Updated 4.8.2018.
There’s one department at my company that you can always count on to have food – and thankfully I have three friends in the department. One day last week I asked two of my friends if they had anything savory for me to eat. Unbeknownst to me, they were in the midst of a department potluck (celebrating 12.12.12). They saved me by providing me with a bag of Juanita’s tortilla chips. The next day one of them even brought a jar of queso. I love queso so much I could drink it.
To thank them for the chips and queso (and all of the other times they supply me with food from their potlucks), I decided to bake them a treat. Buuuuut I never brought it in for them to eat.
ingredients.
- 1 c. plus 2 T. flour
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. salt
- ¾ c. firmly packed brown sugar
- ½ c. butter, softened
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 egg
- ⅔ c. semi sweet chocolate chips + ⅓ to ½ c. whipping cream
- ½ c. chopped nuts (optional)
directions.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, butter and vanilla; beat until creamy. Add egg; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture; mix well. Stir in nuts, if using.
- Spread into foil-lined or parchment paper lined 9-inch square baking pan. Place 9 to 12 squares of chocolate covered caramel in rows in the pan (3×3 or 4×3).
- Bake 18-20 minutes. Remove from oven.
- Mix ⅔ cup chocolate chips with whipping cream and microwave on high in 30 second spurts until chocolate begins to melt and stirring together yields a smooth ganache. Spread with spatula onto the bars and sprinkle with flakey sea salt. Let cool completely and cut into 9 or 12 pieces.
The original recipe says to bake for 23 to 25 minutes. Not sure why I followed directions, because I always underbake; buuuuuut I baked for 23 minutes. They turned out a tad too ‘done’ and brown for me, which is why I didn’t bring them in to share with my coworkers. I changed the recipe above to reflect a lesser cook time. Trust me – you’ll thank me.
Recipe rating:
Food Snob 