Chocolate Chip Marble Bars
So I’ve been going through a big time Amish phase lately.
The Amish thing strikes once every couple of years and can be sparked by just about anything. Like maybe the Winter makes me want to start baking bread, which immediately makes me feel Amish, and next thing you know I’m trying to learn Dutch.
This time though, I was talking books with a friend, and she told me that Beverly Lewis had some really good series. After reading some online reviews, I decided on Abram’s Daughters, and about half a book in, I was completely obsessed.
OBSESSED.
So like always, I dug out my Amish cookbooks (incidentally, the recipes using cream soups and marshmallow fluff make me question their authenticity, but questioning things may be against Amish rules, so let’s just not talk about that) and started brushing up on my Amishness.
After a particularly bad day last week, my husband even brought me home an Amish gift basket with a homemade rolling pin and stuff. Usually he’s great about supporting my obsessions, but every now and again he’s all, “can you really learn about Amish on an iPad? I don’t think Amish use Chi Irons” and I’m like, “seriously, you don’t get to crush my dreams. What if the Spanx inventor lady had someone crushing HER dreams?? Then we’d all have to diet and get sweaty and stuff”.
It’s like he doesn’t get that being an Amish sister at heart who still likes $20 lipstick and microwavable soft pretzels is a real thing you can do.
Which doesn’t surprise me. Husbands aren’t always the sharpest tools, if you get my drift.
Also…Laffy Taffy. Is it acceptable to the Amish as real food? Mental note to Google that.
Anyways, one recipe that has popped up in a few of my Amish cookbooks is Marble Squares.
A Marble Square is a chewy chocolate chip bar, but the chocolate chips are sprinkled on top and swirled around so they make a cool design.
And I got to thinking and I said, “Self…you like chocolate chips. You like stuff that looks cool. I bet you’ll like Marble Squares”.
So I made them. And they looked cool. And I liked them a lot.
The end.
These are great for a dessert tray or a late night when you’re craving chocolate and need something simple to throw together quickly.Chocolate Chip Marble Squares
Adapted from several different Amish Cookbooks Because I’m Practically Amish Nowadays
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine
- 6 Tablespoons white sugar
- 6 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1 cup chocolate chips
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 375. Spray a 7 x 11 pan with nonstick spray and set aside.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of a mixer, beat together the margarine, both sugars, and vanilla. Once fluffy and combined, beat in the egg. With the mixer on low speed, slowly blend in the flour mixture.
3. Spread batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the top. Place in the oven for a minute or two, until the chocolate chips are melty and shiny. Remove from oven and run a knife through the chips and batter to marbleize. Place back in the oven for about 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown and set. Allow to cool before cutting.
Not that I’d know anything about that.
Thanks for visiting my blog! I realize you could be doing more important things with your time. Like watching the news or washing socks. I hope you stay awhile. Much more fun than socks, I promise. 
You’re totally Amish. I expect to see your next treats displayed on a homemade quilt.
And, um, these look heavenly!
I’ve lived around Amish and have seen Amish kids eating fruit roll ups…you could fit right in. :) The bars look delicious!
I think there is a new show coming on about the Amish kids who have that time in their life where they get to check out real life and then decide if they want to go back to being Amish. You should totally watch that.
My self likes chocolate chips, so I bet I would like these too.
I always see the Amish drinking mountain dew and wonder the same thing…
ALSO TLC has a new amish show coming in september. Something about amish teens deciding if they want to be amish or not. Either way, just another reason to let your obsession continue into the fall :)
But enough about the amish, these treats look fab and Im obsessing over your napkins. xoxo
You should turn partially Amish more often because these bars look positively marvelous! Or, uh, marbelous. Yessssss. I’m good at inventing words, apparently.
There was an Armish TV programme on over this side of the pond where regular people from the UK went to go live with them and had to learn their lifestyle. It was both funny, sad, entertaining, and interesting. What I did learn from the program is there is a colony of people that are kinda like the armish but have modern stuff. I can’t remember their name. Electricity and computers in some households. One of the girls was even on Facebook. Maybe you can pretend you’re one of them!?
How can marshmallow fluff be an armish recipe? But what the heck, I’ll take a whole slab please. It does definitely look cool and for the real armish peeps, this must be like Christmas to have some of these. Now get back to the kitchen and rase/have more babies (I know you’re working on that one!)
