Stop by and treat yourself with these extremely delicious mixed nut chocolate chip cookie bars made from clarified brown butter (caramelised desi ghee).

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These thick and chewy mixed nut cookie bars are loaded with tons of chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, roasted almonds, cashews, and walnuts. And let's not forget the insanely amazing flavour of clarified browned butter that just elevates everything! You'll absolutely love these cookie bars and you gotta trust me on this one! They are so GOOD it's impossible to eat just one! 

They are the perfect combination of chewy centre with crunchy toasted nuts and crispy edges without any dryness. They are made with clarified browned butter which makes these bars taste incredible. They are very easy to make and take less than 30 minutes to bake. You can bake all at once which means you don't have to spend too much time scooping the dough, rolling them into individual cookies, chilling, and then baking them in 2-3 batches. It’s a lot of work especially if you are craving something and want it right way! Here you can make one dough, set it into the pan, chill for just 20-30 minutes, bake and that's it! You're all done! 

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Why You'll Love This Recipe!

• It’s very simple and easy to make.
• They have an insanely amazing flavour because of clarified browned butter that just elevates everything!
• It's your favourite chocolate chip cookie but in the form of a bar with loads of nuts.
• Thick, decadent, chewy and soft!
• Loaded with tons of chocolate chunks and chips.
• No electric mixer is required.
• There is no need to spend too much time scooping the dough, then rolling them into individual cookies, chilling, and baking in 2-3 batches. Just make one dough, set it into the baking tray, chill it for 20-30 minutes then bake and you are all done! It's that easy!

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This Recipe Has Two Components 

1. How to make clarified browned butter
2. How to make mixed nut chocolate chip cookie bars 

Ingredients 

For Clarified Browned Butter: You can make clarified browned butter one day in advance. You can keep it at room temperature. It makes these cookie bars extra flavourful.

• Unsalted butter: Always use good quality butter

For Mixed Nut Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars: Only a handful of basic ingredients are required to make these cookie bars along with mixed nuts of your choice and they bake in just less than 30 minutes.

Here’s your ingredients list,

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• clarified browned butter: To make this recipe, extra flavourful, I will use melted browned butter.
• Brown and granulated sugar: In this recipe, I used both light brown sugar and granulated sugar. Granulated sugar adds sweetness and light brown sugar adds softness and moisture. Light brown sugar also gives caramelised flavour to these cookie bars.
• Egg: It gives structure to these cookies. The egg should be at room temperature.
• All-purpose flour: Make sure, measure it correctly. The best way to measure all-purpose flour is by using a digital scale but you don’t have then spoon the flour into the measuring cup and then scrape a knife across the top of the measuring cup to level the flour.
• Vanilla extract: Adds flavour. Always use good quality vanilla extract.
• Baking powder & Baking soda: They are used as a leavening agent. That means it causes the dough to rise.
• Salt: It balances the sweetness and enhances the flavour of chocolate.
• Chocolate chips and chocolate chunks: Both are used in this recipe. I used here both dark chocolate chips and milk chocolate chips because my daughter likes dark chocolate chips and I like milk chocolate chips. Chop your chocolate by hand as it creates large and small pieces for more texture and flavour contrast. I used both chocolate chips and chocolate chunks in this recipe because it improves the texture of the cookie bars. The small pieces melt in the cookie bars while baking and give it a dense and fudge-like texture. Always use good quality chocolate. I used 59% semisweet chocolate and a mixture of milk chocolate chips and dark chocolate chips. You can use dark chocolate chips or milk chocolate chips or a mixture of them.
• Mixed nuts: I used here toasted almonds, cashews and walnuts. These nuts add the most wonderful crunch and flavour. They make these cookie bars, crunchy. Toasting nuts minimises any bitterness found in raw nuts and gives them a rich taste and aroma.

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Advantage Of Clarified Browned Butter Over Brown Butter 

Butter is made up of three things: butterfat, milk solids and water. About 80% is butterfat, less than 4-5% is milk solids and about 14-15% is water. Most people use brown butter in their baking but I like to use clarified browned butter because,

1. It has no milk solids so has a higher smoke point than browned or regular butter. So you can use it in high-heat cooking. (A smoke point is the temperature at which oil or butter or ghee starts to burn and smoke instead and gives burnt flavour to the foods you are using it to cook)
2. It has a nutty taste with a beautiful aroma like browned butter but without any milk solids.
3. It has a longer shelf life than browned butter and you can store it at room temperature in an airtight container for 1-3 months depending upon the environmental conditions. The container should be clean and dry. You can store it in the fridge for up to 6 months.
4. If you are allergic or sensitive to dairy components, clarified browned butter is the better choice.

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Let's Make Clarified Browned Butter Step By Step

Step 1: Cut the butter into slices and place in a small heavy bottom pan. Place the pan on medium heat and let the butter melt. Once it melts, turn the heat to low and let it simmer. You will observe white foam on top and then it starts bubbling (keep stirring frequently). A wooden spoon is better for stirring but you can also use a regular spoon.

