Chocolate Cookie Bars

Here is today's creation. They are Chocolate Cookie Bars: sweet, rich chocolatey filling atop a base of rich, buttery shortbread. They are smooth, rich, and absolutely divine. They are also quite quick and easy to make. The original recipe, which I found in the back of a murder mystery novel focused on strawberry shortcake (don't ask), yielded a 9x13 inch pan. I halved this to get an 8x8 pan, but made this decision a little too late. Therefore, I had made the regular sized crust, but half of the filling recipe. I am actually quite glad I did this. The crust took a few extra minutes to bake, and was a tad on the higher side, but I think using only half that much would have made for very flat bars with barely any crust. The commentry on the recipe went something like this, "My sister says these bars are so rich, you can only eat one. But I watched her eat three at the party." This statement is very much true; the squares are very rich, but they are so good, it is hard not to go back for seconds (and thirds). The recipe also calls for a dusting of confectioners' sugar on top, but I did not do this, the bars certainly don't need it!