Not too long ago I got an email alert from allrecipes.com about the best cookie bars they could find. So I scrolled down through all 23 and saw some that looked very good, and many of them I probably will try. But none of them looked as good and simple as one that I've been making for years. I have shared it with my children, who have shared it with their friends. These cookie brownies have even been made and shipped overseas, so I would imagine the recipe has been passed around Europe as well.
I got the recipe from Judy Kleinstub at Judy's Personal Touch at least 20 years ago when her shop was located inside World Sales on East 11th Street. Since that time, I haven't found a better brownie-type bar that can touch it. For starters, it's simple. The most difficult part about it is waiting till they've cooled off enough to cut them into bars. I've even taken a spoon and gotten a scoop while they're still warm and gooey and delicious. Hard to resist.
I'm not crazy about chocolate chip cookies made from those tubes of chocolate chip cookie dough. They aren't rich and delicious like homemade chocolate chip cookies are. But when you bake the dough topped with melted chocolate and sweetened condensed milk, you turn not-so-great cookie dough into a treat you'll make again and again.
Judy's Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies
2 tubes chocolate chip cookie dough
1 (12-ounce) bag of chocolate chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Heat oven to 350 degrees. In the bottom of a 9- by 13-inch glass dish, spread 1 1/3 tubes of the cookie dough. Place chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in the top of a double boiler, and stir until chocolate chips are melted and fully incorporated with the sweetened condensed milk. Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla. Spread chocolate mixture over the top of the cookie dough in the pan. Break up remaining cookie dough and dollop around the top of the chocolate mixture. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until cookie dough on top is light golden brown. Remove from oven, and allow to fully cool before cutting into bars. Store well covered.
CHOCOLATE AS MEDICINE
And speaking of yummy chocolate, Addictive Wellness has a line of chocolates that will soothe the soul, recharge your love life, give you more energy or add some much-needed herbs to your beauty routine. Sounds like magic, huh?
The chocolates come in bars infused with herbs that are said to help to reduce stress and enhance cognitive function.
If you're not a fan of dark chocolates, these may not be for you. But one taste may convince you that dark chocolates can be sweet - for your health, if not your palate.
All Addictive Wellness chocolates are made with heirloom mycotoxin-free raw cacao - a rich source of magnesium and chromium, the vitally important minerals in which most Americans are chronically deficient. Check them out at addictivewellness.com.
FOOTBALL GAME PLAN
It's finally here ... the Tennessee Vols' first game of the season scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m. And if you're wanting to really get into the spirit, Bojangles' new UT Vols Big Bo fried chicken boxes will help set the scene. The Big Orange boxes come with eight, 12 or 20 pieces, along with a choice of sides, biscuits and iced tea. The boxes also include cups, plates and utensils - everything you need to make a gameday meal complete.
The boxes aren't just for Vols fans. They also come with logos and colors for several SEC teams - Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina.
What a delicious way to celebrate a return to "normalcy."
Also, through Dec. 3, football fans are eligible to win season tickets to their team's 2021 season or a Bojangles-branded golf cart simply by posting pictures of themselves enjoying a Big Bo Box while "fangating," using the hashtags #BoFangateContest or #ItsBoTime.
Email Anne Braly at abraly@timesfreepress.com.