Kids Can Cook: Chocolate Chips Bars

Stella has asked me to start to teach her how to cook this winter. She bakes and she helps me cook and prepare meals – but I think she is a little afraid of the oven/stove. I think this started when we were in NY since our stove there was gas, she was afraid of the fire. Now that we have an electric stove (ugh!) she is still a little tentative. She has a list of items that she wants to learn how to make herself – top on the list is grilled cheese. For the past couple of days she has been asking me if she could make cookies. I said yes and then was dreading those words “mama, can I make the cookies now?” Not because I didn’t want her baking, but because cookies take sooooo looooong and she usually gets bored and I end up doing the last couple of sheets of cookies. I was able to convince her to make chocolate chips bars instead, thanks to my cousin (she had made some the week before and Stella loved them!)

Chocolate Chip Bars

Ingredients

2 sticks butter, room temperature (don’t throw out the stick wrappers)
3/4 cups sugar or rapadura
3/4 cups brown sugar, packed
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/4 cup flour (we used spelt)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 cups chocolate chips (we did a combo of semi-sweet and dark)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Cream the butter, sugars and vanilla together.

3. Add eggs, beat well.

4. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt.

5. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture – make sure it is well blended, scraping the sides and the bottom.

6. Add the chocolate chips and stir well.

7. Grease a jelly pan or glass 9×13 baking dish. Use the butter stick wrappers to grease – 2 wrappers greased the bottom and the sides of the baking dish.

8. Spread the batter evenly in the baking dish and bake for 20 – 30 minutes or until golden brown. The toothpick test will not work on this – it will come out wet. We baked for 30 minutes and it was a lovely golden color.