Monday, December 21, 2009

Snow Cookies


Please don't blame me. I take no responsibility for the following recipe. Blame the 16.4 inches of snow and the resultant three days I was stuck in my house surrounded by naught but butter, sugar and chocolate.

On Saturday, chocolate chip cookies sounded like a tasty prospect; gooey chocolate brownies were a necessity on Sunday, but an attempt that was left half baked and in an unattactive, over-gooey heap thanks to an unexpected dinner escape to Commonwealth. But come Monday night, I was standing over the pan eating the crumbly bits (no calories!), feeling not a little sad at the prospect of throwing away such delicious, if undercooked brownies, when I realized that the bits looked an awful lot like chocolate chips. Hey, chocolate is chocolate, right? So with a little further crumbling, a lot more baking, and the promise of sexual favors if my husband would run to the store for more sugar, brownie cookies were born.

Crazy? Maybe. Overly decadent? Perhaps. Worth being stuck in our itty bitty apartment for three blizzard-filled days? You bet.

Brownie Cookies
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cups light brown sugar
1 cup butter flavored Crisco
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups leftover brownies - the more underbaked the better - crumbled into bits (homemade recipe below, but box versions would be just as good)

Set the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375.

Mix the flour, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. In a large bowl or mixer, beat together the butter, both sugars and the vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Add in the flour, a cupful at a time, until fully incorporated. Stir in the brownie bits by hand.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 11-12 minutes (cookies will be slightly underdone but will firm up as they cool).

Outrageous Brownies
Recipe from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook
1 pound unsalted butter
1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
6 extra large eggs
3 tbsp instant coffee granules
2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 cups chopped walnuts, optional

Preheat oven to 350.

Butter and flour a 12x18x1-inch baking sheet.

Melt together the butter, 1 pound of chocolate chips, and the unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl over simmering water. Allow to cool slightly. In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, coffee granules, vanilla and sugar. Stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature.

In a medium bowl, sift together 1 cup of flour, the baking powder and salt. Add the cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips in a medium bowl with 1/4 cup of flour, then add them to the chocolate batter. Pour into the baking sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes, then rap the baking sheet against the oven shelf to force the air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Bake for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake! Allow to cool thoroughly, refrigerate, and cut into 20 large squares.

4 comments:

WISP billing software said...

Are you serious about this? LOL that’s hilarious.

Building a home said...

Ha-ha! It that’s what it looks like well, I’m not baking it.

Furniture restoration said...

what happened?? hehe..but you know i like the first one..looks good!

West Africa Gold Exploration said...

well looks yum-yum to me :)