Quick and Tasty Chocolate Chip Bars

The main reason why I love baking is not necessarily because of the end result. It is the process that I revel in. There are so many aspects in life that can be unpredictable and stressful. Lately I have found that the task of following steps is calming. Baking provides a departure from making decisions, an often difficult feat that all humans must make, and simply tells us what to do. When a recipe says "1 cup flour sifted with 1 teaspoon baking soda", it means just that.

While I love being creative with desserts, sometimes you just want to make something straightforward and fast, with no added tricks or potentially stress-inducing fancy techniques.

These Chocolate Chip Bars from the cookbook How It All Vegan, are simple as can be. They are easy to make and quite speedy as well. But in a crazy way, they are extremely delicious and worthy of satisfying any baking urge.

Life can wait. There are Chocolate Chip Bars to be made.

Chocolate Chip Bars
From How It All Vegan

3 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup soy milk or water

1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, including the sugar. Add oil, vanilla, milk and chocolate chips. Stir until just mixed. Pour batter into a 9X13 pan. Sprinkle with sanding sugar if desired. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Let cool 10 minutes until you cut them into bars.