Slutty Brownies

Get ready!  It's a three-in-one dessert:  brownies, chocolate chip cookies, and oreos, all baked up together in one slutty square.  This delicious recipe is slightly adapted from What's Gaby Cooking, and these bars are in service of the ice cream cake I'm going to make for my boyfriend Ben's birthday.

Last year I made Ben this ice cream cake, also courtesy of Gaby.  It was amazing, but obviously this year I needed something to top last year's treat.  As soon as I saw the slutty brownie ice cream cake, I knew it would do the trick.

And, since I'd never made slutty brownies before, I knew I couldn't JUST make them for the cake.  I mean, imagine this:  I make a batch of brownie batter and a batch of cookie dough, layer them in a pan with a row of oreos in between, bake them, then WAIT TO TRY THEM until they're completely cooled and have a couple layers of ice cream frozen on top.  I don't think so!  I made a double recipe, baked half of it in a nine-inch springform pan for the ice cream cake, and baked the other half in a 9 x 9 square pan just for eating.

You might want to make a single recipe to start, so that's what's laid out here.  But, if you want to be like me and jump headfirst into the land of slutty desserts, go for it!

Stay tuned for the ice cream cake on Thursday!

To get started, preheat your oven to 350 and grease a 9 x 9 pan.

Ingredients for the brownie layer:

10 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick plus 1/4 of another stick)
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour

To make the brownie layer, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  When it's melted, whisk in the sugar and cocoa and remove from the heat.  Stir in the salt and vanilla.  When the mixture has cooled a little, whisk in the eggs and then the flour.  Set aside for now.

Ingredients for the cookie dough:

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips

Cream the butter and sugars with an electric mixer until well-blended and crumbly.  Add the egg and vanilla, and mix thoroughly, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.  Add the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, and mix on low until just combined.  Fold in the chocolate chips.

To assemble:

1 package chocolate sandwich cookies (I used Newman's Os)

Press the cookie dough into the bottom of your greased pan to form an even layer.  Top with a single layer of cookies.  Pour the brownie batter on top.  Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out almost clean.  Serve warm with ice cream, or cool and slice into beautiful squares.