Chocolate on Chocolate on Chocolate Bars

  • Chocolate on Chocolate on Chocolate BarsIf you haven’t figured it out, these bars have three layers of chocolate.  Some might think it’s excessive to have three layers of cocoa goodness going on in one meager bar, but these are the people that we don’t want to associate with anyways.  Bring on the layers, I say, and make them thick… so thick that a fork is helpful (but not necessary- you can be a pig and use your chocolate-covered fingers).

    Why three layers?  I feel like I have been remiss in the chocolate department as of late, making sweets & treats for others that for some reason haven’t involved chocolate.  (I did attempt to use chocolate in the Mayan Brownies for May 5th, but they were aptly re-named Mistake-o do Mayo Brownies for good reason.  So I was due for a successful chocolate spell.)

    This is a true recipe for Chocoholics.  Go for it.  Indulge.  Give in to the call of the chocolate on chocolate on chocolate.  And good luck.

    BASE:

    1 1/2 cups crushed chocolate shortbread cookie crumbs (see recipe for The Classic Shortbread Cookie, and notes below for adaptations)

    1/4 cup melted butter

    CENTER:

    1 can sweetened condensed milk

    2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips (or 12 oz. from chopped block)

    1/4 cup melted butter

    3/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

    TOPPING:

    1 1/2 cups milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips (or 9 oz. from chopped block)

    1. Preheat oven to 350° and grease a foil-lined 8 or 9″ baking pan.
    2. In a medium bowl, melt 1/4 cup butter and stir in crushed cookie crumbs (whirl cookies in a food processor until they resemble fine crumbs, or place cookies in a ziploc bag and pulverize/roll with a rolling pin).  Press into prepared pan, and bake for 8 – 10 minutes (until fragrant in a chocolatey-baking sort of way).
    3. In a medium bowl (the original bowl is just fine), combine sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, butter and vanilla, then microwave for 2 minutes and stir.  Microwave for additional 15 second increments if necessary to melt chips or butter.  Stir well and spread evenly over cookie base.
    4. Sprinkle ‘topping’ chocolate chips over surface and bake for 8 minutes; remove from oven and spread chocolate over surface of bars (using an offset [or regular] spatula- see picture) until smooth.  Cool on a wire rack then cut after chilling for an hour.  Serve at room temperature…

    Tips:

    • The cookie base: it doesn’t have to be complicated.  If you want to save time, you could just buy Oreo cookie crumbs, or add 1/3 cup cocoa powder with 1/4 cup sugar to graham cracker crumbs (just add another 1-2 tablespoons of melted butter).  BUT- if you want to be legit, make The Classic Shortbread Cookie recipe and simply sift 1/2 cup of cocoa in with the flour, and 2 tablespoons of instant espresso powder if you’re so inclined.
    • Cookie crumbs for the future:  I am sometimes smart enough to look into the baking crystal ball and realize that I’ll want cookie crumbs one Saturday in the future, so I bake the little dough scraps that are created after using cookie cutters on the rest of the dough.  I then freeze the baked scraps, and use them to put in the food processor for crumbs… or I sometimes leave in larger crumbly bits to sprinkle over ice cream and sauce or even a Berry Orange Fool.
    • Thick or thin bars?  Correction- Thick or A Bit Less Thick is the question… and it’s up to you.  An 8″ pan will give you soaringly high bars with a filling that will knock your socks off… and if you use a bigger pan, the love will be spread out into thinner bars (meaning that you can always cut bigger pieces).
    • What kind of chocolate to use… it’s a tough decision.  I like bittersweet (or dark) in the middle, since the s.c.m. is sweet anyway, and bittersweet seems more rich- but I respect the semi-sweet as well.  I’m not sure if you can go wrong, unless you’re using gross leftover Easter bunny “chocolate” candy that cost 99 cents.  All I do try to do is use good chocolate- I 100% swear that you can tell the difference.  (Ghiradelli chips… or Callebeaut… or Valrhona… whatever you’re game to spring for.)
    • Cutting the bars will be a lot easier after the chocolate has set in the fridge for an hour, and be sure to rinse your knife under hot water after each cut (wiping off with a paper towel to keep clean).
    • Enjoy!
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    May 19th, 2012 | More Sweets Please | No Comments | Tags: , ,

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