Raspberry Chip-Pecan & Rosemary Cookie Bars

Every now and then we like to sit down with a huge stack of cooking magazines and tear out our favorites so we can recycle the magazine and do a little de-cluttering of the bookshelves.  In a 2011 issue of Food and Wine, we came across a cookie bar recipe which we have tweaked a little to fit our tastes.

Ever since I was a little girl I have loved cookie bars.  My Aunt Nancy used to make what she called “congo bars” (why is it called a congo bar???) and they were the absolute best.  Buttery and chewy filled with chocolate chips and walnuts- what was not to love?

We decided to substitute the regular chips the recipe called for with raspberry chocolate chips and add rosemary to give a little hint of fall to the end flavor.

1 cup toasted & chopped pecans

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2 tablespoons canola oil

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup raspberry chocolate chips (we get ours at Baldwin & Sons in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts)

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary chopped fine

Preheat oven to 350 and line the 9×13 pan with parchment paper.  We like to spray the pan with cooking spray and then lay the parchment paper down.  This not only keeps it in place while you are scooping the mixture on but leaves it there when the bars come out of the oven and are inverted later.  We also sprayed the top of the parchment paper.

1.  With an electric mixer beat the butter, oil, granulated sugar and brown sugar.

2. Beat in the egg and vanilla until the mixture is smooth.

3.  In a small bowl whisk the dry ingredients together.

4.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixing on a low speed.

5.  Add the chocolate chips, rosemary and toasted pecans and beat until incorporated.

6.  Cook for about 15-20 minutes.

These are so yummy.  Ours came out a little crunchy…I’m guessing because I was distracted and left them in the oven for two minutes too long…but the end result is a cookie bar dominated by the flavor of the raspberry chip until the very end of your bite when the kosher salt is the last taste you get.  Sweet and salty?! Oh yeah.