If you have, you can inform them that they are missing a soul. I’m sorry, I know taste is subjective. But I mean, come on. It’s a chocolate chip cookie!
When you’re feeling lazy, make bars instead. These chocolate chip bars are also full of chopped pecans and topped off with chocolate drizzle. The flair on top is optional, but I love me some drizzle.
Of the chocolate kind, that is. Rain drizzle is just kind of stupid. It’s like the weather can’t make up its mind, so it does this half-baked job of getting us sorta wet. Indecision is never pretty, my friends.
Of all my faults, I’ve rarely been guilty of being indecisive. The worst of it usually happens at a restaurant when I’ve ordered one entrée and feel the pangs of regret as I see another one I was considering floating to another person’s table, and it looks so good.
Or when I’m out shopping and there’s a dress that’s just so cute, but it also costs about a hundred bucks. To some people, that might not be expensive. But usually, that’s a deal breaker for me. Still, I stand there and hold it, wondering if there’s any way I’ll regret not buying the dress for the rest of my mortal life. But you know what? I’ve usually forgotten the dress a week later forever, so I guess it’s not a problem.
It’s harder to make decisions when you feel like something really important is on the line. I mean, obviously. What people don’t get is that not making any decisions is yet…another decision. No matter what happens, options either open or close.
A while back, I talked to a friend who was having a hard time deciding whether or not to commit to her boyfriend. Her point of view was that marriage is a trap of sorts, and she was trying to put that off. My point of view is that any choice she made would be a trap. If she didn’t commit to her boyfriend and the relationship ended or stalled, then that would be one path. If she opened up the possibility of having more with him, then that would lead another way. But one way or another, her life course would change.
We can’t stand still and hope that by not making any decisions, life will take control for us. By not making those choices, we’ve already set a destination, whether we want to admit it or not. That’s why people who are commitment-phobic are caught on a spiral of endless indecision. They are creating a pattern that might never change.
How’s my amateur psychology lesson going? Good? Bad? If you say I have no authority to share any opinions on this subject, you’re right. I don’t. I’m just having fun and sharing my two cents. I have more authority to talk about bar cookies.
If this hasn’t come up before, bar cookies are the best. They don’t require dough chilling, or dropping dough onto a cookie sheet, or anything else that takes time. This base is kind of like a blondie. The result is a bar that pretty much replicates a chocolate chip cookie experience, minus all the work. And the pecans add crunchy goodness. And protein. This is totally a health food.
Life might be full of tough decisions, but eating a chocolate chip pecan cookie bar should never be one of them. Bar cookies rule!
1
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Line an 8-inch square pan with foil, leaving enough to hang over the sides. Coat with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, and then mix in the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated.
- Fold in the chocolate chips and pecans. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes until browned and set.
- Cool completely. If desired, melt the 1/2 cup chocolate chips in the microwave for about 1 minute. Stir until smooth and drizzle on top of the bars with a spoon.
- Allow the drizzle to harden. Cut into squares. Store in an airtight container.