Chocolate Chip Cookie Topped Brownies

This will be very brief as I'm in the middle of my finals. I really wish I could spend hours reading food blogs instead. I'll be done on Friday though! Yaey. And I will celebrate by baking eggnog bars and chocolate pots de creme!

After I saw this recipe for chocolate chip cookie topped brownies, I couldn't stop thinking about making them. They did take quite a bit of time to make as you're basically making 2 recipes and putting them together, but are well worth it.

As for the finished product, I wasn't sure what to think at first. I love the idea of a cookie on a brownie, but I couldn't really taste the cookie so that was disappointing. Everybody who tried them really liked them. They freeze really well (which is good because this recipe makes a huge amount), and the brownie texture is pretty much perfect (dense and moist, maybe slightly fudge-y but not ganache-y). I will definitely make these again! My second successful Dorie Greenspan recipe. I can't wait to make practically everything else in Baking From My Home To Yours.

Chipster-Topped Brownies
slightly modified from Baking From My Home To Yours (Dorie Greenspan

Brownie layer:
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 oz unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1 2/3 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped*

Cookie layer:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or 1 cup store-bought chips

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a 9x13 inch baking pan, line it with wax or parchment paper. Put the pan on a baking sheet.

To make the brownie batter: Put both chocolates and the butter in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Stirring occasionally, heat just until the ingredients are melted, shiny and smooth. If the mixture gets too hot, the butter will separate from the chocolates. Remove the bowl from the heat.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the sugar and eggs on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes, until pale, thick and creamy. Beat in the salt and vanilla extract. Reduce the speed to low and mix in the melted chocolate and butter; mixing only until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula then, still on low speed, add the flour, mixing only until it disappears into the batter. Using the spatula, fold in the walnuts, and scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Set aside.

To make the cookie dough: Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Working with the stand mixer in the cleaned bowl, beat the butter and both sugars together on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. One at a time, add the egg and the yolk, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear into the dough. Still on low, mix in the chopped chocolate. Drop the cookie dough by spoonfuls over the brownie batter and, using a spatula and a light touch, spread it evenly over the batter.

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until the cookie top is deep golden brown and firm and a thin knife inserted into the brownie layer comes out with only faint streaks of moist chocolate. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to room temperature.

When the brownies are completely cool**, carefully run a knife between the sides of the pan and the brownies, then invert them onto another rack, remove the paper and turn right side up onto a cutting board. Cut into bars about 2 inches x 1 inches.

*Original recipe calls for 1 cup walnuts but that would be too walnut-y for me in a brownie so I put less and it was just perfect.
**If you don't wait until they're cool, you will end up with ugly gooey brownies. While ugly doesn't really matter unless you're serving them to other people that might care, I found that it just made for a bit of a mess between the cookie and brownie layers.