Lovin' From the Oven

Cookie Dough Brownies

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Sorry about the pictures– I didn’t enough lighting to take a decent picture and it was the best I could do before I had to rush off to work. I can’t stand the shadow in the second picture and tried to brighten them up the best I could without photoshop 🙁

My friend, Ian, turned 23 this past week and he celebrated by having a dessert pot luck at his place after dinner at Macaroni Grill. He’s a vegan, but makes an exception for my baked goods, so I knew I had to include lots of good ol’ fatty dairy products in it 🙂 What a good friend I am, right? Haha.

I saw this recipe on Let’s Get Cookin’! and had to give it a shot with my favorite brownie recipe. I used my favorite brownie recipe posted numerous times before here on my blog, but to make it easy for you, I’ll repost it again. You can also opt for using a brownie mix rather than making brownies from scratch to cut down on time if that tickles your fancy. This dessert is very decadent and rich. A bite was plenty for me, and I’m usually a monstrous dessert eater. Don’t get me wrong, they’re delicious.. it’s just a bit overload for me!

Brownie:

  • 1 cup butter
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup AP flour
  • ½ cup cocoa
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 8″x8″ pan.
  2. Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Once melted remove from heat and add sugar, vanilla, and eggs. Blend together.
  3. In separate bowl, mix together flour, cocoa, and salt. Add dry mixture to the wet and mix well.
  4. Pour into greased pan and bake for 35-40 minutes.
  • 1-1/2 sticks butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 4-1/2 tbsp milk
  • 1-1/2 cups flour
  • 1-1/2 cups mini chocolate chips.
  1. Prepare your brownies according to the package in a 9×13 pan. Let cool completely.
  2. Next, combine the butter, sugars, milk and flour until well combined. Then stir in the mini chocolate chips.
  3. Spread the cookie dough on the cooled brownies.
  4. Then chill the brownies until the cookie dough is firm. Cut into bars and serve.

P.S. Thanks so much for all your Seattle suggestions! I’m such a foodie and can’t wait to try out some of the restaurants/cafes/bakeries that you all have suggested. I’ll be gone the 26th-29th (Mon-Thurs), but I’ll make sure to document and keep you guys posted on all the good food!

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

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You can never have enough chocolate chip cookies and you can never bake enough of them. I used to search high and low for the perfect CCC recipe while experimenting with all the different ingredients to see what made the best difference. This is my one and only CCC recipe that I use and I don’t even bother glancing at another one anymore. It’s perfectly thick, chewy, and crispy, while maintaining the perfect amount of flavor. I’ve posted the recipe on here before, but I’ll post it again to make sure you don’t miss it. Just look how photogenic these cookies are! They’ve pleased everyone so far and I’ve baked them at least a dozen times!

These cookies go great with the snuggly weather, which I sure do miss. I’d gladly give up a week of sun for a week of overcast and rain. Good thing I’ll be going to Seattle next week with my boyfriend! That way, I get to soak in the lovely cold weather and cuddle with my love! Speaking of Seattle, does anyone have any places to recommend going besides my favorite cupcake shop, Trophy’s? I’d love to hear any suggestions! We’ll be going for 4 days, 3 nights and will be staying in downtown Seattle, so anywhere nearby is fair game! 🙂

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
  1. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon.
  3. Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour. When it’s time, Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
  4. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
  5. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Heath Bar Blondies

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First of all, six days of work in a row? Really now? I just want to stay home and cuddle in this gloomy weather with the smell of something pumpkin baking in the oven. Before you think that I had disappeared again, I did bake apple crisp last week but it was all gone before I had decent lighting to take a picture of it. That’s what happens when you don’t have fancy lighting equipment and have to wait for the sun to rise the next morning for light (I hate taking food pictures at night while depending on the regular light bulbs as a natural light source). I definitely used the word “light” a million times in that last sentence. I apologize.

I searched through my cabinets and managed to find half a bag of Heath toffee bits.. how wonderful! I bookmarked a recipe from the blog: “3 B’s.. Baseball, Baking, and Books” and finally had the chance to try it from my list. These blondies were a hit! The middle of the pan were nice and chewy, while the edges were a bit more crisp. I can only imagine the possibilities you can do with this basic recipe.. you can sub in white chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, raisins, nuts, coconut.. anything your heart desires! Here is the recipe with my minor tweaks. I also baked it in a glass pan so the baking time took a bit longer for me.

1 cup AP flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped Heath Bars (I used 1/2 cup Heath toffee bits and 1/2 cup choco chips)

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.) Cream together the brown sugar and melted butter. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until blended.
3.) Stir in the Heath Bars (or whatever addition you prefer) and pour into a greased 8×8 pan.
4.) Bake for 30-35 minutes.
5.) Let the blondies completely cool before cutting. Enjoy!

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