Love brownies? Love chocolate chip cookies? Can't decide which to make? These tasty and unusual bar cookies may be the answer.
This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was selected by Beth at Supplicious. After numerous chocolate recipes in the last couple of months, this one is our only chocolate recipe in May (and with none in June, it might be a while before the TWD'ers reach chocolate overload again).
It was fun to put together this recipe, but since you are essentially making two recipes at one time, you have to be on top of your game and have all the ingredients prepped and ready. But, since I am intermittently insane, that wasn't enough of a challenge, so I chose to make these and another brownie recipe (check back later in the week for that one) at the same time.
Remember I just said that you need to have all of your ingredients prepped and ready? That's one of those "do as I say, not as I do" statements. I was mostly ready, but finished the prep while the eggs were beating with the sugar for the brownie base. I probably beat the eggs and sugar for, oh, five minutes, while I finished measuring, weighing and generally making sure I had everything laid out. At this point, I could have scrapped this recipe and made a genoise with these eggs (or used them as a new piece of furniture). But I continued, and added the chocolate (which was melted with butter) slowly, then added the flour and finally the nuts. I spread the brownie mixture in the pan (which I lined with parchment paper as Dorie recommended. The brownie mixture was so thick and sturdy, I was afraid I had made industrial strength brownies that would suffer texture wise.
The cookie layer came together very easily (though I found it extremely sweet when I tasted the batter.) Following Clivia's suggestion, I didn't obsess with spreading the cookie layer over the brownie layer. She mentioned in the P&Q that she had dropped tablespoonfuls of the cookie dough on top of the brownie layer, and they had melted into a cohesive layer.
I tested them at the 50 minute mark, and they tested done. I was very wary of taking them out since numerous TWD bakers reported uncooked middles in the P&Q. But I also didn't want to burn the top, which was nice and golden brown, as Dorie said it should be. The doneness test was a tease as these were definitely not fully cooked.
(Proof! Really, they tested done!)
Then, after an hour sitting out...
OK, maybe not! Where did that ooze come from?!?
The verdict? Truthfully, they weren't my favorite thing. There wasn't enough crispy cookie layer for my taste, and what was there was too sweet. The doneness issues were a bit annoying, but I think that could be mastered by baking them longer and refrigerating the pan and slicing them while cold. But I'm glad I tried them because the technique was interesting and fun. Many thanks to Beth for picking something that was fun and unusual (and chocolate!)
Speaking of chocolate, have you entered my first-ever giveaway yet? You have until 9:00 PM Pacific time tonight (May 26th) to do so if you haven't. I'm giving away a box of chocolates I brought back from Paris. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling me where you'd love to vacation, if cost wasn't a consideration.
37 comments:
Yes and Yes to both of your questions!!! That ooze looks quite similar to my gooey mess.....
I love your give-away, but as I don't live in US or Canada I haven't entered, I'll just have to buy my own next Tuesday when I'm in Paris ;)
By the way: feel free to share more of your favourite places in Paris with me :)
Mine were a little gooey in the middle, but never as much as yours.
Sorry that your brownies didn't turn out well.
I'm so sorry that this one didn't work out for you. These were sweet, but I don't mind sweet. It's frustrating though that you made this recipe and invested all of those ingredients and it didn't work out. Again, I'm sorry! :o)
It appears that the gooeyness happened to a lot of us!
Oh, no! Looks like chocolate chip cookie dough lava. I agree that the whole "how long to bake" issue was annoying. I hate when I have to guess.
But, hey, there's always next week :)
Ugh, these were so annoying. The big problem is the trickery that they employ when appearing to be done but then turning into mush as they cool!
I only read the first few posts on the P&Q where people were taking about overbaking. I never got to the underbaking and clearly pulled mine out way too early!
I'm sorry they didn't turn out for ya Leslie. It sure looks good in that beautiful plate anyways...
I hope you manage to save most parts, for that was a lot of chocolate and butter to waste!!!
Leslie - I had the opposite doneness problem; mine turned out totally overdone. The middle bits were ok, but the edges were definitely overcooked and the cookie part on top was just too crunchy. I'm with you on not being thrilled with these together - and I thought I would be. Still, it was a fun experiment and now I know for sure that I'd rather just have a brownie or a cookie.
