Southern FATTY {inspired} Chocolate Chip Shortbread {w/cornflakes and pecans}

I’m not really a big fan of shortbread. It’s OK. But to be quite honest I don’t like dry cookies and shortbread cookies, by basic definition, are a dry cookie. So I don’t make shortbread cookies that often. I think I’ve maybe made three different recipes in the last 5 years or so.

Well all that changed this weekend when I was perusing Pinterest looking for recipes to help me use up this ginormous box of cornflakes I have on hand. There are a shockingly low amount of recipes that use cornflakes I will tell you. But I did find some really amazing looking recipes for cookies that involved cornflakes and marshmallows. I don’t have any marshmallows on hand so I sadly had to move on to other recipes that called for more basic ingredients.

And then I found this gem. A recipe for cookies that contain cornflakes and pecans.

The recipe was more intriguing to me than anything especially after reading the author’s description of how he’s loved them since he was a kid. So I took his recipe for cookies and turned it into one for shortbread bars. Then I added chocolate chips. The result?

Pure awesomeness. See my adaptation of Southern FATTY’s cookie recipe below.

ingredients.

2 c. sugar
1 c. margarine
1 c. shortening
2 tsp. vanilla
3 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cream of tartar
4 c. cornflake cereal (not crushed)
1 c. pecans, chopped
1 c. mini chocolate chips.

directions.

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.
Cream butter, sugar and shortening just until well-combined. Add vanilla, stir to incorporate.
Whisk together flour, baking soda, cream of tartar. Add to margarine mixture and combine until just mixed.
Mix in cornflakes, chocolate chips and pecans very carefully. Don’t overmix. I used my mixer and it crushed my cornflakes; Southern FATTY suggests mixing by hand.
Pour mixture into 9×13 baking pan lined with parchment paper. Pat down so mixture is even. If the dough is too sticky, flour your hands and pat down. Score the pan which means run a knife through the dough to make individual servings. I scored my bars in half down the middle (lengthwise) and then scored the dough widthwise about 10 times, which yielded 20 bars. I could have scored them more evenly to get 22 or even 24 bars though.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. The bottom will be turning golden but the top will probably still be white. It’s OK if your bars are slightly undercooked. In my humble opinion. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 5 or 10 minutes and run the knife through the bars again so that when they are completely cool you can lift the bars from the pan using the parchment paper and break apart easily.
Eat one. And only one. Go ahead. I dare you.

I wasn’t sure how the addition of chocolate chips would be in this recipe but it’s my opinion that you can add chocolate chips to almost any dessert or dessert-like dish (like pancakes) to make it better. I loved these bars as is but would be interested to see how they taste sans chocolate.

I ran my knife through these bars right when they came out of the oven. What can I say? I guess I was excited to try them. This had the odd affect of separating the top crust from the rest of the cookie slightly. Which is why I would recommend letting it cool down and compress on it’s own before you cut into the bars. I know it’s hard not to get excited about eating these bars but you should trust me on this and refrain.

These bars made me love shortbread a bit more than I ever have before. I’ll be bringing them to work and sharing them with my coworkers this week. If I don’t eat them all first.