Dark Chocolate Crumb Bars for Co-Workers

Yesterday was an insanely busy day.  First Raisin, Jay and I did our morning walk, got ready for work and also grocery shopped at 7 a.m. at Fred Meyers prior to making it into the office.  Then after a full day at work I ran to the vets office then back to the house to meet Anthony to head out to dinner.  After dinner downtown we stopped at the Treasure Valley RV Show and finally made it back home after 9:00 p.m.  Just in time to pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees to start baking. 

Our Front Office Manager (Barbara) and 5 of our Patient Service Representatives are working today at the Meridian Health Plaza (MHP) to enter about 170 patients into the computer system from a entirely different system used at another site.  I wanted to bake the gals some goodies and surprise them this morning thus I was baking very late last night.  I made these wonderful Dark Chocolate Crumb Bars from Nestle Very Best Baking.  Anthony and I tasted them this morning and they are delicious.

The dogs and I started the morning today with a 6 a.m. walk, Starbucks stop for Anthony, back to the house to cut up the treats, over to a second Starbucks to pick up coffee, additional treats and flavored creamers for the gals and finally over to MHP around 8:00 a.m. to deliver our goodies and wish everyone a good day.  Whew! 

I would definitely make this recipe again.  It was easy to assemble and the bars are very tasty.  I also like the fact that the recipe uses simple items vs. a  long list of cooking ingredients you may or may not have on hand.  I only needed to pick up the chocolate chips and had every thing else already in my pantry.  My bars are not as pretty as the ones pictured on the Nestle site but I really cut them in a hurry to get them over to the site quickly this morning.  But I bet they are just as flavorful.


DARK CHOCOLATE CRUMB BARS
http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/144808/Dark-Chocolate-Crumb-Bars/detail.aspx

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) Dark Chocolate Morsels, divided
• 1 can (14 oz.) Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 13 x 9-inch baking pan.

BEAT butter in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in flour, sugar and salt until crumbly. With floured fingers, press 2 cups crumb mixture onto bottom of prepared baking pan; reserve remaining mixture.

BAKE for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

COMBINE 1 cup morsels and sweetened condensed milk in small, heavy-duty saucepan. Warm over low heat, stirring until smooth. Stir in vanilla extract. Spread over hot crust.

STIR nuts and remaining 2/3 cup morsels into reserved crumb mixture; sprinkle over chocolate filling. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until center is set. Cool in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.