Passover Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

These delicious cookie bars are so simple to make – just four ingredients - and are perfect as a snack or sweet treat during Passover when wheat flour and leavening agents are on the prohibited list. Or anytime of the year! 

This week Sunday Supper is celebrating with recipes for Passover and Easter. Since I already posted two Easter treats last week, I decided to step out of my comfort zone, do a little research and find a recipe that would be welcome at a Passover feast. The restrictions seem to be the same as keeping kosher, with the added prohibition of wheat, barley, rye, oats, and spelt flours. Almond flour, on the other hand, is just fine, not to mention nutty and delicious. I found this recipe on KosherEye.com, a great resource for kosher recipes and general advice. I wasn't about to start substituting or adapting in case I unwittingly messed up its Passover-friendly status!

Ingredients
2 cups or 200g ground almonds
1 cup, well-packed, or 200g dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup or about 190g semi sweet chocolate chips, plus about 1/8 cup or 30g extra for topping

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and grease your pan (9x9in or 23x23cm) or line it with parchment paper.  I almost always choose the parchment paper option because the cookie bars lift out so easily which makes cutting them a breeze.

Mix all of the ingredients together until they form a thick dough. You can do this by hand but it takes some arm power to get them to a good dough stage, so I used my stand mixer and just let that baby run on medium speed for a couple of minutes.

Spread the dough out in your prepared pan, making sure to fill in the corners.

It's a pretty stiff dough. 

Sprinkle the top with the extra chocolate chips.

Bake in your preheated oven for 23-28 minutes or until the edges and top are a light golden color. I was amazed by how tender and chewy these turned out. The original recipe called them miracle bars and I have to agree! They are absolutely wonderful not just for Passover, but any time of the year.

Let the cookie bars cool for a few minutes and then cut them into squares.

Enjoy!

If you are looking for Easter and Passover meal inspiration, check out these great links from my fellow Sunday Supper friends. This week our host is the lovely Alaiyo of Pescetarian Journal.

Breakfast/Brunch

• Colomba Muffins from Manu's Menu
• Strawberry Amaretto Coffee Cake from Savvy Eats
• Strawberry Lemon and Ginger Scones from The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Spinach Bacon Breakfast Cups from Runner's Tales

Appetizers:

• Smoked Salmon Dip with Greek Yogurt and Capers from Shockingly Delicious
• Colorful Delicious Deviled Easter Eggs from Hot Momma's Kitchen Chaos
• Butter-Braised Easter Egg Radishes from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Egg Salad Deviled Eggs from Noshing With The Nolands

Savory and Sweet Breads:

• Healthier Hot Cross Buns from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures
• Whole Wheat Croissants from What Smells so Good?
• Hot Cross Pretzels from Jane's Adventures in Dinner
• Italian Easter Bread from Curious Cuisiniere
• Greek Easter Bread from Hip Foodie Mom
• Garlic and Cheddar Swirled Brioche Rolls from Neighborfood
• Paska Bread from Seduction in the Kitchen

Sides and Salads:

• Aunt Ruthie Mashed Potatoes from Melanie Makes
• Vegetarian Cornbread Stuffing from Pescetarian Journal
• Mixed Greens with Hot Bacon Dressing from Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Passover Kugel: Veggie-Style from Take A Bite Out of Boca
• Syrnyk--Ukranian Sweet Easter Cheese from Cupcakes & Kale Chips

Main Dishes:

• Pan Seared Lamb Chops from The Foodie Army Wife
• Roast Leg of Lamb with Parsley Walnut Pesto from The Texan New Yorker
• Italian Easter Torta from La Bella Vita Cucina

Desserts:

