Dark Chocolate-Prune Bar Cookies

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Ingredients: Prune Filling

• 1 cup pitted prunes, finely chopped
• 1 to 2 Tbs. cognac or bourbon

Ingredients: Almond-Oat Streusel Mixture

• 1 C. all-purpose flour
• 1 C. rolled oats
• 1 C. packed light brown sugar
• 1 C. sliced almonds, lightly toasted and chopped
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
• ½ C. unsalted butter, very soft, plus more for the pan

Ingredients: Chocolate Ganache

• ½ C. heavy cream
• ¼ C. Lyle’s Golden Syrup
• 3.5 oz. bar bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 9-inch square pan with foil, leaving an overhang on the ends for easy removal. Butter the bottom and sides of foil.
2. In a small bowl, toss the chopped prunes with the cognac or bourbon. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, almonds, salt, and cinnamon with your fingers until no lumps of brown sugar remain. Add the butter to the bowl. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour mixture until clumps form when the mixture is pressed together.
3. Press 2 cups of the streusel mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan. Turn off the heat. Add the Lyle’s Golden Syrup and the chocolate. Let stand one minute; stir until smooth. Stir in the vanilla extract.
4. Sprinkle the prune pieces evenly over the hot crust, adding any remaining cognac to the ganache. Drizzle the chocolate ganache over the prunes, as evenly as possible. Sprinkle the remaining streusel on top. Bake for 20-22 minutes, until the edges and top are golden. Cool bars in pan set over a wire rack. Lift the edges of the foil to remove bars from pan. Slide bars from foil to a cutting board. Cut into very small squares (they’re rich!) Eat for breakfast with a glass of milk, or for dessert with a nip of bourbon or cognac.

Yield: This recipe makes 3 dozen squares (6X6 rows, roughly 1 1/4″ each.), and each one is quite rich!

Recipe courtesy of TwoJunes, Lisa Bell and Nicole Rees