Chocolate Streusel Bars

We are now in the second half of 2013's Christmas Treats hosted by Brenda from Meal Planning Magic.  I can't believe that we are this close to Christmas.  My sweet treat this week is Chocolate Streusel Bars.

I have mentioned before how much I like streusel; and, of course, I like chocolate, so what could be better than a layer of chocolate and nuts wedged between two layers of streusel?  Not much, I think.

This is an easy recipe.  You just make the streusel, pat half of it in the baking pan, melt the chips and milk together, pour over the base, add the other half of the streusel and bake.  The hardest part is waiting for the cookies to cool.

I make my own sweetened condensed milk most of the time, but if I am feeling lazy, I purchase it at the store.  A hint for those of you who live where there is a large Hispanic population.  Look in the Hispanic aisle for Nestle La Lechera.  It usually is less expensive than the Eagle Brand.

Although I used milk chocolate chips and sunflower seeds for the cookies in the photos, I consider this a basic recipe and have used other chip flavors and other nuts.  Some combinations I have made are butterscotch chips and pecans, white chocolate chips and almonds, peanut butter chips and peanuts, mint chips and walnuts.  You can mix and match till your heart is content.

The cookies tend to be a bit crumbly.  It is streusel after all.  When serving these on a cookie platter, I just shake them gently over the pan, before I add them to the platter.

The recipe is adapted from a Pillsbury Bake-Off recipe from many years ago.

Chocolate Streusel Bars
2 1/2 c. flour
2 c. quick rolled oats
1 1/2 c. brown sugar, firmly packed
1 t. soda
1/2 t. salt
1 c. soft butter or margarine
1/2 to 1 pkg. cooking chips, semi-sweet or other flavor
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
2 T. butter or margarine
1/2 t. salt
2 t. vanilla
1 c. chopped nuts of your choice (or sunflower seeds)

In a large mixer bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, soda and salt.  Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.  (I do this I with my electric mixer using the whisk attachment on low to medium speed.)  Pat  half (about 3 1/2 cups.) of the mixture into a foil-lined 10x15-inch baking pan, crumbling any large pieces of butter with your fingers.  Set remaining mixture aside.  In a medium saucepan combine cooking chips, sweetened condensed milk, butter and salt.  Heat, stirring constantly until chips are melted.  Remove from heat and add vanilla and nuts.  Carefully pour chip mixture over the crumb crust spreading out from the center in an even layer.  Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture over the chocolate mixture, again crumbling any large pieces of butter with your fingers.  Pat crumbs mixture down firmly with the palm of you hand.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown.  Cool completely on a wire rack and cut into bars.  Makes about 48

Do you have a favorite Christmas treat or two that you would like to share?  Go here to learn how you can.

Be sure to check out the links below to see what other bloggers are sharing this week.

Crazy Cooking Challenge-Apple/Pear Streusel Pie

Although I bake a lot, I rarely make pies, especially fruit pies.  When all my children lived at home, a pie would last maybe one day.  Each of us would have a piece and hubby maybe two, and it would be gone; while a cake or some cookies would have a chance to last at least a couple of days.  Making a pie crust and slicing up all that fruit just seemed like too much work.

When I saw that apple pie was the Crazy Cooking Challenge for October, I decided that I would be making a pie.  I also decided that the crust would come from the grocery store.  I like to use the frozen crusts because I get some pie tins that I can reuse.  I also get a nice, pretty edge with a frozen crust that I don’t get if I use the refrigerated ones.  Certainly make you own pie crust if you want, but don’t “beat yourself up” if you use one from the grocery store.  You will need a deep dish pie crust for this one.

I have admitted my love of streusel before and wanted to use it for this pie.  When a streusel topping is used on an apple pie, it is sometimes called a French or Dutch Apple Pie.  I had also seen an idea for making a pie with both apples and pears so that is what I decided to do.

One note of caution.  If you do not want to spend time cleaning your oven, place a foil-lined jelly roll pan or cookie sheet on a rack below this pie.  It is a very full pie and has a tendency to run over the pie pan.

I used Gala apples and Bosc pears and got a very sweet pie.  Using Granny Smith apples or reducing the sugar would probably result in a less sweet pie.

The pie needs to cool thoroughly in order to completely set up.  It can then be warmed for 45 seconds in a microwave and served with a scoop of ice cream if desired, and we desired.

Apple/Pear Streusel Pie
1 10-inch deep dish pie crust
3/4 c. quick oats
1/2 c. flour
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 c. chopped toasted walnuts
1/3 c. butter or margarine, melted
3/4 c. sugar
14 c. flour
1 T. cornstarch
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. salt
3 c. thinly sliced peeled and cored pears (about 3)
3 1/2 to 4 c. thinly sliced peeled and cored apples (about 3 to 4)

In a medium mixing bowl, mix together oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and walnuts.  Combine well.  Add melted butter or margarine and mix until mixture resembles small peas.  Set aside.  In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.  Mix well.  Add pears and apples and mix until fruit is well coated with flour mixture.  Turn mixture into pie crust.  The fruit will need to be heaped up in the center.  Carefully sprinkle and pat streusel mixture over the fruit, covering it well.  Set a foil-lined baking pan on a rack under the rack on which you are baking the pie.  Place pie in oven and bake at 375 degrees 45 minutes until fruit is tender and topping is beginning to brown.  Remove from oven and place on a rack to cool completely.  Makes  6 to 8 servings.  Store any leftovers, covered,  in the refrigerator.

For more great apple pie recipes, just check out the links below.  Tina, our hostess for Crazy Cooking Challenge has all the information necessary to join in future challenges here.  The schedule for the next 3 months is:  November-stuffing, December-sugar cookies, January-French Toast so find your best recipe and join in the fun.