Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies

Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies - made April 30, 2016

I’m not entirely sure what my vision was for these brownies. I think I wanted something like cookie dough brownies but not the “dough” part of cookie dough since I don’t like cookie dough. So that would make them like chocolate chip cookie brownies and I had some vision that it would be like half-baked, gooey chocolate chip cookies embedded in rich, moist, fudgy brownies.

I sort of got that even though the cookies were more like fully baked chocolate chip cookies sitting in a brownie. A couple of things hampered my vision and made me see spots. One is cookies need less baking time than brownies. So even if you cover the frozen cookie dough completely with brownie batter like I did, inevitably, your cookies still bake and become fully baked even if your brownies are underbaked. Second, this was exacerbated by the fact that adding chunky cookie dough balls and covering with brownie batter made the brownies thicker than normal and required longer baking time. Ack.

If I had to do this all over again, I would cut the dough balls into smaller pieces and spread them around more, baking in a slightly bigger pan and make thinner brownies. I don’t know if I would get the same results but logic decrees they would need less baking time and therefore maybe the cookie dough wouldn’t bake completely.

I used existing recipes for brownies and chocolate chip cookies but you can substitute with your favorite recipe for each and see how they turn out. These were still pretty good but they didn’t quite meet my exacting standards or vision. Execution (partial) fail.

Fudgy Brownies

Chocolate Chip Cookies - any chocolate chip cookie recipe will do

1. Prepare cookie dough as directed and portion into golf ball size balls. Chill until firm. Do not bake separately.
2. Prepare brownie batter as directed.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8” baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
4. Pour half the brownie batter in prepared pan. Cut 8 dough balls in half (you will have extra dough to bake just as cookies). Arrange each half, cut side down, in a 4 x 4 formation, spacing them evenly. Pour remaining brownie batter over them covering dough balls completely.
5. Bake 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center into the brownie portion (try to avoid poking into the cookie dough ball) comes out with moist crumbs.
6. Let cool completely before cutting and serving.