Fudgy Chocolate Chunk Brownies

I love cookies, I really do. But if I see a tower of brownies sitting on a party plate I’m going to go check it out. If it looks fudgy and dense I’m going to be all over it! Don’t get me wrong, cookies are amazing, but sometimes they just give false hopes. I can’t tell you how many times I have bitten into a cookie, thinking the center was soft and gooey, and instead it just crumbles in my mouth. It’s a huge let down and anyone who says differently is a little liar.

 

So for the 7^th week of Christmas Treats, hosted by Brenda of Meal Planning Magic, I’m sharing these wonderfully fudgy, chocolatey, dense, and all around fabulous brownies.

I’m pretty sure these are the best brownies I have made so far, true story. I made these back in the summer for a night out with friends and I regret only eating one because all my friends ate the rest later that night. But then again I did eat a majority of these little darlings.

 

I used to not like chocolate chips in the brownie, thinking their sole purpose was to distract from a mediocre chocolate taste, but the chocolate chips added to these brownies was just an added chocolate bonus.

Oh and the fudginess of these brownies is serious! I thought about buying vanilla ice cream just so I could tone down the fudge factor. But alas I found myself ice cream-less and reaching for a second third helping of brownie.

Fudgy Chocolate Chunk Brownies

From Something Swanky

Makes one 8x8 inch pan

Ingredients

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

½ cup milk chocolate chunks/chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line an 8x8 inch pan with tin foil. Grease foil with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, only adding the second after the first has been fully incorporated. Stir in the vanilla extract. Scrape the bowl as necessary. Add the flour to the butter mixture. Mix until the flour has disappeared. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean when inserted into the center. Cool in the pan until room temperature. Cut brownie into squares and serve.

Cake Slice Bakers - October 2013: Lovelight Chocolate Chiffon Cake with Chocolate Whipped Cream

It’s October 20th (where did the time go?!) and you know what that means! Well if you re new here I’ll tell you, it means the lovely ladies from the Cake Slice Bakers are posting the 12th and final cake from the most wonderful cookbook ever: Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson.

I don’t think we have ever had a more successful cake book than this one.

I can still taste this Red Velvet Cake we made back in February, my god it was so smooth and delectable, and this Honey Bee Cake was definitely a huge hit for my roommates and me. The honey syrup was so sticky and sweet and just paired perfectly with the cake. Oh and don’t get me started on the Lemon and Almond Streamliner Cake. That is probably my absolute favorite out of all the cakes we made this year. So lemony, tangy, yet sweet too. And the frosting for this cake was amazing! I could eat that out of a bowl with a spoon if my goal was to gain 10 pounds in an hour.

So it has been a tradition for the past couple of years that on the last cake everyone makes a cake of their choice and keeps it a secret from everyone (including the members of the group) until the big reveal.

I ended up making this lovely beauty!

You would think an all-chocolate cake would be really heavy and dense, but not this one. It has 7 egg whites to make it light and fluffy and the whipped cream frosting keeps the whole thing light and pleasant.

I took this to my parents during fall break and by the end of my long weekend (only 4 days mind you) all by this slice you see here was gone. I had to salvage it because I didn’t have time to take pictures.

My mom says this is the best cake I have ever made. I think it has to do with it tasting very similar to this cake my grandma who passed away a few years ago; it was a tough time for my mom. But I’m glad I unintentionally made a make my mom had in her childhood frequently. The only difference between the two cakes was that my grandma put a burnt sugar toffee thing on the top. I really do think that would make this cake extra awesome!

(By the way please excuse all the terrible photos. I didn't have proper light for about a week and since this was the last slice I didn't want to get rid of it so it looks a little mangled.)

Lovelight Chocolate Chiffon Cake with Chocolate Whipped Cream
Slightly adapted from Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson

Ingredients
Whipped Cream
5 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups heavy cream
1 ¼ tsp. pure vanilla extract
¼ tsp. cinnamon
Dash of salt

Cake
½ cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
½ cup boiling water
½ cup canola oil
½ cup buttermilk
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
6 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 ¾ cup cake flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 ¼ cups dark brown sugar
7 large egg whites, room temperature
½ tsp. cream of tartar
½ cup sugar

Directions
Whipped Cream: place chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. Heat the heavy cream in a saucepan over medium heat until it reaches a slight simmer. Take off the heat and pour over the chocolate, swirling the bowl to coat all of the chocolate in heavy cream. Let the mixture sit for a little bit to allow the chocolate to melt. Whisk the cream and chocolate until combined. Stir in the vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge until cold, about 3 hours.