Oh wow, these are so being made this week. Love these!!!
Nom Nom. But what I really want are those pink straws!
These bars looks soooo fabulous. Love the look of those swirls!
Oh my goodness! These bars wouldn’t last long at my house! I’m with Lori…I want the pink straws too.
yum yum yum!!!! these look so Amish that I think you must have been switched at birth. Never mind, most Amish don’t do births in a hospital, but anyeay, these are going to be on the top of my baking list! And, I have read all of Beverly Lewis’ books-they rock!! I can’t wait for TLC’c new Amish show!!
These DO look cool! A great alternative to the same old brownies!
Wait. Your husband brings you gifts and it isn’t your birthday or anniversary? I say keep him. He sounds wonderful to me. I have ALL the ingredients for those bars. I may HAVE to make them. Rats.
I love Amish recipes too. These bars look good! I love how easy they seem to be to make and I just so happen to have a 7X11 pan!
The Amish don’t use computers…..DO NOT become Amish……Just cook all their good yummy stuff and post it on your blog…..YAY!! I have to admit I do get the bug as well, I mean they did think up the whoopie pie……deeeelicioussssssss!!……I think it’s the simple things that make me want to give up the 20 dollar lipsticks….but then the thought of not having a microwave or air conditioner snaps me right back to reality.
Love your commentary as much as your recipes!
It’s hard to make me laugh first thing but the Spanx comment did it. Love the bars, and I love the sound of an Amish cookbook.
I am guessing only the Amish have 7×11 pans (what the heck size is that??) so you must at least be related. Will have to try these but in a non Amish size pan. Love your blog.
Maybe try an 8×8?
The original recipe said 9 x 13 but the bars would have been WAAAY too thin so I changed it. I have a few 7 x 11 pans and LOVE them….I don’t always care for the thickness of an 8×8 pan, so this gets bars just right. Take a look next time you’re at Walmart…they’re just smaller rectangular pans. Really great to have around!!
Thanks – will look for this size next time I am shopping.
I too am obsessed with Amish, so much that for our anniversary trip I talked my husband into driving to Choteau OK. They have an Amish bakery and cheese house and an Amish restaurant. There was also another bakery down the road. The bread, cakes and pies looked amazing, my husband questioned their authenticity when the girl who walked up to help us had sparkly butted jeans and a tattoo. As we were leaving we noticed a sign that the AMISH farm had been bought by another family…. kind of disappointed in that one. But the other two were pretty cool and there were tractors parked in the employee parking and even 2 cute Amish boys driving a tractor down the road. I refrained from jumping up and down and yelling at them like a fool… but I did get a picture, which I learned later they don’t want their pictures taken. OH well…. pictures are better than tackling you in the street right??
Well, I just Mapquested Choteau and it is only an hour and a half from me!!
So naturally I called my husband, and he’s all acting like it’s too far but whatever. It’s going to happen.
We live in Rudy~ it’s not TOO far for some ‘stalking’ time!!! I told John that we needed to follow one of the grain stacks and just pretend we were lost and ask to spend the night.. I just wanna grab them and hug them, which could land me in jail I’m sure!
So gorgeous! I love Amish things too! Are you at LHOP fan? (little house on the prairie!)
Yes totally!!
Read all the books when I was younger, and whenever Jon David gets spoiled about video games I tell him, “one year Laura and Mary got heart shaped cakes, a peppermint stick, a tin cup, and a shiny new penny for Christmas. AND THEY WERE THRILLED”.
Pretty sure he thinks I’m making it up.
Love that your husband brought you home an Amish gift basket!
YUM! Can’t wait to try these. :)
Lots of Amish where I’m from (NE MO/ So IA). If you go to one of their general stores you can buy an amazing number of things in generic bulk. Like gummy worms and dry marshmallow stars like in Lucky Charms!!
I lived in Flordia for a while and there was an Amish section of town. Kid you not. Amish wear roller blades and skates and bike everywhere. Seriously don’t know how they did the full Amish thing in Sarasota FL in the middle of summer…but whatev’s. They had a good restaurant.
This bar looks like just the thing for the teenage boy who thinks there is no other cookie but chocolate chip. Everything else is “ick.” When I asked what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday it was “chocolate chip cookie.” 0_O
You are such a hoot! I think these marbled bars would turn anyone’s bad day into a good day too.
