Remedy: Aroma - Chocolate/Peanut Butter Chip Cookie Bars
Used for: Reducing anxiety and depression.
Dose: Smell and eat to your heart's content.
Something stood out to me in a recent episode of Dr. Oz. The healing power of smell.
The doctor suggested that the smell of fresh flowers can reduce anxiety and depression. Now, I like roses and lilies as much as the next girl, but if flowers do the trick, then wouldn't chocolate chip cookies also work? I figured it was a noble experiment, so I set out to create some cocoa goodness - something sweet and rich, with an aroma that could heal a blind man! :)
I came up with a cookie bar that is definitely to "live for" (die for seemed stupid given my purpose here.).
Here's the recipe I came up with that was as good for my tummy, as it was for my soul.
Chocolate/Peanut Butter Chip Cookie Bars
1/2 cup Butter
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
Beat well for 2 minutes.
Stir in:
2 cups Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
Fold in:
1 cup Chocolate Chips
1 cup Peanut Butter Chips
1 cup Chopped Walnuts or Pecans
Spread in a buttered 9" x 13" pan and bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool, then remove from pan and slice into 1" x 2" bars.
Excellent served warm with vanilla ice cream. You can also whip up some fresh heavy cream (a necessity in your fridge!), add some vanilla and sugar and enjoy it with your sundae. But, if you really wanna indulge, make a homemade butterscotch sauce.
Here's my quick recipe for this topping that keeps well in the fridge for about a week...
Butterscotch Sauce
1/2 cup Water
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Heavy Cream (I'm telling you, you gotta keep this stuff on hand if you wanna enjoy life!)
Melt the sugar and water in a double boiler (a saucepan sitting inside of another pan of boiling water). Cook at a low rolling boil until the sugar starts to brown. Do not let it scorch or burn. Whisk in the heavy cream slowly and continue to boil over medium heat until the sauce thickens.
Remove from the heat and stir in 1 oz. scotch.