Cookie Dough Brownies

Cookie Dough Brownies

A Mix of Recipes

This recipe for cookie dough-topped brownies had been on my mind since Amy posted about it a few weeks ago.  However, when I looked at the recipe, I thought there were a few things I would change about it.  I thought the best way to start would be to go to my favorite brownie and chocolate chip cookie recipes and go from there to combine them.  

Brownie Layer:

For the brownies, I modified this Martha Stewart recipe for Double-Chocolate Brownies.  It is my go-to recipe.  For the purposes of making Cookie Dough Brownies, I cut the recipe to two-thirds, figuring I wanted a thin brownie layer.

Ingredients:

5 tablespoons of butter, cubed

100 grams of semi-sweet chocolate (~ 3.5 oz), broken into pieces

1/3 cup of sugar*

2 eggs

3 tablespoons of cocoa powder

1/4  teaspoon of salt

5 tablespoons of flour

*I usually cut the amount of sugar in any recipe in half.  I really dislike things so sweet that you cannot taste anything else.  For sweeter brownies, use up to 2/3 cup of sugar.

Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C).  Line a 9x11 inch pan (or something of similar size) with parchment paper so that the paper goes all the way up the sides.  Trim off excess and put aside.  

In a double boiler, melt butter and chocolate, stir until smooth.  Remove from heat.

Pour sugar into a medium sized mixing bowl, pour chocolate mixture on top and whisk until well-combined.  Add eggs, one at a time.  Add salt.  Gradually whisk in cocoa.  Fold in flour until just combined.  Pour into pan, using a spatula or rubber scraper to evenly distribute.  The batter will be quite viscous and will form only a thin layer in the pan.  Bake 15-20 minutes.  Test the center with a toothpick; if it comes out with only a few crumbs, the brownies are fully cooked.  

Set aside and make cookie dough.

Cookie Dough Layer:

The obvious choice for a cookie dough recipe seemed to me the old standard: Toll House.

These cookies have an important ingredient missing from the original Cookie Dough Brownie Recipe...

SALT!  You cannot have all of that sugar without some salt to balance it out!  

Here is my recipe, cut in half to make a reasonably-sized layer, and altered to remove the eggs but not the moisture.

Baking is Messy

But Totally Worth It!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 cup of brown sugar (or turbinado here in Europe, which is the closest I can find)

1 package of vanilla sugar (here in Europe, or 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and 1 tablespoon of sugar)

2 tablespoons of milk

1 cup of flour

100 grams of semi-sweet chocolate (~3.5 oz), finely chopped*

*You could obviously use chocolate chips, we just do not have them here.

Using an electric mixer, cream butter, salt, sugars.  If using, add vanilla extract.  Add milk and mix until combined.  Gradually add flour and mix.  Mix in chocolate.  

Combine:

Using a spatula or rubber scraper, spread cookie dough over brownies.  You may even want to warm the dough a bit to make it more pliable.  DO NOT MELT!  Once the dough is spread evenly, place in refrigerator for about an hour to set.  Remove and cut into reasonably-sized pieces--whatever that means for you!  Serve with a glass of milk, you will need it.

I hope this recipe inspires you to go out and make some delicious treats!