Serendipity Deluxe Bars

I'll admit the name of this recipe is quite vague and doesn't give any indication as to what it actually is. In fact, when my soldiers asked me what I was feeding them, all I could say was..... some combination of shortbready, chocolatey, oaty goodness. Enough of a description? This recipe comes from Marcy Goldman's Passion for Baking and surprise, surprise it is a winner of a recipe. Sure there are three different layers to this bar cookie and it leaves ALOT of dishes in its wake, but so what? These rich, decadent bars made alot of people happy. The first layer up is shortbread. On top of that goes a chocolate truffle layer. After that is baked, a caramelly oat mixture seals the deal. According to Marcy, the chocolate and oat layers are supposed to magically switch places (hence the name serendipity) but that never happened to these (must be something in the Israeli air). Not complaining though because, well, no one knows the difference and the final product was far from ruined. These are kind of messy to eat and, as I said, decadent, so cut them on the small side. Set aside a nice chunk of time to make these, because while all the steps are easy, they are on the more time-intense side of things. 

Serendipity Deluxe Bars

slightly adapted from A Passion for Baking 

Shortbread:

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter or margarine, cut into chunks

Truffle Layer:

1 cup corn syrup

1 1/4 cups chocolate chips

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

Oatmeal Layer:

3/4 unsalted butter or margarine, melted

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup corn syrup

pinch salt

1 cup quick cooking oats 

Preheat the oven to 350. Line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper. Set aside. 

In the bowl of your food processor (you can also do this by hand), pulse flour sugar and salt. Add the margarine and pulse to create a mixture of coarse crumbs that barely stick together. Press this mixture into the bottom of the pan and bake for 20 until lightly browned.

Meanwhile, in a large glass bowl, microwave the corn syrup and chocolate chips until almost melted. Stir until smooth. Cool to room temperature then stir in the sugar, eggs and vanilla. Pour over the hot crust, spreading evenly to coat. Bake 27 minutes or until the truffle is firm around the edges but still slightly soft in the middle. Cool for ten minutes.

For the final layer- blend the butter, sugar, syrup and salt in a small bowl. Stir in the oats. Carefully drop and spread this atop the chocolate layer. Bake until set about 25-35 minutes.  Cool 30 minutes before refrigerating for 3-4 hours. Cut into bars.