The Story: The Cookie Bar and Me

I love to bake.

My passion started at an early age as dessert was always the most important part of any family meal. Cookies, cakes and pies…there always seemed to be a box of something in our house. Both of my grandmothers were talented bakers and they taught me a lot, each with their own specific style. My grandma Bea would bake breads and muffins as well as little tea cookies and biscotti for her bridge group. My grandma Josephine, who kept all of her recipes on handwritten index cards, only created recipes where chocolate was the base; she made an incredible chocolate cake and the best chocolate rugalach. It was here that I started to take special interest in the sweeter things life had to offer. Then came The Cookie Bar.

To be honest, it was by accident . . .

As my kids were growing up, baking was actually more of an activity for us to do together as a family. We made the classics like chocolate chip cookies, brownies and had fun creating new recipes from old ones, which I always found to be exciting. I started to get more and more daring, trying new recipes and testing them on my family. I wish I could say The Cookie Bar was this magical moment, but the reality is the kids wanted to see how cookies might bake in a baking dish instead of on a cookie sheet. When the initial chocolate chip bars came out, they were crispy on the outside, cakey on the inside and gooey with chocolate. It was an instant hit and over the years I’ve tinkered with the recipe to get it just right.

Since each batch made too many cookies for my family to eat, we started to give some away to friends, family or co-workers in the office and demand started to grow. With some nudging from family, I decided to make the leap from just baking for a few, to sharing this passion with others.

I love to bake and hope you enjoy the cookie bars as much as I love making them!

– Ashley Corpuel