Cookie Brownies

Wednesday was my best friend’s 18th birthday, so as you can imagine, Tuesday night was jam-packed with preparation–digging through my phone for photos, making a Facebook collage with the casual forty I felt satisfied with, picking and filtering an Instagram post, and writing three separate “happy birthday” paragraphs (one for each social media platform, of course!) Tuesday night also entailed scouring my brain for what to bake for her.

I decided on cookie brownies, a simple feat I last conquered about 3 years ago. After all, it was a school night, so I couldn’t choose something too elaborate to make. Alternatively, I could have spent 2+ hours baking and frosting a tall chocolate cake.

 

These cookie brownies use my Classic Not-Boxmix Boxmix Brownies recipe as a base, and a simple cookie dough on top. The result is a heavenly mix of soft, moist and deeply-rich brownie, with buttery, grainy chocolate chip cookie.

Recipe (modified from Pinch of Yum and Life, Love and Sugar) – makes 36 brownies

Cookie

• 1 cup + 2 tbsp flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Brownie

• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/3 cup + 2 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup chocolate chips

1. Line a 9×9 square baking pan with aluminum foil, letting edges hang over sides. Spray with cooking spray.
2. Make the cookie dough: In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the sugar and brown sugar.
4. Add the egg and vanilla. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula as needed.
5. Stir in the flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips. Refrigerate.
6. Preheat the oven to 350°F with a center rack.
7. Make the brownie batter: In a medium bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.
8. In a large bowl, mix oil, sugar, and vanilla with a rubber spatula.
9. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix until well combined.
10. Fold dry mixture into wet mixture in 3 parts. Stirring quickly will help the cocoa incorporate. Stir in chocolate chips.
11. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly.
12. Bake for 15 minutes. 5 minutes before the brownies are done, remove cookie dough from the refrigerator.
13. Remove the half-baked brownies from the oven onto a wire rack. Distribute clumps of cookie dough evenly on top of the brownie. Return to the oven to bake for 20 minutes, or until the cookie layer begins to turn golden around the edges.
14. Cool completely on a wire rack. Slice into 36 small bars.