These bars are like the lovechild of a brownie and a chocolate chip cookie!
Gooey, fudgy, rich, decadent, peanut buttery, chocolatey, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate chip brownie bars – I could go on with adjectives, but you really need to try them to understand!
This recipe was created to say thank you.
I found out last week that my book made the list of Amazon’s Top 20 Best Cookbooks Of 2015. Seeing my name included on that list when I opened the email was such a shock… I think I probably screamed… and maybe scared the neighbors… I can’t stop smiling… and still can’t believe it!!!
Please forgive me for mentioning the book again… there is no way I can keep this exciting news to myself! Making Amazon’s Top 20 Cookbooks of the year is by far one of the MOST exciting things to happen in all the time I’ve been blogging. And I can’t ever thank you enough.
Before the book came out, my publisher had warned me that because not everyone eats dessert, cookbooks with only desserts rarely sell as well as non-dessert books and that I should keep this in mind and not get my hopes up too far. Neither of us ever expected this amount of incredible success; we have been stunned at how many people have been buying the book.
It’s completely crazy!!!!
Words are failing me once again, and therefore I wish to express my thanks to you all in my usual favored way: through—what else?—dessert!
Thank you to everyone who reads this blog.
Thank you to everyone who has ever made one of the recipes or mentioned the site to a friend.
Thank you to everyone who has bought the book.
But mostly, thank you to everyone simply just for reading. I know full well it’s because of YOU that I’m able to do what I love every day, and I never want to take that for granted. I wish I could send a batch of chocolate chip brownie bars to each of you as a thank-you for making this all possible. Thank you again and again and again. Thank you, a million times over. ♥
Okay, brownie time!
Gooey Chocolate Chip Brownie Bars
Adapted from Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bars
Gooey Chocolate Chip Brownie Bars
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 cup peanut butter OR allergy-friendly alternative
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp flour (almond flour, white, spelt, sorghum, oat, and Bob’s gf all work here)
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2/3 cup sugar or xylitol
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (mini are best, but regular will also work)
- optional chocolate chips for the top
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 F and grease an 8×8 pan. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the first 3 ingredients until smooth. Add all remaining ingredients, and stir. Only if it’s too dry after stirring to resemble a thick brownie batter, very slowly add a little milk of choice (or water) until the desired texture is reached. Smooth evenly into the prepared pan, then press in some extra chocolate chips if desired. Bake 20 minutes, then remove from the oven. It will look a little undercooked, so do not touch the pan for at least 15 minutes. After this time, it will have firmed up and you can cut without crumbling. After a day, leftovers should be stored in the fridge for freshness.
Links Of The Day:
Chocolate Quinoa Breakfast Cups, from the Hello Breakfast Cookbook
How thick is this supposed to be? I am getting something like play-do
Boxed-brownie-batter thick (so thinner than play doh). Depending on your peanut butter, climate, flour, and other such factors, the texture may differ. For some flours, I had to add a little extra milk of choice to get that brownie-batter texture.
Congratulations on your success with Amazon. What an amazing feeling for you.
And thanks for making these yummy looking brownies – I’ll be giving them a go.
Katie, congrats! I have the book on my kitchen table and on my kindle app (great for reading in the dark!) and I don’t regret either of these purchases.
Your recipes are something special that those of us with special dietary requirements, or those of us just watching out health, can all enjoy, so while I’m thrilled for your success, I’m also not that surprised either!
Anyway, I’ll be trying this recipe very soon – I’ve been on a big brownie kick recently, so the timing is perfect!
Congratulations on your cookbook!!! And these brownies look perfect 🙂
Could I substitute apple sauce for yoghurt? I tend to do this as I’m not big on apple sauce. Love your recipes and congrats on the book! 😀
I’ve not tried, but be sure to report back if you experiment 🙂
Hi Katie,
I’m so thrilled to see you experiencing such great success. It’s very well deserved! Whenever someone asks me for healthy and/or vegan dessert recipes I always send them to you. Your creations are amazing! And these brownie bars look amazing too.
Using applesauce in brownies..very nice 🙂 I must try them someday 😀
Oh my gosh, these are just screaming my name.
These look amazing! Just wanted to add another “Congrats” on the book! I haven’t bought it yet, but I’ve made so many recipes from your site, and referred so many friends! In particular, your sugar-free deep-dish cookie pie (and the sugar version) is a favorite of ours. At one point, I was making one every other week. 🙂 Keep up the great work!
Your cookbook deserves all the accolades it receives! I’ve made multiple recipes out of it, some are regulars.
These brownie bars turned out wonderfully–yum!!
Yay I am so happy for you- I’m a long time follower and love your recipes!
I made your lemon loaf cake recipe the other day and it was amazing! I can’t wait to try something chocolate-y by you…. Speaking of chocolate, I would really love if you could post a recipe for brownie brittle! Thanks 🙂
CONGRATS!!!!! That is such awesome news! <3 It's doing so well because it's a fantastic book filled with amazing desserts that you can feel good about eating!!
Katie, no need to ask forgiveness for talking about your book! It’s amazing; it’s one of my favorites. I use it all the time! 🙂 I’m so happy it’s still doing well, as it should be! And those brownies look absolutely gorgeous.
Katie, thanks for being an inspiration since 2009 when I discovered your blog and started mine as well. I always loved the upbeat spirit of your posts and your endless smiling, your positivity and desire to become better and better! You’re such a sweetheart, and I’m so happy your cookbook is such a bestseller! <3
Katie, I stumbled onto your blog last week and can’t wait to start making some of your recipes! My problem is that I can’t eat anything made from apples and many of your recipes call for applesauce. What can I substitute? Thanks!
I made them with banana!
I too made them with pureed banana and they turned out wonderfully! I think pretty much most of the time you can use any other sweet fruit puree for the applesauce, so if you can’t have banana either…what about pear? Strawberries? Blueberries? Just throwing out suggestions 🙂
Depends on the recipe. What recipe were you looking at? Sometimes you can use yogurt.