How to Win at Potlucks (Yum Yum Bars).

I have posted this cookie bar recipe once before, but I was reminded today of it's glory, and I felt it deserved the spotlight again.  The floor of my office building hosted a massive Thanksgiving potluck luncheon, and I forgot to sign up for something.  I woke up in a slight panic this morning, since I was wholly unprepared.

Enter: Yum Yum Bars.

These things made my mother famous in her thirty-year tenure at her job, and I am well on my way to establishing my baking prowess here in St Louis with them.  If you want to impress your office mates or boyfriends, please bake these.

The best part?  I threw these together in less than twenty minutes this morning with ingredients I always have on hand.  Granted, I had to carry a piping hot baking pan into the office since they literally came out of the oven as I walked out the door, but it was worth it.

Chocolate Chip Gooey Blondie Bars(aka Yum Yum Bars - the Secret Family Recipe)

2/3 C margarine or butter, melted and cooled
1 lb brown sugar
3 eggs
2.5 C flour
2.5 T baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp vanilla
12 oz bag of chocolate chips (chunks work very well)

Combine melted butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla - stir until smooth. Add dry incredients and combine. Mix in chocolate chips. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Slide a knife around the edges of the pan as soon as they are out of the oven and cool.  Serves at least 16 (very rich).

They should be slightly gooey in the middle, or as my Daddy-O says, they come out "medium rare."  I am always a little apprehensive to bake for new people (new coworkers, in this case) but this is so tried and true that it was a sure thing. 

How do you know you win at potluck?

Bam.  That's how.