Ali Bakes: Chocolate Chip Espresso Bars

Last week, I was SO EXCITED for the weekend!  So excited that I felt a little guilty for my excitement because beginning last Monday, I could ONLY think about the weekend ahead!  The good thing:  I was able to release some of that pent up excitement by baking belated birthday bars for the ever-so-lovely Caitlin!  She was one of many who Brian and I visited this weekend, and it was only appropriate to surprise her with something delicious, coffee-filled, and sweet!

 

So I present:  Chocolate Chip Espresso Bars!

 

 

Taste-tested by Sammy and well-enjoyed by the birthday girl Caitlin, I feel that the reviews were high (as is the caffeine content!).  Baking is a great stress reliever, too, so my preoccupations with the weekend were dismissed while baking along with any of the typical weekday stresses.

 

Oh and GUESS WHAT?!  The weekend really was wonderful!  Homecoming was fun, seeing people was funner, and I felt like it was a well-spent retreat back to my beloved alma mater.

 

Who knows what I'll concoct next...stay tuned!  But in the meantime--BAKE!

 

 

Chocolate Chip Espresso Bars

*Adapted from buddingbaketress.blogspot.com

 

Ingredients:

Bars1 cup butter at room temperature
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 tbs instant coffee
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Glaze
2 tbs milk
3 tbs butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon

 

Instructions:

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 1/2 inch deep, 10in x 15in cookie sheet (I've learned this is called a jelly roll pan) with parchment paper. 

 

Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a medium-sized bowl.  In a separate, larger bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, instant coffee, and vanilla using a hand mixer.  Slowly add the flour mixture to the larger bowl, and mix until blended.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  The dough will be crumbly.

 

 

 

Press the dough onto the pan with your fingers, doing your best to evenly distribute it throughout the pan.  Bake for five minutes, rotate the pan, and then bake for five to ten more minutes, watching carefully.  While the bars bake, begin making the glaze (see below). 

 

 

Once the edges begin to brown, the bars are done.  Cool for five or more minutes before glazing.

 

 

For the glaze, put all ingredients in a small sauce pan and set on medium heat, whisking occasionally.  Once the mixture is smooth and bubbly, feel free to cool it down or glaze the cooled bars right away. 

 

 

 

Either way, allow the glazed bars to cool completely before cutting.  Eat immediately and enjoy!

 

 

 

***If storing, I recommend keeping the bars refrigerated because of the addition of milk to the glaze.***