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Take out your 10-inch tube pan, do not grease or line the pan. Just get it out in preparation for the batter.

Cake: In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and boiling water until smooth. Whisk in the oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and yolks.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, salt. Whisk in the brown sugar until the big lumps are gone. Stir the chocolate mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula. Stir briskly until smooth. Do not over-mix.

In a clean glass bowl, whip the eggs whites on medium until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and increase the speed to medium-high until the whites reach soft peaks. Decrease the speed to medium and gradually pour in the sugar. Increase the speed to high and whip until the egg whites are stiff and glossy. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter using as few strokes as possible. Fold in the reaming egg whites until fully incorporated.

Pour batter into the UNgreased tube pan. Place the pan on the lower third oven rack and bake for 45-55 minutes. Do not invert the cake, but place it on a cooling rack until it reaches room temperature. To unmold the cooled cake run a thin knife around the edges to release the sides. Invert the cake onto a serving plate.

Assembly: Place the bowl of the chocolate whipped cream in the freezer for 5 minutes. Whip cream until it reaches a thick and spreadable consistency. Cut the cake into three horizontal sections. Spread 1/3 of the whipped cream onto the top (cut side up) of the bottom third of the cake. Place the middle section of the cake on top of the cream. Spread another ½ of the whipped cream on top of the middle section of the cake. Place the final piece of the cake on top of the whipped cream. Cover the top with the remaining whipped cream.

Buttercream-filled Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough Truffles

Today marks the second week out of twelve for the 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats. And what else screams Christmas other than sinckerdoodles?
Besides chocolate chips cookies I’m pretty sure snickerdoodles are the favorite cookie to make during the holidays.

What I’m sharing today isn’t really the classic snickerdoodle, not at all! Today is all about vanilla buttercream-filled snickerdoodle cookie dough truffles! Yes it is a mouthful to say, but when has that ever stopped anyone from eating deliciously sweet goodies? It certainly doesn’t happen to me. In fact, the longer the title, the better, because it promises that much flavor.

 

 

When I saw these on Darla’s blog, I knew I had to make them. I mean just look at her photos and tell me you aren’t already drooling over the smooth snerckerdoodle balls cloaked in smooth chocolate.
I decided to go with a semi-sweet chocolate coating because white chocolate tends to make my stomach churn, and in all honesty I don’t even miss the white chocolate because these cookie dough truffles re so amazing! Every time I finished one I found myself going back for seconds, sometimes even grabbing two because I knew I would be back for thirds.

Many thanks goes to Brenda, author of Meal Planning Magic, for hosting such a wonderful event!   

 

 

Buttercream-filled Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough Truffles
From Bakingdom
Makes about 3 dozen

Ingredients
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup chilled vanilla buttercream (or use full recipe below)
1 12oz. bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions
Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl. In the bowl of a electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Mix in about 10 oz. of the sweetened condensed milk. Scrape down sides of the bowl. Gradually add in the flour and mix until combined. If the mixture is too dry and crumbly, add more sweetened condensed milk; if the mixture is too wet, mix in some more flour. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

While the dough is chilling, roll 1 tsp. sized pieces of buttercream into balls. Chill the buttercream balls.

Once the dough has chilled, use a medium-small cookie scoop to portion out the dough. Roll portioned out dough into balls. Flatten each ball and place one buttercream ball in the middle. Roll the dough around the buttercream. Chill for another 20-30 minutes.

Place a large heat-proof bowl over a pan of simmering water (or use a double boiler). Pour the chocolate chips into the bowl and wait for it to melt. Stir occasionally. Once the chocolate has completely melted remove from heat.

Use a toothpick or lollipop stick to dip each cookie dough ball into the chocolate. Tap the stick on the side of the ball to shake off the excess chocolate. Place onto a foil-lined cookie sheet. Chill the chocolate-covered dough balls until the chocolate has hardened.

