Heath Bar Crunch Cookie Bars

Happy Monday!  Today I am blogging about some fantastic Heath Bar Crunch Cookie Bars that I made last week. I was going to blog about them on Friday, for my Friday Dessert post, but instead this pink mama was in the emergency room all day!  After a very long Friday, at 2:00 a.m., I had my appendix removed during emergency surgery.  Not what you would call a fun weekend, but I am thankful to be healthy and at home with my family!  I am so blessed to have an amazing husband and father who sat with me at the ER all day long and an awesome mother and sister who stayed at my house with the girls all day long!  I am also equally fortunate to have a mother-in-law who stayed overnight with my girls so that John could be at the hospital with me!  And of course, I cannot forget my father-in-law and brother-in-law who brought me a delicious chocolate chip muffin (after not being allowed to eat for about 36 hours) and a huge stack of magazines to keep me busy!  God has blessed my life with two families who weave together to create a support system that is unparalleled!  I love you all!

So back to this fantastic dessert that you just have to make!  It is very special to me because my original Heath Bar Crunch recipe, which I will share at a later date, is the dessert that made John fall in love with me!  The first time I met him, I had made a batch of this awesome dessert.  He ate it and loved it.  I sent some home with him so that he would eat more of it at home, love it even more, and think about me enough to call me and ask me out...which was exactly what happened!  And the rest is history!

You already know that I love cookie bars, so I knew that I needed to make a cookie bar based on this dessert.  And I knew that the cookie bar needed to be easy and quick...using a cake mix as a base!

Here's What You Need to Make the Heath Bar Crunch Cookie Bars:

• 1 box vanilla cake mix (I used French Vanilla...you can use vanilla/golden/yellow/etc.)
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1 bag Heath Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits (you will find these in the baking aisle right next to the chocolate chips)

Now Let's Make the Heath Bar Crunch Cookie Bars:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 pan
2. In a large mixing bowl combine cake mix, melted butter, and 2 eggs until thoroughly incorporated
3. Fold in chocolate chips and heath bits
   
4. Spread mixture evenly into prepared pan
5. Bake for 20 minutes
6. Remove from oven and use the back on a spatula to press the cookie mixture into the pan (this creates a more cookie like texture)
7. Return to oven for an additional five minutes
8. Remove from oven and press down with back of the spatula again, flattening the cookie bars evenly (trust me this extra step makes them more dense and cookie-like)
9. Place pan on rack to cool completely
10. Cut into squares and Enjoy!