Brown Sugar Squares

This past Shabbat, I tagged along with a friend for dinner in Nachlaot, the quaint and charming neighborhood right behind the shuk area. I made these plans Thursday night and so when I was asked to make dessert, I felt extremely pressured- no time to research! Thankfully, I found a good choice (more on that later) and went to sleep secure. Come Friday, with dessert already I made, I wondered if people would be allergic to nuts or dislike fruit. So I decided to make something else. Literally on a whim, I pulled out Paula Deen's dessert cookbook and flipped through it. In the cookies and bars sections, I stumbled on what looked like the world's  EASIEST recipe and get this, had no oil or butter in it. Now, I was skeptical. A Paula Deen recipe with no fat in it?! Impossible! I looked for the recipe and found that people had successfully made this recipe. So I did, too. The recipe comes together with no more than whisk and a bowl and yields a very thin, chewy, almost candly-like brown sugar square. I don't even think they qualify as a cookie. I added some chocolate chips instead of the nuts to jazz them up a little. They aren't gonna win you any beauty contests, but for flavor (and ease of preparation) these can't be beat.

Brown Sugar Squares
slightly adapted from The Lady and Sons Just Desserts

1 egg
1 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
handful chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly grease an 8 inch pan.

In a bowl, place the egg, brown sugar and vanilla.

Whisk to blend.

Add the flour, baking powder and salt and whisk until smooth.

Add the chocolate chips and stir.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 18-20 minutes. Cookies should be soft in the center.

Cut into squares and plate!