Gooey Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

Aaron and his friends have a bromantic date every Wednesday where they get tacos and play Settlers of Catan. He hosted this week and I wanted his friends to think he was cool for having a girlfriend who's such a good baker. So I whipped these up (partly because I wanted something with chocolate and peanut butter) and they got rave reviews. Get your bowls and spoons ready - this is not a finger-food dessert!

Gooey Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookie Bars (serves 6-8)

1 cup flour
1 Tbls. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 Tbls. vegan butter
2 Tbls. powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 F. In one bowl combine the flour, cornstarch, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. In another bowl combine the sugars, applesauce, and oil.

Then mix them together, and add the chocolate chips. Divide the mixture in half.

Grease an 8x8 in pan. Using your hands, spread half of the mixture into the bottom of the pan. It won't entirely cover the pan, so if this bothers you then just use a smaller pan. Bake for 5 minutes.

While the bottom part is baking, soften the peanut butter and the butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds, then stir in the powdered sugar. Spread the peanut butter mixture on the bottom crust, then use your hands to flatten small pieces of the remaining batter to make the top crust. Bake for 18 minutes.

Scoop into a bowl, and eat with a spoon.