Candy Bar Cookie Bars

This is me finding a solution to your Halloween candy dilemma. It’s a problem, right? I mean… how are we supposed to live surrounded by the mini Snickers bars? It’s entirely distracting. Snickers breakfast lunch and dinner. Let’s not talk about it. Instead, let’s add butter and flour and disguise our Halloween stash into chewy sweet and salty cookie bars… all suited and booted for sharing and giving.

Suit and boot. That’s what we do around here.

Let’s meditate on the simplicity of this recipe.

Ok… that’s enough, we’ve got cookie bars to get in the oven.

Think of these cookie bars as a giant press-in chocolate chip. Buttery, crisp around the edges, filled with an obscene amount of candy. You know how we do.

Eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract are the usual suspects.

We’re blending molasses into granulated sugar to deepen the flavor of the cookie bars. That hint of base bitterness is just the ticket.

Yes… there’s still hella candy.

Whisked eggs, butter, and vanilla meets flour, sugar, and leavening. Stir stir!

The batter will be rather thick and glossy. That’s right. Stir in a handful of candy and press into the pan for baking… but not before adding like waaaay more chocolate.

Baked up chewy and golden. All the candy, baked in bars, for sharing (and caring).

12 bars

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons molasses
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups coarsely chopped Halloween candy
• coarse sea salt for topping

Instructions

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 9x13-inch baking pan. Line with parchment paper, leaving two flaps hanging over the edges of the pan. Grease and flour the parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a separate small bowl use your fingers to work together sugar and molasses until no molasses clumps remain and the sugar is tinted a light brown. Add the sugar to the dry ingredients and stir.
4. In a separate medium bowl whisk together melted butter, eggs, and vanilla extract.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine. Mixture will be thick and glossy.
6. Stir in a scant 1 cup of coarsely chopped candy.
7. Use your fingers to evenly press the dough into the pan. Top with the remaining chopped candy.
8. Bake for 27 to 30 minutes until golden brown and cooked through. Allow to cool for 15 minutes in the pan before slicing into bars. Wrap individually and store at room temperature for up to three days.

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