Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

from recipegirl.com

Brownie Ingredients:

• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups light brown sugar, packed
• 4 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

Cookie Dough (Egg Free!) Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup butter
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 3/4 cup granulated white sugar
• 3 Tablespoons milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup semisweet chips + 1 teaspoon shortening for drizzle, optional

Prepare the brownies: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 9×13-inch pan with nonstick spray. In a medium glass bowl, melt chocolate in the microwave in short bursts of 30 seconds; stir after each burst and remove from microwave when melted and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly. In a large mixing bowl, mix butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract. Mix in melted chocolate. Blend in flour and mix just until combined (don’t over-mix). Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake 25 to 35 minutes. Watch closely and remove from oven when toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool completely.

Prepare the cookie dough: In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer to combine butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Mix in milk and vanilla. Mix in flour just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Spread cookie dough over the cooled brownies. Refrigerate until the dough is quite firm. It’s okay to speed up the process and place it in the freezer too. The firmer the dough, the easier it will be to cut into neat squares. Use a sharp knife to cut the brownies. You may need to wipe the knife off with a paper towel in between cuts since the fudgy brownies and cookie dough will tend to stick to the knife a bit. These brownies are best to serve placed inside cupcake papers and served with a fork.

If you’d like to add chocolate drizzle on top, melt 1/2 cup chocolate chips with 1 teaspoon of shortening in the microwave; stir until smooth. Scoop the melted chocolate into a zip baggie and snip off the corner. Squeeze the bag to drizzle the chocolate on top of each brownie. Sprinkle additional chocolate chips on top, if desired.

In the meantime, here’s a recipe for the brownies I made for the party.  I’ve been flipping past this recipe for over a year every time I looked in my recipe binder for a dessert.  Not sure why.  I LOVED these brownies!!  Similar to kitchen sink cookies, these brownies are chock full of all kinds of good stuff like cinnamon, chocolate chips, pecans, toffee bits, and coconut.  They freeze well too!  I know this photo isn’t the greatest….I snapped these as an afterthought when the party was well underway!  

Kitchen Sink Crunchers

from Family Circle, September 2009

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup toffee pieces (such as Heath Bits o’ Brickle)
• 3/4 cup sweetened flake coconut
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line 13x9x2 inch baking pan with nonstick foil.  Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; set aside.

Melt butter and sugar in a saucepan.  Cool slightly.  Whisk in egg and vanilla extract, then whisk in flour mixture.  Stir in toffee bits, 1/2 cup EACH flake coconut and pecans and all of the chocolate chips.  Spread into prepared pan.

Press remaining coconut and nuts into batter.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until set in center.  Let cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes.  Grab foil and lift bar from pan to rack; let cool completely.  Cut into 24 bars.

Chocolate-Ginger Brownies

from Martha Stewart’s Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for baking dish
• 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Butter an 8-inch square baking dish.  Line bottom with parchment, allowing 2 inches to hang over two sides.  Butter lining (not overhang).

Melt butter and chocolate together in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring until smooth.  Remove from heat, and stir in remaining ingredients.

Pour batter into prepared dish.  Spread evenly with a rubber spatula.  Bake until a cake tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs, 30 to 35 minutes.  Let cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes.  Lift out, and let cool completely on rack.  Cut into sixteen 2-inch squares.  Brownies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days.

Heart of Darkness Brownies

Makes 24 brownie cups

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
• 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 6 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup very coarsely chopped raw almonds or pecans, toasted
•  1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 5 full-size (2.07 ounces each) Snickers Candy Bars, cut into small chunks
• 3 cups mini marshmallows

For the Caramel Drizzle:

• 6 ounces (about 25) unwrapped caramel candies
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

Directions:

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.  Spray two standard 12-cup muffin tins with nonstick cooking spray.

Melt the butter and unsweetened chocolate together in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and stir until smooth.  Pour the chocolate mixture into a bowl and stir in the sugars, eggs and vanilla.  Sift the flour and salt into the chocolate mixture and stir just until combined.  Stir in the cooled chopped nuts, chocolate chips, and chunks of candy bar.

Fill each cupcake cup halfway with batter.  Bake until the surface of the brownies has a glossy, crackled surface, about 20 minutes.  Remove the brownies from the oven and top each one with 1/4 cup of the mini marshmallows.  Return the brownies to the oven and cook until the marshmallows start the melt and puff up a bit, but not browned too much, about 2 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool just enough to handle, then remove from the cupcake cups, running a knife around the edge of each brownie to loosen it from the cup.  Let cool completely on the wire rack.

While the brownies are cooling, make the caramel drizzle.  Combine the caramels, cream, vanilla, and salt in a microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave, uncovered, on high for 1 minute.  Remove from the microwave and stir until smooth.  If the caramels are not completely melted, continue heating in 30-second increments, stirring until smooth.

Drizzle the brownies with melted caramel and let cool completely for the caramel to harden.  Do not chill.  Serve immediately or store for up to 3 days in a covered container.

Quick sidenote:  Here is Anna’s recipe for Baked Spinach and Chicken Stuffing that won her $1,000,000(!!) as the Grand Prize in the 2006 Pillsbury Bake-off.  In fact, she’s such a star that her name was a clue on Jeopardy last week.  How cool is that?!  She’s my new hero.

So back to the brownies….I decided to make these brownies to bring to a Superbowl party over the weekend.  The base recipe creates a very fudgy (as opposed to cake-like) brownie (which I love).  I imagine it could be used for all kinds of fabulous brownie variations and concoctions.  This brownie base is my new go-to recipe whenever I want to make brownies.  The peanut butter ribbons add a rich peanut butter flavor, and are simple to make.  If you love chocolate and peanut butter, then you will love these brownies!  Also, if you are used to making brownies from a prepackaged mix, then I urge you to try making these from scratch.  It’s really easy, and the results are totally worth it!  Sorry for the lack of photos….I forgot to take a picture before we headed out to watch the Superbowl.  Hope y’all had a great weekend!