Triple Treat Cookie Bars

 
Sometimes I like to bake a little something special for The Captain on the weekend.  He has been talking about caramel lately.  I was pretty sure he would be happy with butterscotch so after our 5 km run, and then breakfast and clean up on Sunday morning, we did a little trip to the Bulk Barn. He found some Easter Candy treats for himself and I found some raisins, a variety of baking chips, some gluten-free tamari soy sauce, and some spices.  

Gummy Bunnies and Paste Candy Corns

Ever had lemon-flavored baking chips?  Me neither so I couldn’t resist buying a few… and the Bulk Barn is one of the few places I ever find peanut butter chips so I made sure to stock up on them as well.  I am gonna use some of them to make an ‘icing’ for one of Lee’s Double Chocolate Paleo Brownies later this week.  You all know how much I love those!

But these bars I ended up making for The Captain don’t have either of those baking chips in them… instead I used butterscotch, semi-sweet dark chocolate, and Greek yogurt chips so I call it Triple Threat Treat.  This is an adaptation of an old recipe I have had around for many many years and really cannot give credit to anyone for it. I think it may have even come from my Mother at one point.  That would make it pretty old.

I alter it as I need to, by adding spices, nuts, raisins, different baking chips, M&Ms, and sprinkles, and it always turns out just great!  This particular batter is very plain because I wanted the flavor of the baking chips to be the stars of the show… but sweet spices such as cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger are very nice too if you are using raisins and nuts.

I also use less sugar than I once did so that the batter is not very sweet.  Adjust according to your own tastes... you could use up to another 1/2 cup of sugar if you like.

Experiment!  Use different combinations of chips; add nuts; add candy.  Go crazy!

I purposely did not make these gluten-free so that I wouldn’t be tempted to eat them.  Yeah, I do know my own limits... But you certainly could use a G-F all purpose flour if you want.

Triple Treat Cookie Bars
Makes one 9 X 13 inch pan

• 3/4 cup of butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• dash of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup butterscotch chips
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt chips

1. Preheat the oven to 325° F.
2. Cream the butter and sugars together in a large bowl.
3. Add the eggs, vanilla and salt. Beat well.
4. Mix in flour in 2 or 3 batches and blend well after each addition.
5. Add the baking chips and stir to distibute them through the thick batter.
6. Spread batter in a 9 X 13 inch pan that has been coated with non-stick spray.
7. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden and batter pulls away from edges of pan.
8. Cool on rack several minutes before cutting.

Yes, you really MUST wait a few minutes before digging in, otherwise you will burn your mouth.

Now this is not a Weight Watcher’s friendly recipe at all.  It is pretty decadent.  But I am gonna share the N.I. with you anyway and you can decide for yourself whether or not you want to make them.  Of course you can always cut them smaller too!

Per serving of 1/40th of recipe.
Weight Watchers P+ = 3.
Calories 132; Protein 2g; Carbohydrate 16g; Fat 6g; Fibre 0g.

See how thick this batter is?

I wet my fingers and patted the dough into the corners.

Still bubbling, just out of the oven. Actually I think my oven must have been a bit too hot this batch cause the edges are so dark.  But The Captain like them anyway!

Printable Recipe

 

What are your favorite flavors of baking chips?