chocolate chip bars

Da's niece (MAT) and I found a recipe at the back of a packet of Hersheys chocolate chips for "blondies".

I read the recipe and realised that it was for something similar to a biscuit bar.

As MAT is developing an interest in baking, I asked her whether she wanted to give the recipe a try. She agreed.

Along the way, I made some modifications to the recipe to suit our Asian palate. Asians tend to prefer crunchy cookies instead of chewy cookies. Also, I wanted to cut down on the amount of sugar content in the bars.

The recipe in this post is a modified version of the Hersheys recipe.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup plain flour

1/2 cup corn flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup butter (softened)

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs (lightly beaten)

2 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 cup chocolate chips

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Grease and line a 12" x 9" x 1" baking tray with baking paper. Set aside.

3. Sift the plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

4. Cream the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl using a hand whisk until light and fluffy.

5. Add the eggs, milk and vanilla essence and beat well.

6. Fold in the flour mixture using a wooden spatula and mix well.

7. Stir in the chocolate chips.

8. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread out evenly.

9. Bake for 30 minutes.

10. Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes in the baking tray and then use a pizza cutter to cut into bars.

11. Put the baking tray back into the oven and heat for a further 10 minutes.

12. Remove from oven and let the bars cool thoroughly before storing in an air-tight container.