Kit Kat Cookie Bars and Being Thankful

 

In my church, this month of May is thanks giving month. Not Thanksgiving like the American holiday but just giving thanks. Pretty simple right? Throughout the month of May, we are encouraged to tweet or update our Facebook statuses at least once a day with something we're thankful for. I love the idea! We all have so much to be thankful for but we tend to ignore that stuff and instead focus on the things we're unhappy about.

I also read this article today which I absolutely loved and it has the same message; be thankful! It's called "Eat this and be wildly grateful". You should all read it! But just in case you don't, here's a great excerpt from it:

 "Be cynical if you want. Be jaded and sneery and think the world is a razor blade of anger and pain, just waiting to slash you across the heart. This is your choice. 
But the fact is, a thousand things go right for you every day. From the moment you wake up, the universe aligns in countless miraculous ways to make your life happen fluidly, effortlessly, incredibly. Your heart is working, your systems function, you do not instantly collapse, lose a limb or spontaneously combust. Amazing. 
The car starts. The elevator works. Your legs transport you rather beautifully, hither and yon. The coffee is hot. The food placed before you is all kinds of stunning in how it connects you to the world. There's sunlight. Your eyes receive that light and create everything in existence. Also, trees! Nice."

Here are just a few of the things I'm thankful for:
I am thankful for my family. And my friends. And my church. I'm thankful that I have a lovely home and I've never known what it is to starve (unless it has been self imposed in the name of dieting!). I am thankful for music. And so so thankful for books. And movies. I am thankful for Ryan Gosling and Joshua Jackson and 'Dawson's Creek' and 'Sex and the City'. I am thankful for sugar and all the wonderful cakes and brownies and cookies and desserts that its existence makes possible! I have so much to be thankful for but since I'm stuck on desserts (mmmmm ... pies), I'll leave you with today's recipe for Kit Kat Cookie Bars.

Cookie bars are yet another American invention I presume and they're actually an amazing alternative to rolling or scooping out bits of dough to make cookies! These are nice and chewy and they contain Kit Kats, what else do you need to know? ;) Oooh, have I said I'm thankful for chocolate yet? If not, I'm VERY thankful for chocolate!

Recipe from Sweet Pea's Kitchen 

2 1/8 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
170g butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 tsps vanilla extract
3 four-finger Kit Kat bars, chopped
1 cup milk chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 170C / Gas Mark 3 / 32F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9" x 13" baking pan. Put a long sheet of grease proof paper in the bottom of the pan, letting the paper extend up two sides of the pan and overhang slightly on both ends. Place another piece of paper in the same manner, perpendicular to the first sheet. (This will make it easy to remove the bars from the pan after they have baked). Butter the parchment.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together melted butter and sugars until combined. Add egg, egg yolk and vanilla and mix well. 
4. Using a rubber spatula, fold dry ingredients into egg mixture until just combined. Fold in chopped Kit Kat bars and milk chocolate chip. Transfer to baking pan and smooth the top with a spatula.
5. Bake until top is light golden brown, slightly firm to the touch and the edges start pulling away from sides of pan, 27 - 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Remove bars from pan by lifting the parchment overhang and transfer to cutting board. Cut into squares and serve.