Pretzel M&M Brownie Cookie Wedges

For my fourth and final dessert, since 3 clearly wasn't enough, I wanted to make a bar like dessert. I didn't have any plain cookies, and I had nothing with just plain chocolate either. Why not combine the two? I used a whole brownie recipe and halved a cookie recipe. I was able to fill two round baking pans. One was 9" and the other was a 6" pan. You can use one large rectangular pan with about the same volume. I also wanted to use a topping and mix-in with the recipe. I chose chocolate chips and pretzel M&M's. Yup, I finally found a recipe to use my beloved pretzel M&M's with. Let's get started...

Super Moist Brownie
3 squares (3 ounces) semi-sweet baking chocolate 
2 sticks butter
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 cup flour
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup crushed pretzel M&M's and chocolate chips!


Melt butter and chocolate in a large bowl in the microwave or using a double boiler. In another bowl, mix together together the sugar and vanilla. Beat sugar with the chocolate and butter mixture until fluffy. Add in eggs one at a time beating until each is incorporated. Add in flour and mix on the lowest level until everything is even throughout. Fold in the extras! Place on the side while making the cookie batter adapted from Baking Illustrated.


Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl and place aside. Using a whisk, mix together the butter and sugars until well blended. Beat in the egg and vanilla until combined. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Mix in chocolate chips.


Other Ingredients
3/4 cup crushed Pretzel M&M's
5 Oreo Cookies (for the small pan only)


Now this is the fun part, I swear. Spread the brownie batter in a greased pan. The large 9" pan was used for the party, the 6" pan was to give to some friends, so it worked out well. On top of the brownie batter, sprinkle about 1/4 cup of Pretzel M&M's evenly. Now with a small spoon and your (well washed) hands, take bits of cookie dough and scatter it on top of the brownie base.

Yea it will look pretty delicious. Now crush up the 5 Oreo cookies and sprinkle them in the smaller sized pan. 

And as if there's not already enough in this dessert, go back with more cookie dough. It will help the Oreo's stay part of the wedges...

If I do remember correctly, this is precisely the time I texted my boyfriend to tell him that I think I lost my mind, because well it doesn't stop here. Bake for 35 minutes. After this time, remove and sprinkle with the remaining Pretzel M&M's. Place back into the oven for 5-10 minutes or until a toothpick is removed clean. 

Since there are so many layers, it's a little hard to tell. I put in my toothpick and it came out blue, thanks, M&M! My suggestion is go for the middle and leave yourself a little area to access the brownie. If it still seems too moist, throw it back in the oven for another 5 minutes. These are really dense so that's why there's a longer cooking time. 

Talk about an all-in-one dessert. Seriously delicious if I do say so myself. Just look at how beautiful those pretzel M&M's look! Beautiful, I know. 

Use a knife and spatula to help you cut the oh-so-cute wedges

So after hours of baking my 4 different desserts for my graduation party, as well as my mothers birthday, turns out that Long Island decided it would be the best day for record rainfall. Yup, 12 inches in my town. The entire extended family was over under some tarps that my dad fixed up rather well, if I do say so myself. Maybe I get some of my brains from him. Anyway, I'd say the desserts went pretty well. And the leftovers, my family had some, and the boyfriend got the rest... let's just say he's a happy camper.

Enjoy :)

Triple Layer Cookies and Cream Crunch Brownies

Much like the peanut butter crunch brownies, the title alone is enough to want to try this recipe. It is literally everything you can ask for in a brownie. Delicious moist batter, ooey gooey chocolate chips, oreos, and peanut butter. Need I say more? I'm glad to say I only ate one and a half, since I easily could have scarfed down 3 or 4. 
Of course I found this on one of my favorite blogs, How Sweet It Is
The recipe follows, but please go check hers out as well!

Triple Layer Cookies and Cream Crunch Brownies
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 cups chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
20 Oreo cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x9 cake pan with tin foil. Leave one inch overhangs for ease of moving. Spray the foil with Pam or other cooking spray.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, then add vanilla. Add in cocoa powder and mix until combined. Add flour and salt, mixing well until batter is smooth and comes together. Fold in 1/2 cup chocolate chips.

Spread the cake-like batter into the pan. Take 8 Oreos and cut them in half. Place cookie halves evenly and press slightly into the batter. This is so you may cut 16 brownies, and have an Oreo in the center of each. This can also be done with 9 whole Oreos if you only plan on making 9 instead of 16. Bake for 20-25 minutes. While baking, crush the remaining Oreos in a ziplock bag. When brownies are finished baking, remove from the oven and sprinkle with 1/2 cup chocolate chips and crush Oreos. Place back in the oven for about 2-3 minutes. Melt remaining chocolate chips and peanut butter together. Remove brownies from oven and pour melted chocolate mixture over top, spreading with a spatula. Spread evenly to ensure all squares will get a nice topping of chocolate. Place them in the refrigerator for 2 hours before cutting or serving. Remove brownies 15 minutes before cutting. This will make sure that the chocolate doesn't crack too much. Use the two overhanging pieces of foil to easily lift and transfer to a cutting plate.

Needless to say, there were no leftovers... I want another one.

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cup Crunch Brownie Bars

I've been dying to find a good recipe for chocolate peanut butter brownies that does more than just add peanut butter to the batter or swirl it in on top. I very much succeeded in finding such a recipe. Chocolate and Peanut butter fanatics beware, these are ridiculous. The rice krispie cereal surprise on top really adds something special. Not to mention the layer of peanuts and peanut butter cups. There's actually nothing more you can ask for in a recipe. Start with your favorite brownie recipe, brownie box, or this recipe for Chewy Brownies.


