Sweet and Salty Bars: Eat What You Want Day Blog With Friends

Today’s post is the next in our series of Blog With Friends themed collaborations. Each month a group of bloggers get together and each publish a project based on a theme. What I love about his partnership is that it's not bloggers with similar interests or strengths but a diverse group coming up with a variety of posts. In any given month we may a recipe, sewing tutorial, crocheting, crafts project, book review, and/or technology post all related to the theme of the month.

This month's theme is Eat What You Want Day.

There will be individual project pictures and links to what everyone else has to offer at the end of my post, but here's a peek at what we all came up with:

 

I made Sweet and Salty Bars.

Sweet and Salty Bars

I was wrong. Let me just admit, before we even get started on my recipe today that I was wrong. Last month our theme was carrots and I was so excited. "My time has come!" was what I said. Following month after month of trying beyond belief to stretch a correlation between whatever the theme was and the recipe I was sharing, we had, as a group, chosen Carrots. No having to explain myself required.

But I was wrong. I may have had an easy month with a food as the theme, but this month, oh this month is when my time has come. Eat What You Want Day? Not only is it food related, but there is no required ingredient. I am free to do whatever I want. The world is my oyster (sorry, I couldn't control myself).

Of course I had to turn this gift theme into an issue. It's the same conundrum any time I indulge (which was happening more and more the longer I was stuck at home), should I go sweet? Or salty? Well, the best way to eat what I want would be to combine both, hence the genesis of my Sweet and Salty Bars.

These bars are easy to make. I went with three layers, all of which would incorporate both sweet and salty. I started by assembling a few ingredients for the base:

Pressed them into my pan:

Gathered the ingredients for the middle layer:

Easily mixed up by hand in one bowl and spread over the top of the base:

These bake quickly. Leave the oven on and, for the last layer, spread chocolate chips over the top and return to the oven briefly to melt them.

Spread gently, then immediately top with more chips:

Cool, cut and serve. Both cravings successfully met.

As always, any time you make one of my recipes, feel free to post a picture of it to my Baking In A Tornado Facebook Page. I'd love to see it!

Be sure to visit all of this month's other Blog With Friends projects:

 



Dawn of Spatulas on Parade shares Bacon for the Win. 




 


Tamara of Part-time Working Hockey Mom shares Eat Around the World. 







Lydia of Cluttered Genius shares Lessons From a Ruined Cake. 



 





P. J. of A 'lil HooHaa shares Youthful Comfort. 


 






Melissa of My Heartfelt Sentiments shares The Ingredients for a Perfect Handmade Greeting Card.

Sweet and Salty Bars

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Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs (about 11 chocolate graham crackers)
1/3 cup potato chip crumbs
4 TBSP butter, melted

1 1/2 sticks butter or margarine
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
3/4 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup flour
1/3 cup potato chip crumbs

1 1/4 cups chocolate chips
3/4 cup potato chips broken into pieces but not crumbs

Directions:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 X 13 pan.
*Mix together the chocolate graham cracker crumbs, 1/3 cup potato chip crumbs and 4 TBSP melted butter. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan.
*Melt the 1 1/4 sticks of butter or margarine in the microwave.  Add the white chocolate chips and stir until completely smooth.
*Whisk in the sugar and vanilla, then the eggs and finally the flour and 1/3 cup potato chip crumbs. 
*Spread over the crust and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the pan but leave the oven on.
*Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top, then return to the oven for 1 minute. Remove from oven and gently spread the melted chocolate chips over the top with a knife. Immediately sprinkle with the potato chip pieces.
*Cool on the counter for 1/2 hour, then chill in the refrigerator until completely cooled before cutting.