Chocolate Crumble Bars

Hi! I'm here! That spotty internet connection for a couple days turned me into an organizational mastermind. & by mastermind, I mean crazy person! I had everything tore apart, top to bottom, for fall cleaning. What a better time to start when I couldn't do squat online, right? Wrong. Apparently that's all I needed to do for them (the internet people) to fix whatever it was. Flash forward a few days, the house is back to normal. Immediately after, sickness ensues. Not fun. Next, busy weekend & 2 days of catch-up. & now, as I stated up there...I'm here!

Now back to that first day of internet issues (time travel is fun, isn't it?), I had the BEST recipe to share with you. It was my dessert for my birthday dinner. Made by mom every year of course. & brought to school just the same for my birthday treat. Actually, she told me years ago that she had made the recipe herself.

Looks good, doesn't it? Let's get started then, shall we?

1st start with your Chocolate Filling. You'll need:

1-1oz. square unsweetened chocolate

(*you can substitute 3 Tbsp. cocoa powder & 1 Tbsp. shortening)

2Tbsp. butter (or margarine)

2 Tbsp. cream (or milk) 

3/4 C. powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Melt your chocolate square (or your cocoa powder & shortening) over low heat. Stir occasionally.

Add the butter & cream. The mixture will look a bit more lumpy, which will boggle your mind a bit, but it'll be OK. Don't forget to keep stirring until it's all blended. 

See, after the powdered sugar & vanilla extract it's chocolate heaven.

For the Bars you'll need:

1 1/2 C. flour

1 tsp. cream of tartar

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 C. firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 C. shortening

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Just throw everything in a mixing bowl & mix away.

It's going to be crumbly, they are Chocolate Crumble Bars after all.

Next, take an 8x8 dish & spray it VERY good with nonstick cooking spray. Spread almost all of your crumb mixture to cover the bottom.

Now press it all down. I do hope you washed your hands by this point. Ha! Got ya. Now while you're pressing, you'll want to make sure that your edges are slightly higher.

It's Chocolate Filling time!!!

Take your remaining crumbs & sprinkle them over the top.

Flash forward 27 minutes (the recipe said 25-30, so this made perfect sense to me) in a 350 degree oven.

Let them cool for 15-20 minutes so your chocolate sets up nicely. Actually, these are the best room temperature.

But who can wait that long?

Deliciousness.