Vanilla Lovers Cookie Bars from Brownie Bites

Vanilla Lovers Cookie Bars - made January 18, 2024 from Brownie Bites 

Vanilla Wafer Crust

1 12-ounce box vanilla wafer cookies, crushed

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Blondie layer

1 cup unsalted butter

4 large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup white chocolate chips

10-12 Golden Oreos, broken into large pieces

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 x 13 baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Vanilla wafer crust: mix together melted butter, vanilla and crushed cookies. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan in an even layer, packing together tightly. Bake 10 minutes and let cool.
3. Blondie layer: in a saucepan, melt the butter on low heat. Remove from heat and add the white chocolate chips. Cover and let stand 5 minutes; stir until chips are melted and mixture is smooth. Let cool.
4. In another bowl, beat together eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Mix with melted white chocolate then stir in flour and salt. Mix until just combined. Pour batter over cooled vanilla wafer crust. Top with Golden Oreo cookie pieces.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until top is golden and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Do not overbake.

If you want a break from chocolate (I don't know who does but there are all kinds of people out there), this is a good alternative. I've had this on my pinterest board for awhile but it took me a bit of time to gather the various ingredients as Golden Oreos and vanilla wafers are not my pantry staples. I was also running out of white chocolate.

But the stars finally aligned and I had everything on hand so I finally made these. They turned out pretty well but I think I could've baked them a few minutes more. I did bake them for 30-ish minutes, perhaps a few minutes longer, and the toothpick test came out clean.

But vanilla brownies aren't the same as chocolate brownies in that "a few moist crumbs" don't come out clinging to the toothpick. I could tell I should've baked them longer as the corners and edges had a good fluffy looking texture but the middles were dense and a tad mushy.

Once they're cooled, they set better and firmed up slightly. If they were chocolate, they would've been fudgy. These were vanilla-fudgy. Taste-wise, I liked them. These are a good alternative if you prefer vanilla over chocolate and the Golden Oreos added a nice crunch. I could only find the thin Golden Oreos at the store so that's what I went with to top these and I think they're better than the regular ones.; less filling leakage. 

I still have some Golden Oreo Thins left in the package so I'm going to have to try this recipe again and bake it a little longer. As soon as I get more vanilla wafers and white chocolate.