If you like Almond Roca, then these bar cookies will be a hit in your household. And they are a cinch to make! One recipe goes a long way because they are buttery and rich so you can cut them into small squares.
- 1 cup butter
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 cup flour
- ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ⅓ cup almonds, coarsely chopped
- Mix the sugars, egg yolk and flour.
- Cut the cold butter into small cubes and cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry blender, two forks or your fingers.
- Spread the cookie crust into a greased 9x13 pan.
- Bake it for 25 minutes at 325 degrees.
- Cool the crust slightly.
- Melt the chocolate pieces over low heat in a small saucepan, stirring constantly.
- Remove the chocolate from the heat just as it has all melted being careful not to overcook the chocolate.
- Spread the melted chocolate over the cooled cookie crust.
- Sprinkle chopped almonds on top.
- Let the bars rest in the pan until the chocolate hardens.
- Especially if it is warm out the bars may be soft and fragile. You can cover them with plastic wrap and let them firm up overnight or even refrigerate them.
- Cut the cookie bars into small squares.
{TIP: Use cold butter that has been cut into small cubes. Toss the butter cubes with the flour mixture and then “cut” the butter in using a pastry blender, two knives, your fingers or a food processor until the crust forms.}
Based on reader comments, I made a half batch of these according to the original recipe and a half batch with double the amount of flour in the crust. After a blind side-by-side tasting amongst my extended family, the consensus was that the original version {pictured on the left below with a thinner crust} was the favorite and had more of a caramelized Almond Roca flavor. Everyone thought that the thicker-crust version {pictured on the right below} was also good but more like a shortbread cookie topped with chocolate and almonds. I’ll leave it up to you to decide which version to make because it comes down to personal taste.
