Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

One of my favorite things about being home with DJ for the summer is getting him in the kitchen. Even with my posts for the National Dairy Council, I love getting students involved in cooking. It incorporates so many concepts - measurement with the spoons and cups, teaching about mixtures, and of course kitchen safety (the drawer of knives is a no-no.) 

Today, we used up some extra chocolate chips that we had laying around to make chocolate chip cookie bars. Actually, I made the bars. He was more concerned with eating the chocolate chips while they were waiting to be put in the batter and making steam with the hot water. He doesn't mind eating these cookie bars though, especially if there's a scoop or two of ice cream involved! Hm...ice cream...banana splits...sounds like the perfect lead in to tomorrow's lunch. Yes, lunch. See you tomorrow! 



Ingredients
2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips
Sea salt, for sprinkling over bars-optional

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 9x13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the melted butter and sugars together until combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix on low, just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Pour cookie dough into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the spatula. Sprinkle cookie bars very lightly with sea salt, if desired. Bake cookie bars for 25-30 minutes or until the top of the bars are light golden brown and the edges start to pull away from the pan. Cool bars on a wire rack to room temperature. Cut bars into squares and serve.


Source: Two Peas and their Pod