Cookies & Cookie Dough Brownies

Today my girls went back to school and for the littlest one it was her first day of all day school.

I’m not going to lie there were tears. Not a lot and I made sure they were not in front of her. 

Then she went and told me she was going to miss me! I was strong though and I told her I would miss her too, but that she was going to have lots of fun in her new classroom and with all her new classmates!

If only I was starting in a new classroom with new classmates to distract me. Now I am sat here on my computer suppose to be writing up my CV for some part-time jobs I've been looking at. Instead I am here writing this post while eating one of these brownies to ease the temporary loss of my children.

You may just have to take my word on this one, but I do believe a combination of chocolate and sugar can help with the emotional stress of leaving your child at school for the first time.

Even if the first day of school has come around for you or you don’t have kids you should still try these brownies! Everyone has some sort of stress of everyday life. It's a fact.

Right before I left my parents house I discovered these Cookie Dough limited edition Oreos! I of course brought some back with me. And you wouldn't be reading this if I didn't use them to make brownies! Regular Oreos would work just as well in this recipe so don't worry if these limited edition ones aren't available by you!

First I made eggless cookie dough to add to the brownies, but the chunks that were thrown in the mixture just disappeared even though they were frozen when put in. So, you could leave this step out, but I would still want to sprinkle some on top! If you do make the cookie dough you have to freeze it so do this ahead of time! Here’s how I made it.

Cookie Dough:

50g chocolate chunks

160g plain flour

130g golden caster sugar

4 tablespoons of demerara sugar

170g unsalted butter, softened

2 tablespoons of soya yogurt

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1 tsp of fine salt

Place all the ingredients into a big bowl, I used my free-standing mixer and beat into a sticky dough. 

Place on cling film, wrap it up and then flatten it until it’s about 2 cm. 

Chill in the freezer for about 2 hours.

I couldn't find soya yogurt in a small tube, so I used the leftover to make a delicious fruit smoothie by throwing in some mixed frozen berries and an over ripe banana. Perfect breakfast!

You will have a lot left over of the cookie dough, that could be used in ice cream or cupcakes or whatever floats your boat!

Once it’s been sitting nicely in the freezer for about 2 hours you can get on with the brownies. I shared with you how I made the ones pictured; however I would add at least 50 grams more of crushed Oreos if not more!

Cookies & Cookie Dough Brownies:

150g dark chocolate, broken up

150g milk chocolate, broken up

250g salted butter

400g light brown sugar

4 large eggs

140g plain flour

50g Mortimer Pure Dark Chocolate Powder

120g Cookie dough (recipe above)

100g (7-8 cookies) Cookie Dough Oreos, smashed

Preheat oven to 180C/gas4 and line a brownie tin (8x11) or an 8in square pan with parchment paper.

Very gently melt both chocolates with the butter and sugar in a medium saucepan. Stir occasionally with a silicone spatula. Just before the chocolate is completely melted, take off the heat and gently stir until it’s completely melted.

Then add the eggs one at a time to the melted chocolate mixture. Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the pan and stir until just combined. Fold in half the cookie dough and half the smashed cookies.

Then pour the mixture into the prepared tin/pan. Scrap the bowl with your spatula to make sure you get all the batter in. Scatter the rest of the cookie dough and Oreos over the top of the brownies before baking in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. If you want them a little less gooey bake for 5 minutes more.

Cool completely before cutting into squares. When I bake them for only 30 minutes I tend to stick them in the fridge for 30-60 minutes before cutting just to get a cleaner cut.

last minute notes: I wish writing a CV was as easy as writing a blog post. I miss my children already; I actually like having them around! I must stop eating these brownies! 
Spatulas are from OXO, as a baker I tend to use spatulas a lot and I must say these are very sturdy and have fast become my favorite spatulas! They are perfect for scraping out sticky cookie dough and getting that last bit of chocolate brownie! They were sent to me to review.
Mortimer Pure Dark Chocolate Powder was given to me at Food Blogger Connect and I bought the Oreos while on holiday. Please see my contact/policy page for further information.
Cookie Dough recipe was adapted from Jamie’s Food Tube Cupcake book and the brownie recipe is one that I have used over and over from Good Food Bakes & Cakes Magazine Summer 2013 edition.