Brazen Bars


A cookie crust, laden with pecans... smeared with smooth dark and milk chocolate... top that with crunchy, salty, spiced potato chips, and drizzle those chips with salted caramel. These bars are bold and sassy and in yo face.

A reader of the blog sent me a similar recipe and suggested I try it. I was immediately intrigued and moved it to the top of my list. Salty + sweet? I'm sold. Thanks, Laura!


The original recipe is made with a shortbread crust but I went with my classic chocolate chip cookie base. I added pecans because I love the taste of salty and sweet pecans, and also because we were recently given a Costco-sized bag of them (which means more butter pecan ice cream coming your way at the market this week!). 

These are ridiculously addictive so watch out. I've been on a potato chip and chocolate kick--see here and here--but this one is definitely my favorite. It's similar to the potato chip chocolate chip cookies but the addition of salted caramel puts it over the top. 
I decided to try the Billy Goat Kicker chips that are local to St Louis and are used in the original recipe. My friends nor I couldn't taste any bit of a kick in the chips, although they were tasty. I had been apprehensive about putting spicy chips on top of this but these turned out to be just right--no kick, but still leaving a light hint of spices on your palate. 
It's up to you, do you dare put genuinely spicy chips on top of this, or will you stick with the conventional flavor? I made the other half with regular chips and they were definitely boring in comparison.

We couldn't stop sneaking bites of this, and since the chips can go stale fairly quickly, it's best not left alone for too long...
And yes, I will be making these again and again and again.


Brazen Bars
Inspired/Adapted from here

2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 stick of butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup chopped toasted pecans

1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup dark chocolate chips

1 medium bag of potato chips of your choice
Salted caramel sauce (homemade or store-bought*)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat the butter and sugars together until blended.
Add in the vanilla and eggs, one at a time, beating well.
Use a spatula to stir in all the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt).
Stir in the pecans last.
Press into the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan, lined with parchment paper (or 8x8 if you want it thicker)
Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden on top.
Once removed from the oven, sprinkle 1 cup dark chocolate chips and 1 cup milk chocolate chips over the cookie base.
Let sit a couple of minutes and then use a spatula to smear the chocolate all over (You may need to put it back in the oven for a few minutes to melt the chocolate more).
Once smeared and cooled for about 5 minutes (the chocolate should still be a little wet/warm, but not hot), stick pieces of potato chips all over the top. 
Drizzle with salted caramel sauce.

*When I'm too lazy to bother making homemade caramel sauce, the Trader Joe's one is the perfect substitute.


Comments

  1. Ooh this looks a bit bonkers, but I'm betting it tastes delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Haha, it's totally bonkers and delicious at the same time :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. This looks awesome, except I have no idea what it must taste like. I need to try making this next time I'm not going to a party with lots of diet restrictions. (Gluten-free people are everywhere!)

    ReplyDelete

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