Peanut Butter Cup Crunch Brownie Bars
1 batch of brownies
½ cup salted peanuts
8 Reese’s peanut butter cups, chopped
1½ cups milk chocolate chips
1½ cups creamy peanut butter
½ tablespoon unsalted butter
1½ cups Rice Krispies cereal

Bake the brownies as directed, except remove them 5 minutes before being finished. Chop up the peanut butter cups and sprinkle these as well as the peanuts over the brownies. Return to the oven for 5 minutes until done.

Melt the chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir cereal in until evenly combined. After removing the brownies from the oven, pour cereal mixture evenly on top. Transfer to the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or until the cereal mixture hardens. Keep in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for storage.

I have a couple of friends who don't particularly care for obscene amounts of peanut butter. Besides the fact that they are quite abnormal, I altered this recipe to just be full of chocolaty goodness. I used my individual silicon baking cups so I could still make a large batch of the peanut butter ones, and was able to make 6 of the super chocolate ones. The brownie mixture stays the same. For the peanut and peanut butter cup layer, chop up some Hershey's chocolate and your favorite chocolate bar, maybe kit-kats or butterfinger, or you can just do chocolate and sprinkle it atop the brownies (5 minutes before the brownies are fully cooked). While the brownies finish cooking, to substitute the rice krispie layer, I took 1 tsp butter, 1/2 cup rice krispies cereal and 1 cup of mixed semi-sweet and milk chocolate. Melt the butter and chocolate until smooth. Mix in the cereal. Spoon a heaping tablespoon into each baking cup. Keep in the refrigerator until top mixture hardens. Keep stored in the refrigerator for best results 


Enjoy :)

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownie "Double Threat"

So this is something new that I'm trying. Instead of using three batters like I have before (with cake also), I'm using two. The best thing about this is that it's SO easy because you can use some great box mixes! Picture the gooey, moist, chocolateyness of a brownie, with the soft, tasty, sweet texture of a mint cookie (with gooey mint and chocolate chips). Talk about mouth watering... 

The cookies also come from a package, which makes it super easy. The special ingredients that you may not have in your cabinets include mint extract and creme de menthe baking chips (I used Andie's mint chocolates and chopped them up).

Regular sized (heart shaped!) silicon baking cups

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix (So easy!!)

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon mint extract
6 to 8 drops green food color
1 egg
1 cup creme de menthe baking chips
1 cup semisweet or milk chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degress. Combine cookie mix, butter, mint extract, food color, and egg. Stir in the baking chips once combined. Set bowl aside

After following the brownie batter directions, you're ready to assemble!

There are several options. You can use a mini cupcake tray, regular sized, or a 13"x9" pan

For Minis: Use a teaspoon and spoon a little brownie batter to the bottom of each liner. Take another teaspoon of the cookie batter and drop it directly into the center of each. Your finished tray should look something like this:

Bake the minis for about 10 minutes. Watch them carefully! They may need a few extra minutes if the brownie is too soft.
Similarly, if using regular sized (like the silicon cups I used in the above picture), they should look like this. Baking times vary, but figure about 15-20 minutes. This depends on how much brownie batter is in each tin, since brownies don't bake as fast as cookies.

If using a 13" x 9" pan: The first thing is to pour the brownie batter, then take tablespoons of the cookie dough and drop them evenly along the top of the batter, so every "piece" gets a bite of the mint chocolate chip cookie. Bake as directed on the back of the brownie box.

Let these cool completely before trying them or removing them from the tins!

If there is any extra cookie dough, you can make regular cookies like I did. So delicious...

Because who doesn't like a nice green cookie

Enjoy! :)

"Triple Threat"

This is a recipe that I call the 'triple threat'. I was stumbling around the internet one day and found a recipe for a pie/cake/brownie. I've never been the biggest fan of pie, so immediately I thought, "let me replace pie with a cookie!", and here's what came out of it.

Things you'll need: 

1 Batter of chocolate chip cookie dough

1 Brownie batter

1 cake batter

The best thing about this recipe is that there's so much room for experimenting (which is one of my favorite things in baking). If you have a die-hard chocolate fan, you can use a chocolate cake batter and a chocolate cookie batter, for 3 times more chocolate. For my first time baking this, I used a boxed brownie batter to make it a little simpler. Here's my favorite cookie batter (personalize it by adding your favorite mix-in, be it chocolate chips, M&M's or anything else!)

Cookie Batter:

            1 1/8 cup flour

            ½ tsp baking soda

            ½ tsp salt

            ½ cup butter

            ¾ cup, half sugar & brown sugar

            ½ tsp vanilla

            1 egg

Combine & mix butter, sugars & vanilla. Add egg then gradually add all dry ingredients. Chocolate chips or other ingredients optional; approximately ¾ - 1 cup.

Brownie:

You can use any basic brownie batter. Packaged or from scratch. Remember to use only half a batter or prepare to bake extra brownies!

Cake:

You can also use just about any cake batter, I personally liked vanilla. Only prepare HALF, or, like the Brownies, you will have a lot of leftovers!

Set oven at 350 degrees.

Line a mini muffin tray with paper liners. Drop a teaspoon of cake batter to cover the bottom. Then drop a teaspoon of brownie batter to cover the top of the cake batter. Next, drop a teaspoon of cookie dough to center. Since the cake batter will rise, the brownie batter will cover the top of the cake and "fall" under, creating it as shown in the picture. Cook approximately 10-13 minutes. You want the cake to be cooked, but it is perfect when the brownie batter is still moist. Do NOT overcook.

Made with chocolate cake, brownies, and chocolate chip cookies! (Photo by Emi Niesi)

 Hope you enjoy!