• Passover Vegan Lemon Cheesecake from Killer Bunnies, Inc.
• Easter Basket Cupcakes from MealDiva
• Strawberry Crostata with Sweet Almond Glaze from Kudos Kitchen by Renee
• Layered Chocolate Mousse Cake from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Chocolate Hazelnut Macarons from The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen
• Rhubarb Meringue Cake {Rhabarberkuchen} from The Not So Cheesy Kitchen
• Lemon Blueberry Basil Cupcakes from Brunch with Joy
• Banana Carrot Cake Bread from Peanut Butter and Peppers
• Individual Cakes with Peanut Butter Whipped Frosting from Momma's Meals
• Gluten Free Easter Cupcakes from Gluten Free Crumbley
• Lemon Coconut Bars from Magnolia Days
• Lemon Icebox "Pie" from girlichef
• Easter Basket Cupcakes from The Ninja Baker
• Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies from Pies and Plots
• Carrot Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Swirl from Alida's Kitchen
• Passover Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars from Food Lust People Love
• Strawberry Filled Crepes from Try Anything Once Culinary
• Rhubarb Almond Streusel Muffins from Confessions of A Culinary Diva

Chocolate-filled Chocolate Cookies

These great chewy chocolate-filled chocolate cookies have a surprise in the center of each one. Pour yourself a cold glass of milk and get stuck in!

This recipe comes from a cookbook I haven’t picked up in ages, Jamie Oliver’s Happy Days with the Naked Chef. Of course, Jamie called them Chocolate Biscuits with Soft Chocolate Centres. I’m sharing these for Belleau Kitchen’s Random Recipe Challenge merged this month with the Chocolate Log Blog’s We Should Cocoa challenge, cohosted this month by both Dom and Choclette.

The rules are the same as normal Random Recipe Challenges. Choose a cookbook at random, make the first recipe you open to, except this month, it is make the first chocolate recipe you open to. I like to make my life simple, so I used Eat Your Books to choose both. Click on the graphic for full details.

Ingredients
2/3 cup or 145g butter, softened at room temperature
3/4 cup or 145g sugar
1 whole egg
2 cups or 250g flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Scant 1/3 cup or about 26g cocoa powder
3 1/2 oz or 100g chocolate bar (milk, white or dark) I used chocolate mint.

Method
Grease a large baking sheet or line it with baking parchment. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy.

Whisk your flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in another mixing bowl.

Beat the egg into the butter/sugar mixture.

Add in the cocoa powder and the flour to make a soft dough. Beat until completely combined.

Wrap it in cling film and put it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

When the dough is ready, preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Roll the dough into small balls about 1 inch or 2 centimeters across and break your chocolate bar into small squares.

Press them out into circles on your prepared cookie sheet, making sure to leave a good space between them for rising while baking.

Top each circle with a piece of chocolate.

Add another dough ball on top and press out to cover the chocolate.

Bake for 10 minutes in your preheated oven. These cookies are delicious as is but would also be great for ice cream sandwiches!

Enjoy!

***This post has an affiliate link, which means I earn some small change if you click on the Amazon link and buy.**

Chocolate Peanut Butter Braid #TwelveLoaves

Chocolate yeast dough and peanut butter yeast dough, braided together, make a wonderful loaf. Two very different flavors that complement each other, intertwined so each bite contains a piece of both.

In many cultures, braids are a sign of unity, symbolic of a bond that is not easily broken. After all, what is a braid but the weaving in and out of three or more strands that become one and are generally stronger for the weaving? You can see where I am headed here.

This month’s theme for #TwelveLoaves is chocolate but I decided that chocolate would not stand alone. This is a loaf of love. Chocolate with peanut butter chips and peanut butter with chocolate chips. Because we are all a little sweet and all a little salty and it’s the combination of the two that makes life interesting.

The chocolate dough has been slightly adapted from David Lebovitz’s Chocolate Bread and the peanut butter dough has been adapted from Celine Steen’s Peanut Butter Bread.

Ingredients
For the chocolate dough:
6 tablespoons or 90ml milk, heated until just tepid
1 envelope active dry yeast (1/4 ounce or 7g)
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 ounces or 45g bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 egg - yolk and white separated
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/2 cups or 190g flour
2 scant tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (I used the special dark.)
1/3 cup or 60g real peanut butter chips

For the peanut butter dough:
1/2 cup or 120ml milk
1 envelope active dry yeast (1/4 ounce or 7g)
1/4 cup or 65g smooth peanut butter
1 1/2 cups or 190g flour
3 tablespoons, packed, dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup or 65g semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method
First we’ll make the chocolate dough.