I think I may love you. Can we go on our Rumspringas together? Or at least bake some friendship bread and share it? I will settle for these Marble Bars since I know your probably busy with your quilting and butter churning and what have you. And I’m totes going to hit up your Beverly Lewis recommendation, for reading while eating my Marble Bars.
You are amazing!!! I’m obsessed with learning new things. This recipe came right on time, as we are heading on a road trip vacation with the kiddies in two days and I always bake and pack things that are easily to travel with. Thanks a million.
I’m with you on the bread. When I get on that kick (which happened last week), watch out!!! I made 2 loaves of Honey Challah Bread in a matter of 3 days. I love making it and want to make more types of bread, in the Winter. Ha Ha!
These look amazing. I can’t wait to make them!!!!
You always make me laugh :)
These bars do look good. Gotta love anything with extra chocolate just to make it look cool!
In your quest for “being” Amish did you make the pan you used for these cookie bars? Seriously, where do you get a 7″ x 11″ pan? These look delicious and I want to make them but I do not know what size pan to substitute. It seems a 9″ x 13″ pan would be too large. An 8″ x 8″ pan seems too small. Any suggestions?????
8×8 pan would work just fine, the bars would just be a bit thicker. I LOVE my 7 x 11 pans and use them often in place of 8×8. You can buy one at Walmart!!
This sounds perfect – cake isn’t my first favorites for deserts but Bars always are on my list of favorites. Sounds delicious!
I love her series! Abrams daughters is one of my favs but you will get hooked and want to read them all. After you finish that one read the series Annie’s People :) I can’t wait to make these bars! My mother inlaw is flying in this afternoon. Maybe if I make these my 3 kid grubby house won’t stand out so bad? Baking sound s more fun that clenaing ayway. :)
Like you, I’m drawn to things-Amish every few years. In the past ten years or so, I’ve weeded out my lifetime collection of books, but one of the few that remain is PLAIN AND SIMPLE: A Woman’s Journey to the Amish, by Sue Bender. Whenever I’m feeling life is too hectic and complicated, I reread this darling little book. You might like it. I know I’ll like your version of Chocolate Chip Marble Bars.
Keep writing…
These look awesome! I’ll have to add these to my fall baking list. :-)
One day I was procastinating on the internet and google Amish Dating sites (no idea why) and a few hundred came up! Aren’t Amish not meant to have computers or the internet?! I will be making these soon, only I don’t have any choc chips (I know its practically a sin!) so may have to substitute chopped up dark choc instead :)
These were delicious! I do want to add a bit to the Amish debate. From all the Amish books I read I believe milk tends to be the drink of choice. I think that might be a hiccup for you. I chuckle to myself every. single. time. I see milk in your photos. :)
My husband is sort of obsessed with the Amish too! We once spotted some Amish folk in the parking lot of a Friendly’s and he completely embarrassed me by getting all bug-eyed and loudly whispering’ “LOOK! AMISH!!!” while pointing right at them. Not one of his finer moments…lol…
These yummy looking squares are perfect for my nephew who goes crazy for anything with chocolate chips – I will definitely whip up a batch for him (and my practically Amish honey) tonight!
I just made this and it is fabulous! My 7 year old helped me make them:) I used a tart pan to make a giant cookie since I didn’t have the 7 x 11 pan :-)
What a fun bar recipe! I want! I need!
[...] I made Chocolate Chip Marble Bars. [...]
Those look great, and they sound crazy easy! Who’da thought all you had to do was soften the chocolate and then swirl? Those Amish really know their stuff.
This is also really good with an extra two tablespoons of butter and two tablespoons of cocoa powder ;) I made a video of me making it that way, and I have to say that these are delicious!
I made these last week. They were amazing to taste, but unfortunately didn’t look a patch on your wonderfulness. Any tips on what I should be doing? Did you use a sharp knife when marbling the chocolate? Perhaps my butterknife just didn’t have the sharpness. Reading through the comments make me think I’ve used too big a size baking container too. Practise makes perfect. I’m not overly concerned by having to make these time & time again. I couldn’t get over how good they taste! Thank you!
[...] Chocolate Chip Marble Bars [...]