Sunday, February 5, 2012

Chocolate Fantasy Bars


Today is the Big Game. And I am so nervous.

I can't remember the last time I was this nervous about something. Perhaps it's because I know my husband's there, his team is playing, and if they lose, I'm not around to dab the wounds. I have all the faith in the world they will win, but it's always 50-50. And a long drive back home.

I was up at 3am, baking. It's better than staring at the ceiling until my kids woke. I padded into the kitchen, rummaged through the pantry, trying to find something I could make that didn't require a mixer, but came up empty handed. I flipped through my scary folder and found this recipe stuck to an artichoke casserole. Not the actual casserole. That would be awful.

2 bars and 2 cups of tea later, I'm worse off than I started out. Nervous, jittery AND wired. On the upside, my kids think I'm hilarious and I'm dancing like I've never danced before. 

Kevin Bacon has nothing on me and Hall & Oates can preach it all day - or at least until the sugar high wears off.

It's gonna be a long day.


CHOCOLATE FANTASY BARS
Recipe adapted and slightly modified from Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 box chocolate cake mix
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
14 ounces (1 can) sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 dash salt 
OPTIONAL: ¼ cup of tub frosting 

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat 13 x 9-inch baking pan with a non-stick spray. Beat cake mix, oil and egg in large bowl with electric mixer until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Batter will be relatively dry. Reserve 1 cup crumb mixture. 

Firmly press remaining crumb mixture onto bottom of prepared pan. 

Recipe calls for nuts to be stirred in before lining pan, but I topped the crust with them. I like the texture better this way. 

  Melt chocolate chips with sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and salt in small saucepan. 


I don't know what happened with the remaining photos or what's up with the capitalization - I promise I'm not screaming at you! Bear with me. It was 3am.

Pour milk mixture evenly over prepared crust. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture over top. 25 to 30 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool completely before cutting.



If you want to add frosting, you can do so as recipe calls for it, but I find these are sweet enough without it. 

Yields: About 3 dozen
Happy Baking!

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