In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm milk. Add one tablespoon of the sugar and it set aside in a warm place for 10 to 15 minutes or until it gets foamy.

Put your butter and chocolate in a microwaveable bowl and give it a few quick zaps of 20 seconds, stirring in between, until both are just melted and form a smooth chocolate syrup.

Add the remaining sugar, the egg yolk, vanilla, and sea salt to the yeast bowl and mix well. (Reserve your egg white for glazing the loaf before baking.)

Stir in half the flour and cocoa powder.

Add the chocolate syrup and stir again.  Now add the remaining flour and stir until completely incorporated.

Beat for five minutes with the dough hook in your mixer or knead by hand.  The dough will be quite moist but I found that the butter kept it from being too sticky.

Cover the bowl and let rise in a warm place for two hours.

Now we’ll make the peanut butter dough.

In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the milk. Add one tablespoon of the sugar and it set aside in a warm place for 10 to 15 minutes or until it gets foamy.

Add the remaining sugar, vanilla, and sea salt to the yeast bowl and mix well.

Stir in half the flour.

Now add the peanut butter and the remaining flour and stir until completely incorporated.

Place dough on a clean, lightly floured surface and start kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic.  Add extra flour if the dough is too sticky. I tried to knead in my mixer with the bread hook but this dough was just too soft.  Kneading by hand worked best.

Cover and let rise for 1 – 1 1/2 hours in warm place.

The two doughs. The chocolate has risen a little and the peanut butter is just ready for rising.

When both of your doughs have done their rising, it’s time for the braid!

Punch down both doughs, adding in the chocolate chips to the peanut butter dough and the peanut butter chips to the chocolate dough, reserving a few to poke on top for decoration before baking. Knead a little bit to work them in.

Now break or cut each ball in half and roll the pieces out into dough snakes about 16 inches or cm long. The chips will keep wanting to fall out. Just poke them back in.

Now lay all four “snakes” out on your baking pan which has been lined with a sheet of parchment. In order to get the best braided look, start with the two chocolate ones and the two peanut butter ones next to each other. I took photos of every step of the braiding but I have to admit, they are hard to follow. So I am going to send you to the link I used to make the braid where the illustrations are clear and the instructions are easy to follow: How to braid challah. Go ahead, I’ll wait here.

Okay!  Now put the braid in a warm, draft-free place to rise again for another hour. My house is still quite chilly, so I covered the loaf with a big plastic container and set the whole thing over the sink filled with hot water.  Then I put a pan on top that was filled with hot water. You do what you need to!

About 10 minutes before the rising time is finished, preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

When the rising time is finished, whisk your egg white and brush it gently on the loaf. Add the reserved chips if desired.

Bake in your preheated oven for about 30-35 minutes or until it sounds hollow when you tap it.  Mine got a little too dark because somehow my oven shot up to 375°F or 190°C while the bread was baking. Don’t let this happen to yours! The chips got quite dark as well, but fortunately, they didn’t taste any different. Mr. Lebovitz offers the useful tip that you can insert an instant read thermometer in the middle (I poked mine in from the side so the hole wouldn’t show.) and a ready loaf will read 180°F or 82°C when it’s done.)

Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

Enjoy!

The perfect bite, with some of each flavor!

The first warm slices were excellent with the dark chocolate perfectly complementing the rich peanut butter. If you really want to take this over the top, toast slices the next morning for breakfast and spread them with a little more peanut butter while still warm.

Looking for more chocolately bread goodness? You have come to the right place!

