Heavenly Hash Bars

Total Time: 2 hrs Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 40 mins

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips or 3 cups chopped dark chocolate
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup toasted diced pecans
• 3 cups half a 10 . 5-ounce package mini marshmallows

Recipe

• 1 preheat the oven to 300°f
• 2 lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan, or line with parchment and grease the parchment.
• 3 to make the crust:
• 4 in a medium-sized bowl, beat together the butter, salt, sugar, and vanilla, then beat in the flour.
• 5 the dough will seem very dry, and won’t seem to want to become cohesive at first. just keep beating, and it’ll eventually come together.
• 6 press the dough into the prepared pan, smoothing the surface with your fingers or a mini rolling pin (pastry roller).
• 7 the dough will feel stiff, but just keep pressing on it until you’ve covered the bottom of the pan.
• 8 prick the dough all over with a fork; this will keep it from bubbling up as it bakes.
• 9 bake the crust for 35 to 40 minutes, until it’s golden brown around the edges and beginning to brown on the top.
• 10 remove it from the oven, and loosen the edges with a heat-resistant plastic knife or a table knife.
• 11 make the topping while the shortbread begins to cool.
• 12 to make the topping:
• 13 place the chocolate and cream in a microwave-safe bowl, or in a saucepan.
• 14 heat in the microwave, or over low heat on a burner, till the cream is steaming and barely beginning to form bubbles.
• 15 remove from the heat, and stir.
• 16 the chocolate will gradually form a lump in the center of the bowl, then will start to expand as it absorbs the cream.
• 17 eventually the chocolate and cream will become one; keep stirring till it’s very smooth.
• 18 if all the chocolate doesn’t seem melted, reheat very briefly, and keep stirring.
• 19 spread the warm chocolate atop the cookie crust.
• 20 sprinkle with the marshmallows, then the pecans.
• 21 immediately use a knife, or a baker’s bench knife, to cut the bars into squares.
• 22 you’ll find it useful to run the knife under hot water and wipe it off every several cuts, to keep drag to a minimum.
• 23 the reason you’re cutting these bars immediately (admittedly, a somewhat messy proposition), is that if you wait till they’re cool the bottom crust is more difficult to cut.
• 24 cover the pan, and place the bars in the refrigerator for about an hour, to set the chocolate.
• 25 remove from the fridge, and use a spatula to transfer the bars from the pan to a serving plate.