Brownies and Cookies.
They are your All-American casual dessert items. Hardly anyone will turn down a good ol' brownie or chocolate cookie. They are the epitome of comfort food.
In the past 6 months or so, I have become slightly obsessed with brownie-cookie fusions. I am on a constant quest of seeking new, innovative ways of combining the chocolatey gooeyness of brownies with the comforting nostalgia of a good chocolate chip cookie.
One day, a friend of mine sent me a link to this video. It demonstrates the inspiration for my latest brownie-cookie fusion: All Kinds of Awesome.
The concept: A peanut butter cup stuffed inside a brownie stuffed inside a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie.
"All Kinds of Awesome? What kind of name is that?" You may be asking. Let me tell you, it is the kind of name that describes the indescribable. There is simply no other name that could do these decadent, gooey, chocolately, simply delicious brownie-cookie fusions, justice.
I should probably stop raving and ranting and just get to it, but seriously, these are the perfect example of synergy (let the geekiness begin). Synergy is when two or more things are combined to create something that is greater than what the parts are separately. And that is exactly what All Kinds of Awesome is.
What you need is a pan of baked brownies, some mini peanut butter cups, and cookie dough. I baked two pans of brownies a day or two ahead (one pan to eat and one for this project). I also made the cookie dough ahead of time (a double batch...to eat and for this project). So all I had to do on the day I made these was assembly!
Brownies:
(My favorite recipe, provided by Bake At 350)
What you need:
1 c. dutch-process cocoa
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 & 1/2 sticks (~170g) unsalted butter
2 c. sugar
1 TBSP. vanilla
3 eggs (room temp)
1 c. flour
What you need to do:
Preheat oven to 350F (176C). Line a 9"x13" pan with tin foil and then grease the foil (either with butter, Crisco, or some non-stick spray)
Combine the cocoa, salt and baking powder in a small bowl and set it aside.
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Turn off the heat; add the sugar and stir to combine. Return to the heat until it's hot again, but not bubbling.
Remove from heat and stir in the cocoa mixture. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla. Mix just until it's smooth. Add in the flour and stir just until combined.
Pour batter into the pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies:
(Classic Nestle Chocolate Chip Cookies, slightly modified)
What you need:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (~227g) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, room temperature
1/4-1/2 cup peanut butter (you can use your own judgement for peanut buttery-ness!)
12 oz (~340g) chocolate chips (mini ones work really well)
Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.
Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Mix in peanut butter just until combined. Add in flour mixture in 2-3 additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go. Stir in chocolate chips.
Living in a tropical climate, I prefer to refrigerate the cookie dough for a little while before assembly, otherwise they get too sticky. You may or may not need to do this.
Assembly:
Cut the brownies into squares that are approximately 1-1.5 inches wide.
Unwrap the peanut butter cups. Make an indentation in the underside of your brownie and stuff the peanut butter cup into it. If you want, you can smoosh the brownie around it so it is encompassing all of the peanut butter cup.
Make a ball of cookie dough that is slightly smaller than a golf ball (1-1.5 inches in diameter) and then break it in half. Turn each half into a little disc (flatten like a pancake with your palms), big enough to cover the brownie. Sandwich the brownie between the discs of cookie dough and then seal off the edges.
It should look like an over-sized sphere of cookie dough when your done.
On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, place your spheres of goodness, an inch or so apart (don't worry, they won't spread too much). Bake at 375F (190C) for 8-10 minutes.
Now, I also tried these using regular chocolate cookie dough, brownies, and Hershey Mint Truffle Kisses. They were also delicious. But the regular cookie dough didn't have as much staying power as the peanut butter ones did, and they spread just a little bit too much. So that recipe is still being perfected.
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