• Buttermilk Chocolate Quick Bread by Renee at Magnolia Days
• Chocolate Brownie Quick Bread by Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious
• Chocolate Chip Challah Bread by Lora at Cake Duchess
• Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls by Dionne at Try Anything Once Culinary
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Braid by Stacy at Food Lust People Love
• Chocolate Swirl Bread by Holly at A Baker's House
• Dark Chocolate and Prune Bread by Deepti at Bakingyummies
• Dates and Chocolate Brioche by Rossella at Ma che ti sei mangiato
• Love Me, Love Me Knots by Felice at All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Marbled Rye Bread by Karen at Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Raspberry White Chocolate Muffins by Liz at That Skinny Chick Can Bake

Dark Chocolate Orange Bundt with Dark Chocolate Orange Glaze #BundtaMonth

Orange and chocolate are a classic combination. Using dark chocolate and whole Mandarin oranges pureed in the batter brings a sweet, yet bitter tartness to this tender crumbed cake Dark Chocolate Orange Bundt with Dark Chocolate Orange Glaze.

For the British, especially, chocolate and orange are a treasured Christmas flavor combination and many would say that a Christmas stocking without a chocolate orange is half empty.  Even if it’s full.  But I must admit that it is not something that I grew up with.  Like all great relationships, it has taken a while to grow and mature.  Rather like my love of marmalade.  And Brussels sprouts, eggplant and cooked cabbage.  And other grownup things.  Such is the British influence here that the stores in Dubai are full of all kinds of candies in chocolate and orange so it was a natural choice for this month’s theme of Holiday December!

Where do you fall on the continuum of Love it (10) and Hate it (0)?  If you are somewhere in the lower half, perhaps this delicious cake will slide your opinion up the scale.

Ingredients
For the cake:
2 mandarin oranges (about  5 1/2 oz or 155g)
1/3 cup or 75g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
1 1/2 cups or 300g sugar
3 large eggs
4 tablespoons milk
1 1/3 cups or 170g flour, plus extra for the coating the pan
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup or 75g dark cocoa powder

For the glaze:
5 1/4 oz or 150g dark chocolate
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier
3 tablespoons canola oil

To decorate:  chocolate orange candies  and zest of one Mandarin orange

Method
Put the Mandarin oranges in a small pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil over a medium heat and then simmer for an hour.  Keep checking to make sure the oranges are always covered, adding more water if necessary, and turning them over occasionally.

Meanwhile, butter your Bundt pan and coat it well with flour.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine your flour, cocoa, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda.  Set aside.

When the hour is up, remove the pot from the heat and leave the oranges in it until they are cool enough to handle.

Remove the oranges to a cutting board and preheat your oven to 350°F or 180 °C.  Use a sharp pointy knife to cut the oranges in half and use the pointy end to dig out all of the seeds

Puree both oranges, peel and all, with a hand blender, add in the milk and set aside.

With electric beaters or in your stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well in between.

Mix in half of the flour/cocoa and beat until combined.

Pour in half of the orange/milk and beat until combined.

Look at the gorgeous color of that orange puree! 

Repeat with the rest of the flour/cocoa and then the orange/milk.

Pour your batter into the prepared Bundt pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes then turn out on a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Meanwhile, to make the glaze, melt the chocolate in a microwaveable bowl and add in the Grand Marnier and canola oil and stir well.  The liqueur makes the chocolate thicken up and the oil helps it become pourable again.  If you would prefer not to add alcohol to the chocolate, you can skip the oil as well and drizzle on straight melted chocolate.

Once the cake is completely cool, use a piping bag to drizzle the glaze all over the cake.  Or put it in a plastic baggie and cut a small corner off to do the same.   Add the chocolate orange slices and orange zest, if desired.

Enjoy!

I hope you have all enjoyed the past year of Bundts from our BundtaMonth group.  Our fearless leaders, Anuradha from Baker Street and Lora from Cake Duchess have decided to disband.  I’d like to thank them for their support and hard work.

Meanwhile, I’ve got one last BundtaMonth list of cakes to share!

• Candy Cane Bundt Cake from Felice at All That’s Left Are the Crumbs
• Cranberry Walnut and Ginger Holiday Bundt from Deepti at Baking Yummies
• Double Chocolate Glazed Peppermint Bundt Cake from Laura at A Spiced Life
• Gingerbread Spice Bundt Cake from Jill at  Made with Love
• Red and White Marbled Bundt from Holly A Baker’s House
• Peppermint Pound Cake from Kate at Food Babbles