Costco is a beautiful, but terrifying place.

It's also the only place I can justify spending $130 on 6 bottles of ketchup, 4 industrial-sized jars of strawberry jam, 160 rolls of 3-ply toilet paper, and 18 pounds of romaine lettuce.

Plus, you can practically get a free lunch out of it just for stopping by -  that is if you don't get run down by the fifty million shoppers first. And don't even THINK about waiting in line for the goods to be dished out. You'll have serious cart dents on the ankles and end up limping out of the warehouse.

As I was perusing the produce section, I was listening in on an older couple having this deep and consuming conversation about whether or not they needed a 4-pack container of hummus. I picked up what I needed and headed over to the laundry and juice aisles. Once I got there, I realized I forgot lemons, which was the thing I went there for in the first place, headed back to produce and found they were still at it.

Here's a tip: With the exceptions of shoes, clothing, and desserts, if it takes you 15 minutes to decide whether you need something, you probably don't need it.

On my way to the checkout, I made a quick detour into the cookie aisle due to the serious congestion in the cereal aisle and scored a box of club-sized Oreo Cookies for $5.99. That's one heck of a deal. 

And yes, before you ask, I did need 450 Oreo cookies. Who needs cereal when you can have Oreos? The breakfast of champions.

I ended up having a few on the ride home. Just a few. Rows, maybe. Oops. Since my cookie jar is filled to capacity, I had to use up the opened package to avoid them going stale or soft in this weather. It would be an absolute travesty to let these beautiful cookies go to waste. It would be a travesty to let any cookie go to waste for that matter.

So I made these. What a beautiful thing it is to pair up Oreos with even more chocolate and peanut butter. 

My club-sized cookie purchase has completely been justified. 

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE BARS

1 package chocolate sandwich cookies, like Oreo Cookies, finely ground 

¾ cup melted butter

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup mini chocolate chips

½ cup peanut butter chips

½ cup white chocolate chips

½ cup coarsely crushed chocolate sandwich cookies, about 8

  

Combine cookie crumbs and butter; pat onto the bottom of a 13"x9" baking pan. 

In a small saucepan, melt sweetened condensed milk and 1 cup chocolate chips; stir until smooth. Pour over crust. 

Sprinkle with chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips, and crushed cookies. 

Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until chips begin to melt but do not lose their shape. Allow to cool completely before cutting. 

Yields: About 24-48 cookies, depending on size.