Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

You all know how I love brownies! Well, I don't know if I've ever expressed on here how much I love cookie dough for fear that you'll judge me but here goes ...
I love the cookies I bake but I can tell you that without a doubt, no matter the kind of cookie, the unbaked cookie dough is oh, about 1,367,192 times better!

Until a few months ago, Waitrose used to sell a block of chocolate chip cookie dough which you were supposed to bake into about nine cookies. Before I became an avid baker, I'm ashamed to say I bought a block of this cookie dough to make cookies with. The cookies were average at best. The other 99 times I bought that cookie dough, it wouldn't even make it the ten minutes home on the bus before I cracked it open and started eating away at bits of cookie dough. Dessert for a few days would be a quarter of the block of dough straight from the fridge and eaten in tiny bits.

And before you start to think I'm a total weirdo (I totally am but would hate for you all to know it ;p), once I was waiting at the bus stop outside Waitrose when three teenage girls came out each with a pack of the very same cookie dough that I was addicted to. Two of them broke it open and started to pick at it just like I do! I may or may not have gone back in to buy myself a pack.

These brownies are my amazing brownie recipe on the bottom (I'm allowed to say it's amazing because it really is!) and then eggless raw cookie dough on top. Brownie + cookie dough. Brownie and cookie dough. Brownie ... cookie dough ... however you spin it, these are amazing!
I've adapted the brownie recipe a bit by reducing the sugar, using all brown sugar and omitting the chocolate chunks to make it slightly less sweet as the cookie dough is quite sweet too. These are currently my favourite spin on my brownie recipe; yup, they're even better than the Oreo brownies.

The cookie dough recipe is slightly adapted from another one of my favourite bakers; Brown Eyed Baker.

Ingredients

For the brownie
300g dark chocolate (At least 70% cocoa solids)
250g unsalted butter
175g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsps vanilla essence
275g dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules

For the cookie dough
170g unsalted butter
150g light brown sugar
170g caster sugar
3 tablespoons whole milk
1 1/2 tsps vanilla extract
190g plain flour

1. Brownie: Preheat oven to 170C/325F/Gas Mark 3.
2. Grease and flour a 30x20x3.5cm tin
3. Break dark chocolate into pieces and melt with the butter in a bain marie
4. Combine the flour and baking powder in a bowl and put aside
5. When chocolate and butter is melted, remove from bain marie and stir in the brown sugar and instant coffee granules (because brown sugar can be lumpy, make sure you break up any lumps and mix sugar in properly)
6. Stir in the eggs and vanilla essence
7. Fold in the flour and pour mixture into the prepared tin.
8. Bake in the oven for 25 - 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out pretty much clean
9. Remove from oven and leave to cool completely
10. Cookie dough: In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer on medium speed to combine the butter and both the sugars
11. Add the milk and vanilla and mix until combined
12. Reduce the speed to low and mix in the flour until just combined. using a rubber spatula, stir in the chocolate chips
13. Spread the cookie dough over the cooled brownies. Refrigerate until the dough is firm, about an hour. Use a sharp knife to cut the brownies.
14. Store the brownies in an airtight container at cool room temperature or in the refrigerator. Remember to let brownies come to room temperature before you eat them if storing in the fridge. Cold brownies aren't great. 

Chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecakes

Hey hey. Guess what I've got on my mind today?
 ... 
Did you guess yet?


Books. And Crushes. 


Lemme explain. I am an avid reader. That's how I know how to use words like 'avid' ;p And today, I was tweeting about the book I'm currently reading when I thought that I'd really like  to start incorporating book reviews into my blog. Which means you guys are going to be subjected to my opinions about some of the books I read. If you don't like to read, well ...  then ... you're missing out big time. And no! You can't just watch the movie. It is never as good!


On a related note, the lovely people at Quadrille books have sent me a new cook book to review which I'll do next week, as well as run a giveaway for a copy of the book. My very first giveaway! Are you excited? I am!


On to crushes. I was thinking that I have a blog crush on the creator of today's recipe; Lauren's Latest. And it got me thinking of the other blog crushes I have - Annie's Eats, How Sweet it is and Gingerbread Bagels to name a few.  
Y'all already know about my chef crush on Nigella Lawson right? Well did you know I also crush on the lesser known though equally talented Jo Pratt? And the Caribbean food god Levi Roots? Oooh and the Ace of Cakes. Though I don't know his name.
I have clothes crushes on dresses and playsuits. 
Hollywood actor crushes on Josh Hartnett and Joshua Jackson - *swoon* wasn't Pacey Witter just the best character to ever grace our TVs? 
Halle Berry, Nicole Richie and Rihanna are my girl crushes, Kathryn Stockett (have I raved about her debut novel 'The Help' yet?) and Chimamanda Adichie are my author crushes ... I think you get the message, I have crushes just about everywhere.


Everywhere, that is, except in real life. If my work's HR department is reading this, it is upon your weary heads I lay the burden of  hiring me a real life, everyday crush. Thank you.


Till then, peace, love and cookie dough cheesecake. 


Makes 12


Ingredients


For the cookie dough
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp icing sugar
pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 tbsp chocolate chips


For the cheesecakes
12 Oreo cookies
227g cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg


Chocolate chips (to decorate)


1 - Preheat oven to 170C /Gas mark 3/ 325F. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners and set aside
To make cookie dough:
2 - Place softened butter into a medium sized bowl. Stir in sugars until well incorporated

3 - Stir in vanilla, salt and flour. It may seem too dry at first but it should all mix in

4 - Once flour is no longer visible, mix the dough with your hand. The heat of your hands should help keep things sticking together. 

Mix in chocolate chips and form dough into a log with the same diameter as the Oreo cookies

5 - Score the top of the dough to get even pieces and then slice

6 - Place dough rounds on top of Oreo cookie and press down lightly to help it stick. If the dough circles are a little too big, just press the overlapping dough to be flush with the side of the cookie, and then smooth the top
7 - Place these into the prepared muffin tins and set aside

To make the cheesecake filling
8 - Whip cream cheese in a large bowl
9 - Slowly pour in sugar and flour. Scrape down sides and mix again briefly
10 - Whip in vanilla extract and egg until incorporated. Scrape sides and whip again
11 - Spoon 1 heaping tablespoon of cheesecake mix over each cookie stack and spread on top and around cookie. (This recipe makes just enough cheesecake to cover these, so start with smaller amounts covering the tops and adding extra spoonfuls from there)

12 - Bake for 20 minutes or until cheesecake is set completely. Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate until completely chilled. Once ready to serve, remove paper liners and top with chocolate chips