That is really strange that they were so gooey after all that time in the oven. They look good anyway!
Ha that is how mine came out also!!
I'm sory that your brownies developed the"ooze'. I had a hard time getting mine to cook all the way through as well.
Too bad they didn't work out for you. I think I like my cookies and brownies separate.
Oozy is not good. Your knife tricked you. Bad knife!
Right now I'm reading Heat and dreaming of a vacation in Italy. One day...
Thanks for the shout out!
Mine looked exactly like that! They were a bit too sweet, but we managed to eat most of them anyway!
Like you, I expected more from this recipe. Even though I wasn't thrilled with the results, it's really hard to be disappointed with a bunch of cookie/brownie bars!
oh no--sorry about the secret ooze. bummer! mine turned out fairly well--i wonder if the half recipe in a small pan made a difference?
if i could va-cay anywhere, it would be paris! for chocolate and bread and cheese and wine....mmmm. i hope you loved it as much as i imagine i will when i finally make it there:)
Ya I agree with these not being my thing either. I was worried about the brownies being done in the middle too. The cookie layer was more like a crusted brownie topping.
Your brownies looked beautiful! I had to keep testing mine over and over for doneness - I should have taken a picture of all of the knife slits in the middle of the pan.
If yours was ooz, then mine was a volcano.
Mine was tons worse that that.
But since it was in the over so long, it had to have gotten over 140º, so we ate it anyway.
that is odd that they kind of oozed later on. It was hard to pick doneness on these
Sorry they didn't turn out for you! I didn't do TWD this week and was feeling like I really missed out when I looked at everyone's pix - but sounds like maybe I picked a good week to skip. :) I will say - your pix are really making me hungry!
What a bummer! I think that the brown tops really messed with some people. They look good. Does that count?
I seriously don't get why some TWDers brownies did this and others didn't. Hmmm. Sorry. These were a little too much for me, but still good. I'm just glad they got eaten by the company we had last night.
Vacation---hmmm?? I would love to go to Hawaii with my husband.
Sorry they weren't a success for you; I agree that the concept is way too much fun to not try. Yours still look good.
Oh, and prepped and ready? I had to send my boyfriend to the store in the middle of the process so I would have eggs for the cookie part.
The photo of your 'done' bars with the ooze coming out from underneath--could have been taken in my kitchen--EXACTLY what mine looked like too! Funny that lots of people had the same exact issue here.
I always tell myself I'll get everything prepped and ready, rarely have I really been that way. (Then it makes me wonder, "Did I put in the baking soda.???."
Oh, yours look very nice. I think Dorie and I have the exact same oven, because mine were done at 55 minutes. I photographed them warm and they were a bit moist, but the guys could not wait and wanted to eat them warm...the next day they had firmed up and were delightful also...they loved them both ways. I love the little plate you chose to put the brownie on...it just looks like a party with that brownie on that plate!
Hey!! I think those look delicious - ooze or no ooze! I mean, really, it's just like eating the dough, but cooked slightly! haha! Sorry you weren't much of a fan - I wasn't either! But really, they do look great!
Too bad about the ooze, but you got a nice photo of it :) I think if I made these, I'd like more cookie too - maybe a thin layer of brownie with a thick layer of cookie on top.
Mine were just like yours. I'm glad i tried it but not sure if i'll be making them again.
These look great Leslie - the cooking time thing was an issue for most of us, but luckily they tasted great cooked or not.
Leslie, you are killing me with the delicious brownie pictures! I want some RIGHT NOW! ;)
Ditto on mine. They were sweet and delish, but.....
Yours looks yummy! tho.
I wish I had a little of that gooey factor in mine. So interesting how differently these baked up for everyone.
those are some tricky brownie/cookies...pretending to be done and then oozing. so mean! Hope you at least got to eat the outer brownies.
Sorry you weren't a fan. They weren't my favorite either. My cookie dough sank into the brownie batter and created a bit of a mess. I have to confess that your oozing cookie dough looks yummy :)
Leslie, I feel your oozy pain. Delicious? YES! Pretty and fully cooked? Nope! Bummed I missed the chocolate giveaway. Perhaps you can take another trip to Paris soon to bring back more?!?
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