30 Aug Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

I love making cookie bars! With a texture that lies somewhere between a brownie and a cookie, they are deliciously soft and chewy with a crisp crust. Another reason I love them is they are fair bit quicker to make than cookies, as there is no dough-chilling or rolling required. Simply press the mixture into a pan and bake!

These particular cookie bars are flavoured with creamy peanut butter and loaded with chocolate chips. Eat them warm with ice cream for dessert, or snack on them just as they are. There really is no time of day that’s not ideal for enjoying a Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookie Bar!

Ingredients:

(makes 16)

115g salted butter, softened
115g peanut butter
100g white sugar (½ cup)
100g brown sugar (½ cup)
1 large egg
10ml vanilla essence (2 tsp)
175g flour (1¼ cups)
2,5ml bicarbonate of soda (½ tsp)
170g chocolate chips (1 cup)

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a 20 x 20 cm baking tin with baking paper, leaving some overhang on two sides for lifting the bars out later.
• Cream together the butter and peanut butter, then add both sugars. Beat the mixture for at least 3 minutes with an electric or stand mixer. Add the egg and vanilla essence and beat until smooth.
• Stir together the flour and bicarbonate of soda then mix into the creamed mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips.
• Spread the mixture into the prepared tin and sprinkle over some extra chocolate chips if desire. Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden and quite firm. Allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before lifting out and cooling completely on a cooling rack.
• Slice into bars and enjoy as is, or serve warm with ice cream! Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.