Vanilla Buttercream
from Bakingdom
makes enough for this particular project

Ingredients
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
pinch of salt
3/4 tbsp. heavy cream
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Directions
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter on medium speed until sooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Mix in the salt, heavy cream, and vanilla until completely incorporated.

Peanut Butter S'more Truffles

 

I know it’s hot out. I know none of you want to turn on the oven and make your 90 degree kitchen reach 100. This is why I’m giving you a nice cool treat. No it’s not ice cream (boy oh boy do I wish I had an ice cream maker!). Today I bring you Peanut Butter S’more Truffles.

I’m going to diverge a little here. Ever wonder why s’more are enjoyed during the summer? This thought just popped into my head like two seconds ago. But seriously, who wants to start a fire in the middle of July/August when it’s a bajillion degrees outside? Wouldn’t it be more practical to make s’mores during the winter? You know then you can snuggle up to the cozy fire during those cold winter nights and eat piping hot and melty deliciousness. It’s just something to think about.

So, back to truffles. These definitely have more of a peanut butter taste than and s’more taste, I won’t try to deceive you on that. But it really is a delicious combo, peanut butter, dark chocolate, and melted marshmallows.

 

Melted butter and marshmallows are swirled into the peanut butter dough giving a little bit of chew when you bite into the chilled truffle.

I’m pretty sure my dad ate the majority of these. Every time I looked over into the kitchen, there he was, popping another truffle into his mouth.

And in other news: my house has been sold. This means I have exactly 10 days (including the rest of today) left in Colorado. Things re already being stored into boxes and food items are being trashed. I have managed to convince my dad to keep all of my baking stuff, you know, just in case. This means I have to find ways to use up the chocolate chips, marshmallows, butter, flour and everything else I know won’t last. This should be fun!

 

Peanut Butter S’more Truffles
From Fabtastic Eats
Makes 2 dozen truffles

Ingredients
1 cup (256 g) creamy peanut butter
¾ cup (76 g) powdered sugar  
2 cups (90 g) mini marshmallows
2/3 cup crushed graham crackers (about 5 full sheets)
¾ cup (185 g) dark chocolate chips
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temp. and divided
4-6 tbsp. milk

Directions
Line a large baking sheet with tin foil, set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the peanut butter with 2 tbsp. of butter. Mix until the butter has disappeared into the peanut butter. Stir in the powdered sugar. Do this gently as to now have the powdered sugar go all over the place. Fold in the crushed graham crackers.

In a sauce pan set over low heat, melt together the marshmallows and 2 tbsp. of butter. Once fully melted measure out about 1/3 cup. Keep the remaining melted marshmallow in the pan to reheat for later. Allow the 1/3 cup of marshmallow mixture to cool before folding gently into the peanut butter mixture.

Spray a medium-small cookie scoop with cooking spray. This will help release the dough easier. Scoop out portions and place them on the foil lined baking sheet. Freeze the balls while you make the chocolate coating.

In a double boiler or a heat proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt the chocolate chips with the remaining 2 tbsp. of butter. Stir until the chocolate has completely melted. Stir in milk 1 tbsp. at a time until the chocolate reaches a good dipping or pouring consistency.

Roll or dip the chilled peanut butter balls into the melted chocolate. I just poured the chocolate over the dough balls because I found it too hard to roll them. Place the chocolate coated balls back on the foil-lined tray and freeze for about 10-15 minutes. In the meantime, reheat the remaining marshmallow that’s in the pan. Drizzle some of the melted marshmallow mixture into every truffle for a final finish.

Brownie Waffles

 

You know what's delicious? Homemade waffles. You know what sucks about having homemade waffles? Cleaning the waffles maker. I swear that contraption was specifically designed so that no one could get between the grooves. I have small fingers and even I can't get those silly things cleaned!

This is why I hardly make waffles, which is sad because honestly, homemade waffles are soo soo much better! With my hate for waffles makers aside, I knew I had to make these brownie waffles at some point in my life. Why? Because it's made of chocolate and who doesn't like chocolate?!

                           

 

I love chocolate, especially dark and fudgey type chocolate treats. These waffles really taste like chocolate cake, only a little better I think. Chocolate cake usually has a dry texture and is unpleasant. These waffles are soft and perfectly chocolatey.

These can be used as a vehicle for any other sweet treat you desire, like vanilla bean ice cream, berries and whipped cream, chocolate syrup, really anything else you can think of. I personally liked tearing the waffles into triangles, warming them up, and dipping each one into chocolate syrup.

