tasting like unbaked dough and at other times as hard as cardboard, I had resigned to live a life devoid of cookie nirvana.
Sure enough! The first bite into these and my 8 year old son proclaimed,"Mum, you must name these something with Pizazz" and I wholeheartedly agreed. After all, mine are not blond nor do have any roots to Congolese cuisine. You see, the reason they are not blond is because I hesitate using white chocolate since cacao beans are well, not white so white chocolate seems to me akin to the result of some freaky experiment gone wrong, so I'd rather just avoid and stick to very brown, semi sweet chocolate chips.
Now this post is especially dedicated to the youngest reader of my blog - 10 year old, Aman. He sent me a lovely email after fixing my shortbread recipe and not only did he have rave reviews, he had a delightful story to share where he made his Mum's life rather difficult by refusing to do the baking till she did a grocery run and procured all of the ingredients as per the recipe - no substitutions! Sorry Mum!
He has also asked for another recipe, easy enough for him to fix in time for going back to school. So here's to Aman & back to school Choconut bars!
all purpose flour, semi-sweet chocolate chips, light brown sugar, sweetened coconut flakes, coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans, pure vanilla extract, cold milk, unsalted butter, baking powder, eggs and salt.
Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.
Prepare the ingredients:
Nuts and coconut flakes: Measure out 1 cup of the nuts and 1 cup coconut flakes and keep separate. The first step is to toast these.
To do this, on a baking tray lined with parchment paper spread the nuts. Place in the preheated oven for about 7 minutes.
Now add the coconut flakes and toast for another 7 minutes till lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven immediately and allow to cool.
Butter - Melt the butter in the microwave in a safe dish and allow to cool completely before using.
Leave the oven on at 350 deg F.
Gather a large mixing bowl and a medium sized mixing bowl.
Using the medium sized mixing bowl, sieve the flour, salt and baking powder into the bowl.
In the larger bowl, add the butter and the light brown sugar.
With a hand immersion blender, pulse for a minute or so till the butter and sugar is blended.
Add one egg at a time and blend till combined using the immersion blender. Add the other egg and do the same. The mixture turns smooth and light resembling butterscotch.
To the mixture add the pure vanilla extract and stir with a spatula to combine. Add the the sieved flour mixture to this.
Using a rubber spatula keep folding the mixture, scraping the sides of the bowl and turning the bowl so all the flour is blended in. Stir till the flour is well blended into the mix but do not overwork the mix.
Add the chocolate chips to the mixture and stir with the spatula so the chips are thoroughly coated with the batter.
Add the toasted nuts and coconut flakes into the batter. Once again stir with the spatula so the ingredients are well combined.
If the mixture is too stiff and hard to mix like it was in my case, add 2 tbs cold milk and once again stir with the spatula till well mixed.
Line a 9" x 13" metal baking pan with a large, seamless sheet of aluminum foil. Have the foil overlap the sides of the pan so you can lift out the sheet after baking.
Spoon out the thick batter into the baking pan and keep spreading out into all the corners. Smooth the batter as best you can so it is in a uniform layer.
Bake in a pre-heated oven for 22-25 minutes just so the top is lightly brown. Do not overbake. Remove from the the oven and allow to cool a bit so you handle the foil sides.
Carefully peel away the foil and transfer the choconut sheet onto a baking rack allowing it to cool.
Cut into bars and serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
For later use, allow the bars to cool completely and then store in an airtight container.
The perfect combination of chewy and gooey, these bars are as good as it gets!
The most surprising element to these are that they don't taste overpowering at all. I promise these will be enjoyed by those who also claim to not love coconut, chocolate or nuts!
Though the wonderful texture is attributed to the coconut, it is not at all overpowering. Same for the nuts, a nice occasional crunch and the chocolate adds the just right touch of gooey goodness.
To truly enjoy them don't forget to pop them in the microwave for 20 seconds to warm them up a bit and then enjoy with a glass of cold milk or ice cream! Yummy!
Recipe
for
Choconut Bars
Preparation time - 15 minutes
Cooking Time - 20-25 minutes
Makes 15#, 2 inch square bars
Shopping
list
1 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut flakes
1-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1-1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tbs pure vanilla extract (not a typo)
1 cup semi-sweet dark chocolate chips
Preparation -Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.
To do this, on a baking tray lined with parchment paper spread the nuts. Place in the preheated oven for about 7 minutes.
Now add the coconut flakes and toast for another 7 minutes till lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven immediately and allow to cool.
Butter - Melt the butter in the microwave in a safe dish and allow to cool completely before using.
Leave the oven on.
Cooking Method-
Gather a large mixing bowl and a medium sized mixing bowl.
Using the medium sized mixing bowl, sieve the flour, salt and baking powder into the bowl.
In the larger bowl, add the butter and the light brown sugar.
With a hand immersion blender, pulse for a minute or so till the butter and sugar is blended.
Add one egg at a time and blend till combined using the immersion blender. Add the other egg and do the same. The mixture turns smooth and light resembling butterscotch.
To the mixture add the pure vanilla extract and stir with a spatula to combine. Add the the sieved flour mixture to this.
Using a rubber spatula keep folding the mixture, scraping the sides of the bowl and turning the bowl so all the flour is blended in. Stir till the flour is well blended into the mix but do not overwork the mix.
Add the chocolate chips to the mixture and stir with the spatula so the chips are thoroughly coated with the batter.
Add the toasted nuts and coconut flakes into the batter. Once again stir with the spatula so the ingredients are well combined.
If the mixture is too stiff and hard to mix like it was in my case, add 2 tbs cold milk and once again stir with the spatula till well mixed.
Line a 9" x 13" metal baking pan with a large, seamless sheet of aluminum foil. Have the foil overlap the sides of the pan so you can lift out the sheet after baking.
Spoon out the thick batter into the baking pan and keep spreading out into all the corners. Smooth the batter as best you can so it is in a uniform layer.
Bake in a pre-heated oven for 22-25 minutes just so the top is lightly brown. Do not over bake. Remove from the the oven and allow to cool a bit so you handle the foil sides.
Carefully peel away the foil and transfer the choconut sheet onto a baking rack allowing it to cool.
Cut into bars and serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
For later use, allow the bars to cool completely and then store in an airtight container.
Enjoy!
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