When Two Cravings Attack

I told my friend to pick a recipe for us to bake last weekend. She wanted these chocolate chip cookie bars I made once, but then she also wanted brownies. She had the brilliant idea of putting the two together, so I googled some recipes. I chose a recipe from About.com because it involved cocoa powder (which I had) and not unsweetened bars (which I didn't have). We tried cutting the amount of butter in the recipe because it totaled 3 sticks. We had enough brownie batter but not enough cookie batter, so I would cut the butter in the brownie layer (which I adjusted in the recipe below) but keep the butter amount for the cookie layer. All my roommates and us enjoyed these brownies. Too bad the Brownie Babe Contest isn't running now because I would definitely enter these.


Double Decker Brownies



Chocolate Chip Cookie Layer:
12 tablespoons butter, cut into slices
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Brownie Layer:
8 tablespoons butter, cut into slices
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 13x9 pan.

2. Chocolate chip layer: Melt butter over medium heat. Remove from heat and whisk in brown sugar until smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature, but still liquid.

3. Brownie layer: Melt butter over medium heat. Remove from heat and whisk in cocoa powder. Scrape into medium-sized bowl with a spatula. Add sugar, whisking to combine until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition until blended, adding vanilla with the last egg. Using a large spoon or spatula, mix in flour just until blended. Pour into prepared pan, and gently spread evenly over the bottom of the pan. Set aside.

4. Chocolate chip layer: Combine flour and baking soda in a small bowl. Combine with cooled butter mixture until smooth. Whisk in 1 egg and vanilla until smooth. Fold in chocolate chips.

5. Space spoonfuls of cookie mixture over the brownie layer. Bake about 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with small gooey bits. Do not overbake. Cool to room temperature.

Source: About.com