Tuesday, May 26, 2009

TWD: Chipster-Topped Brownies

I'm sure we were all thinking the same thing when we read the description of this week's recipe, a bar cookie that combines chocolate chip cookie dough and brownies:

"Toniiiiight is the niiiiight that two become oooone..."


Don't play coy. You were all with me on the Spice Train, right?



[And also, I'm sure you've all seen the Spice World movie, right, and currently have an awesome mental image in your head of Alan Cumming singing "3 become 1" in a parody, right? ...just me, then? Okay.]

Aaaanyhow. Brownies! Chocolate chip cookies! Two become one, indeed.

These looked pretty sexy, what with the fudgy brownie bottom and the super crispy, chocolate-studded topping. They were a little iffy in the pan (a bit cracked on top, and way past the "golden brown" stage for me) but once cut, they looked much more palatable. And also, enormous. I don't know why I physically can't cut small slices, but it's like a personal failing. Each bar must be at least 3" long. It's like my knife hand has as mind of its own.I was all ready to love these right up, because I'm a simple girl, with simple tastes, and chocolate chip cookies and plain brownies are two of my favorite things. But I think in this case, the final product was a little less than the sum of its parts. Don't get me wrong, they weren't bad, and heaven knows I ate half the pan myself, so I did enjoy them. But I guess at the end of the day, I'd rather have a really well-made cookie and a well-made brownie separately than the two baked together.
But these were a fun little experiment, and I did think the brownie layer was ooey gooey goodness. The cookie layer could have been beefed up a bit more, since all I really tasted was a crackly crust. I think the extremely long bake time was a problem--by the time the brownies were done, the cookies had been baked into oblivion.

Next time I might try baking the brownie layer a bit first, and then adding the cookie layer, so that the cookies stand a chance of retaining a bit of soft texture. And, you know, I would consider adding a touch of cinnamon or something, since they could use a little...spice. Hi-yo!

15 comments:

  1. Hahaha I think those brownies look so enticing that Victoria Beckham would even be tempted to eat one! Or eat anything for that matter! I agree with you, though, I'd rather the two apart than together!

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  2. those do look good. Mrs Beckham needs to eat at least two plates full!

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  3. Yours look so great.

    Mine were gooey.

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  4. How did you get your chocolate chips to remain on top? Mine sunk.

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  5. AH!HA! I caught'ya! Doing almost no sense with trying to reunite a song and a recipe!!! LOL

    Remember the "Bombastic" song you didn't get ...with my Christmas Daring Baker's challenge??? LOL LOL LOL

    Nevertheless... your chipster brownie sounds pretty nice... along with the Spice Girls! LOL

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  6. Love the pictures. Makes me want to have another.

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  7. Anonymous12:03 PM

    Your brownies turned out really beautiful! Mine kind of crumbled as I was cutting them.

    Love the 'Spice' Girl theme of your post! Especially adding cinnamon next time since that would be my spice name! HAH!

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  8. Anonymous1:51 PM

    Your brownies look wonderful.

    (I think I may be glad my work blocks you tube videos :P )

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  9. Not gonna lie, I've never seen that movie. Your mentions of it make me want to see it though for some odd reason... Gorgeous looking brownies (although I'd probably go for a smaller slice!)

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  10. I said the same thing. These were good, but give me a brownie in one hand and a ccc in the other. Ahh, much better! Yours look great!

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  11. Ahh, Liz a Spice Girls fan??!! But I do agree with you on these- a more even cookie/brownie ratio would do these babies good. Yours looks great!

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  12. Cinnamon!!! Wish I had thought of that. I could have used my Mexican stuff.

    Your chipsters look fantastic.

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  13. I hear you with the "less than the sum of its parts" thing. Give me a good CCC or a good brownie, but I'm not sure I need the two put together. Anyway, I'm going to have to commend you for your Spice Girl reference. That was pretty amazing. And, yes, I saw the movie, and yes, your "3 become 1" reference made sense to me :)

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  14. thanks for the post :)

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  15. Oh, the Spice Girls. Thanks for the giggle.

    The brownies looks great!

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