 

 

Brownie Waffles

Recipe from Domestic Fits

Makes about 10 4-inch round waffles

Ingredients

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/3 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder

½ tsp. salt

½ cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup milk, divided

¼ cup canola oil

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs, divided

¼ cup sugar

Directions

Preheat your waffle maker according to manufacturer’s specifications

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt. In a bowl set over simmering water (a double boiler) melt the chocolate chips and ½ cup of the milk. Stir to combine. Once melted, remove from heat and add the remaining milk, oil, vanilla, and both egg yolks. In a clean glass bowl, beat the egg whites and sugar until soft peaks form and the mixture becomes glossy.

Add the chocolate mixture to the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined. Fold in the egg whites until just incorporated.

Cook waffles according to manufacturer’s specifications. My waffle iron is about 4 inches in diameter and I used 1/3 cup of batter for each waffle.   

Peanut Butter Filled Brownies

 

I am probably one of the clumsiest person in the world. I once told one of my teachers all the accidents I had involving me going to the hospital and getting stitches before I was even six years old and she was shocked. She joked to the class that if the B Team (the emergency team at school) was ever called look around to see if I was there, because if not, it’s probably me.

A few weeks ago I was straightening my hair, and I told control of the flatiron. My reflexes kicked in and I grabbed the hot metal plates, which caused me to drop the thing onto my foot. Then the next day I was on my way inside the airport (I was still in the parking lot area) and I did a total face plant onto the scratchiest rug ever. I skinned both hands so I couldn’t use them, I skinned my elbow so bad I couldn’t bend it, and I skinned my knee so bad I couldn’t walk properly. My dad said I looked like I had a wooden leg.

 

Not only was I just a mess, I couldn’t find Neosporin or bandaids ANYWHERE in the freaking airport, so I went for about four or five hours without anything to protect my new wounds. Then, when my dad and I finally found bandaids, we couldn’t find anything to disinfect them except for some hand sanitizer. Let me tell you this now, never ever in a million years put hand sanitizer on a wound larger than a nickel. You will buckle down and cry.

Anyways, I made these brownies the day before my little airport fiasco. And I’m so sad I did because that meant I only got to eat one of these marvelous creations. I know for a fact that as soon as I get back from my little vacation I will be making these ASAP.

Erin, over at Texanerin Baking, makes unhealthy treats a little more healthy, but you can’t taste the health. I have made quite a few of her recipes, and each one was a success. These are by far my absolute favorite though!

The brownie part is sooooo fudgy and chocolatey. It really is amazing. Although I don’t think it would be nearly as amazing without the peanut butter middle. The recipe calls for homemade peanut butter (just pulverizing peanuts in a food processor until it reaches peanut butter consistency) but I didn’t have that. Instead I bought some natural peanut butter at the store. The only brand I could find that had peanuts as the only ingredient was Krema. Dear god this stuff was so good and it even smelled like regular peanut butter. The only thing about it was its loose consistency, which probably caused the filling to be more of a batter than a thick filling. The brownies still baked up perfectly though. The peanut butter filling was not nearly as thick as Erin’s was, but since when does appearance affect awesome flavor?

 

Peanut Butter Filled Brownies

Slightly adapted from Texanerin Baking
Makes one 8x8 inch pan

Ingredients
Peanut Butter Filling
1 cup natural peanut butter (I used Krema)
1/3 cup honey
¼ cup coconut oil

Brownies
¾ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line an 8x8 inch baking pan with foil. Grease foil with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, honey, and oil. If your coconut oil isn’t soft, let it sit out at room temperature before mixing with the peanut butter and honey. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator while you make the brownie batter.

Sift together the cocoa powder, flour, and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk to combine. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding one as soon as the previous has disappeared into the mixture. Stir in the vanilla. Add all of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Fold to combine (the mixture will be thick and dark).

Spread half of the brownie batter into the prepared pan. Pour the peanut butter filling over the brownie batter. Spread the peanut butter filling towards the edges. A bit of brownie batter may get swirled in, that is totally fine, they will just become peanut butter swirl brownies! Cover the filling with the remaining brownie batter.