Step 2: Continue to cook the butter. The cooking time will depend on how much butter you are using. Watch carefully as light brown specks start to form and set at the bottom of the pan (these are the caramelised milk solids). You will feel the nutty aroma. At this point, you need to be extra careful and keep an eye on it because milk solids can burn easily(from brown to black). 

When these specks change their colour from light brown to deep brown colour, immediately remove from the heat. The whole process from start to end may take about 10-15 minutes.

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Step 3: Let it cool for few minutes then strain it into a glass jar through a fine-mesh strainer or a cheesecloth.

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Clarified browned butter is ready to use. It is in brown but will become light yellow as it cools. It has an amazing nutty flavour with an amazing aromatic smell. It’s very easy to make at home. 

This recipe makes approximately 1 cup of clarified browned butter (caramelised desi ghee).

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Let's Make Mixed Nut Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Step 1: Lightly grease a 9” or 8” square baking pan with butter, line with parchment paper leaving an overhang on all sides, then grease the parchment paper with butter and set aside.

Step 2: Heat a pan on medium heat, add 1 tbsp clarified browned butter and toast roughly chopped almond, cashews and walnuts for about 1-2 minutes or until the nuts become fragrant and light golden in colour. Stir occasionally. Remove from heat and let them cool.

Step 3: In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder, set aside.

Step 4: In a large bowl whisk together the melted butter(warm), light brown sugar, caster sugar and vanilla extract. Then add in the egg and whisk again for about one minute or until you get a pale and fluffy mixture.

Step 5: Add in the dry ingredients and mix gently until just combined. Finally fold in the chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, toasted almonds, cashews and walnuts (roughly chopped). Reserve some of each to decorate on top of the dough. I used almonds, cashews and walnuts but you can use any nut of your choice like pecans, peanuts or hazelnuts.

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Step 6: Transfer the cookie dough into the baking pan and smooth it out into an even layer, using a spatula. Sprinkle the reserved nuts, chocolate chips and chocolate chunks on top, gently press them into the cookie dough.

Step 7: Cover the baking pan and chill in the fridge for about 20-30 minutes.

Step 8: Bake in the preheated fan oven at 160C/320F (for conventional oven: 180C/350F) for 20-22 minutes or until light golden on top and edges are set and golden brown or toothpick inserted into centre of the bar comes out with few crumbs.

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Step 9: If you want soft and chewy bars, they should look slightly underbaked and decrease their baking time by 1-2 minutes. If you want extra firm and crispy bars, you may want to bake them for extra 1-2 minutes but it will give you the less chewy bars.

Step 10: Allow to cool in the baking pan for at least 15-20 minutes then remove from the baking pan using overhang parchment paper. Place on the kitchen counter or cutting board to slice into individual bars. To get the perfect cut, dip your knife in hot water and tap it dry with tissue paper before each cut.

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How To Store Cookie Bars?

• Freshly baked cookie bars are the best but you can store any leftover bars.
• Cool them completely then store in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature, for up to 6-7 days in the fridge. Bars will harden little but in the fridge, so warm them in the microwave just for 15-20 seconds to soften them.
• You can freeze them for up to 2 months in a freezer-safe bag. Just reheat your frozen bars in the oven for 2-3 minutes.

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Tips To Make Chewy And Crunchy Mixed Nut Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

• Egg should be at room temperature for easy and evenly mixing.
• Always use unsalted butter to make clarified browned butter as you can control the amount of salt in the recipe.
• Measure your flour correctly to get the best results. The best way to measure the flour is by using a digital scale but if you don’t have one, then spoon and level your flour carefully. Spoon the flour into the measuring cup and then scrape a knife across the top of the measuring cup to level the flour. Too much flour will lead to dry, dense or crumbly cookie bars.
• Sift your dry ingredients before adding them into the wet mixture that helps to combine everything evenly.

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• Use more brown sugar than white sugar as it results in soft and chewy cookie bars. But if you prefer your cookie bars to be crispier, use more granulated sugar. Brown sugar makes cookie bars softer, chewier and thicker.
• Don’t over mix the cookie dough.
• Use good quality chocolate. Chop your chocolate into small and large pieces for more texture and flavour contrast. You can use semisweet or dark chocolate chips or milk chocolate chips or a mixture of them.
• Don’t over bake them because they will become hard once they have cooled. They should be slightly wet in the middle. Under baked cookie bars are the secret to getting soft and chewy cookie bars, take them out of the oven when they look a bit under baked in the middle as well continue to cook once out of the oven.
• If you want soft and chewy bars, they should look slightly under baked and decrease their baking time by 1-2 minutes. If you want extra firm and crispy bars, you may want to bake them for extra 1-2 minutes but it will give you the less chewy bars.
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I hope that you'll try this recipe and you'll love them as much as my family and I do! If you make this recipe then be sure to tag @kaotickrunch on Instagram. We'd love to see your creations!

Happy Baking!