Dark Chocolate Revel Bars

,Today feels like Christmas and my birthday all wrapped into one.  Researchers at Syracuse University have determined that eating chocolate for breakfast can help boost brain power.  BEST NEWS EVER.  I have no idea what kind of studies they conducted to reach this conclusion because quite honestly, I was too involved in my happy dance to continue reading the article.  Who can concentrate after finding out that we should be kickstarting our brain with chocolate every morning?

Diets are constantly changing so I'm totally jumping on this chocolate for breakfast bandwagon before someone comes along and declares that chocolate consumed before noon is formidable.  My only regret is that I missed out on participating in this study.  If only I had known that I could have been eating chocolate for breakfast everyday - for research!

Chocolate, oats and nuts - this is the stuff that breakfasts are made of.  I'm going to be indulging in a dark chocolate revel bar tomorrow morning.  The science is out there friends.  Morning is the best time to power up the brain with a little cocoa boost.  I'm on board.  Who's with me? 

Dark Chocolate Revel Bars
3 cups old fashioned oats
2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup almonds, chopped
1 teaspoon baking soda
16 Tablespoons butter, melted + 2 Tablespoons butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups dark chocolate chips
1 cup sweetened condensed milk

Make foil sling for a 9x13 pan.  Spray with cooking spray. 

Combine oats, flour, sugar, almonds, baking soda and 1 t. salt.  

Whisk together 16 T. butter, eggs and vanilla. 

Stir butter mixture into dry ingredients. 

Reserve 1 1/2 cups dough for topping. 

Press remaining dough into bottom of prepared pan. 

Microwave chips, condensed milk, 1/4 t. salt and 2 T. butter until melted.  

Spread chocolate mixture over crust.  

Crumble reserved dough and sprinkle over chocolate layer. 

Bake 30 minutes at 350.  Let cool 6 hours in pan.  

Remove bars using sling and cut into 24 bars. 

I'm happy to report that morning isn't the ONLY time that we should be eating chocolate to increase blood flow to our brains.  Just in case you need a few suggestions about occasions to indulge in chocolate, I've got you covered: 
     When you're facing a pile of dishes to wash after preparing an epic dinner to your family, when you miss out on dinner because you've been stuck in traffic for over an hour or when you're up late at night blogging dark chocolate revel bars and you have an overwhelming desire to eat ridiculous amounts of chocolate. 

Feel free to borrow my excuses for come up with your own but either way - you need chocolate.  It's good for you.

Ciao!

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