 

 

Place pan on the center rack and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out mostly clean with the exception of a few moist crumbs and a bit of peanut butter filling. Allow the brownies to cool in the pan for at least 30-45 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely. Once cool, slice and serve.

Cake Slice Bakers - June 2013: Black and White Cake

Hello, and Happy Thursday! I have more magnificent cake to share with you today from Julie Richardson’s Vintage Cakes. I know I didn’t share last month’s cake, but in all honesty there was just so much going on what with coming back home, getting settled, and then my sister’s graduation, there was absolutely no time to bake that cake. So because of that little slip up I made sure to make this month’s cake (I as so determined I made it about two weeks in advance).

This month’s cake is called the Black and White Cake. It’s basically the exact opposite of The Classic I made back in January. This is a dark chocolate cake filled and topped with chocolate ganache and creamy vanilla buttercream. Although this has not been my favorite cake out of the book, it definitely is delicious!

The recipe for the cake requires hot coffee, and since I am not a coffee drinker and no nothing about coffee, I grabbed any old thing of coffee my dad had lying around. It turns out I grabbed some pretty strong coffee because the chocolate cake turned into a chocolate mocha cake. The resulting flavor was surprising, but it was a sort of nice surprise. And after a day in the fridge, the mocha flavor subsided just a enough to bring the flavor of chocolate through a little more. So, if you like the taste of chocolate mocha, go for the strong stuff, if you want just a chocolate cake, reach for the decaf.

The only tricky part about this cake is the frosting. This is a basic vanilla buttercream, but it called for egg whites and cooking it down with sugar and a bit of cream of tartar. I have never used a buttercream recipe that called for egg whites only because I’m afraid I won’t cook it enough and someone will get sick. Despite my apprehension, I did make the classic vanilla buttercream and it was so creamy and smooth. I can’t wait to try another variation of this buttercream method.

The recipe I have down below makes two 8-inch round cakes. However, I halved the recipe to get one layer and I cut that layer in half horizontally.

Black and White Cake
Makes two 8-inch round cake
Slightly adapted from Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson

Ingredients
¾ cup (60g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
2/3 cup hot coffee
½ cup sour cream
1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract
1 ½ cups (180g) unbleached all-purpose flour
¾ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
10 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ¼ cup (240g) dark brown sugar
1/3 cup (64g) sugar
2 eggs + 2 egg yolks, room temperature
1 recipe chocolate ganache (below)
1 recipe vanilla buttercream (bellow)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two 8-inch round baking pans with parchment paper. Grease each pan with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, combine the cocoa powder and hot coffee and stir until thick. Stir in the sour cream and vanilla. The mixture will still be thick but it will be a little looser. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until smooth. Slowly add in both sugars. Beat until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs and egg yolks one at a time until. Beat until fully incorporated. Turn the mixer speed down to low and add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the chocolate mixture in two parts. Begin and end with the flour. Scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure all the ingredients are blended together.

Pour half of the batter into one prepared pan and the remaining batter in the other pan. Tap each pan on the counter a few times to allow air bubbles to escape. Place each pan on the center rack, evenly spaced, and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle and the tops are cracked.

Cool the cakes in the pan for 30 minutes before inverting them and placing them top side up on a cooling rack to cool completely before assembling.

To assemble the cake, lay one of the cakes, top side up, on a serving plate.  Frost the top with about ½ cup of ganache, spreading it just before the edge of the cake. Refrigerate for about 5 minutes to allow the ganache to firm up. Once the ganache has firmed, spread about 1 cup of the buttercream, covering the ganache, and taking it all the way to the edge of the cake. Align the second cake on top of the buttercream, top side up. Frost the top with another ½ cup cup of ganache. Chill in the fridge for another 5 minutes. Once chilled, spread a thin coat of buttercream all around the cake, creating a crumb coat.  Place in the fridge for about 10 minutes to firm up the thin layer of frosting. Frost the cake with the remaining buttercream. Decorate the cake with dots or kissed with any of the remaining ganache in desired.

Chocolate Ganache
Makes about 1 ½ cups

Ingredients
1 cup heavy cream
8 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped or chips

Directions
Place the chocolate into a medium heat-proof bowl. Heat cream in a medium sauce pan set over medium low heat. Stir occasionally until the cream starts to simmer. Remove the cream from heat and pour over chocolate. Swirl the bowl to ensure all the chocolate is coated. Cover the bowl with a lid and let the cream and chocolate sit together for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and stir the cream and chocolate together. First start with small circles in the center and gradually increase until all the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Allow to sit up to a couple hours to become creamy.

Vanilla Buttercream
Makes about 5 cups

Ingredients
6 egg whites
1 ¼ cup sugar
¼ tsp. cream of tartar
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cubed and room temperature
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Directions
Using a hand whisk, whisk together the egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. The more the mixture is heated, the more fluid-like it will become. Continue to gently whisk the mixture until very hot to the touch (130 F on a candy thermometer).

Move the bowl to the stand mixer and, using the whisk attachment, whip the whites and sugar mixture together on medium-high speed until it has tripped in volume and its appearance is thick, glossy, and holds stiff peaks. Turn the mixer down to medium-low speed until the bowl is cool to touch. Turn the speed back up and add the butter, one cube at a time. At first the mixture will still look like meringue, then the frosting will look as if it has curdled. Continue to add butter and mix no matter what. Continue to whip the buttercream until it is fluffy and creamy. Blend in the vanilla and salt until combined.  

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

I have been posting a lot of cake recipes lately. Lets change that.

Today I bring you two delicious desserts combined into one! I saw this recipe on Foodgawker and saved it because it really is an ingenious idea. Cookie dough is soft and brown sugary and make people happy. Brownies (the good ones) are dense, fudgy, and full of chocolate! Combining these two things really does make an awesome dessert.

I was actually kind of nervous when making these because I didn’t read the comments for tips on how to improve until I was getting all the ingredients together. Then I started to get nervous when I kept reading all these comments about how the cookie dough topping was crumbly and how the brownie bottom was dry. Despite this, I decided to make them anyways and hope for the best.

Michelle, from Brown Eyed Baker, used the creaming method for her brownie base, but I decided to switch it up a bit and use the original recipe of melting the butter and whisking it with the brown sugar. The cookie dough part was hardly changed at all (just the addition of salt) and it was not crumbly at all! This eggless cookie dough has the perfect regular chocolate chip cookie dough consistency, and this is coming from a girl who is back to baking in the dry, high-altitude of Colorado. I don’t know what those crazy people where doing.

The brownie is soft, and sort of cake like, which isn’t too bad since it pairs well with the soft cookie dough on top. I feel if the brownie base was like a regular fudge brownie this dessert would be way to rich. The cookie dough is so perfectly textured, I was almost tempted to not put the dough on top of the brownie base and just eat it out of the bowl with a spoon, it really is that good!  

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

Slightly adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

Makes one 8-inch square pan

Ingredients

Brownie Base

2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

1 stick unsalted butter, melted and still warm

¾ cup dark brown sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/8 tsp. salt

Cookie Dough Topping

6 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

¼ cup + 2 tbsp. dark brown sugar

¼ cup + 2 tbsp. sugar

1 ½ tbsp. milk

¾ tsp. pure vanilla extract

¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/8 tsp. salt

¼ - 1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions

To make the brownie base: preheat the oven to 350 F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with tin foil. Grease foil with cooking spray and set aside.

In a heat-proof bowl set over simmering water, add the chopped semi sweet chocolate. Stir occasionally until completely melted. Turn off the heat and set the bowl of melted chocolate aside to cool.

In a medium bowl whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until combined and the mixture looks creamy. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, adding the second once the first has been incorporated. Stir in the vanilla extract and the melted chocolate. Fold in the flour and salt until just combined. The mixture will be very liquidy.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out almost clean when inserted in the center. Do not remove the brownie from the pan; allow it to cool while you make the cookie dough topping.

To make the cookie dough topping: in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Gradually add both sugars to the beaten butter. Cream the ingredients until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl as necessary. Add the milk and vanilla and beat on medium until combined. Turn the mixer speed down to low and gradually add the flour and salt. Mix until flour is just incorporated. Turn the mixer off and fold in the chocolate chips.

To assemble: Spread the cookie dough over the just warm brownie (still in the pan). Make sure to spread the dough evenly to the corners of the pan. Place plastic wrap over the dough and freeze until the dough has become firm. Remove cookie dough brownie from the pan and cut into desired portions. Allow the brownie to come to room temperature before serving.