This may come as a surprise for those of you who know me but…I was productive last weekend. How productive? Super productive. Thanks in large part to the efforts and encouragement my mother-in-law, Dan and I finally painted all the rooms in our condo, cleaned everything, organized the pantry, took a crap load of old stuff to Good Will, and bought some much needed furniture and shelving. And, there are actual pictures on the walls now! The place looks so good, y’all. High fives all around!
And did I mention I also baked a whole bunch of cookies for a work-birthday? Yup. While Dan took a break from cleaning/picture hanging to go play hockey, I watched reruns of Big Bang Theory and baked soft, chewy brownie cookies sandwiched with a luscious chocolate chip cookie dough frosting. After a productive weekend like we just had, sugar + chocolate >>> recreational physical activity.
These cookies were a hit with my coworkers (who love sugary treats), but I personally found them to be a little too sweet. Don’t get me wrong – they’re sinfully delicious, but even with my sweet tooth I could only eat one or two of these before crying uncle. The brownie cookies themselves were amazing – tender, chewy, not too sweet, and full of rich, darkly chocolate flavor. I could have eaten a few dozen of those by themselves, actually. It was the chocolate chip cookie dough frosting that set things over the edge for me. It’s hard to go wrong with chocolate chip cookie dough, but I think maybe it’s too much as a frosting. Maybe. Or maybe I need to try a few other cookie dough frosting recipes. Hmmmm.
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup dutch processed cocoa powder
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ cup packed light-brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 15 Tbsp salted butter, softened
- ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 cups powdered sugar
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- 3 to 4 tbsp cream
- 1 cup mini (or regular) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- In a microwave-safe bowl, combine butter and 2 cups chocolate chips. Microwave in 45 second increments until chocolate is melted. Stir until mixture is smooth, then let it rest until cool, 10 to 15 minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, both sugars, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Pour chocolate mixture into your mixing bowl, and stir to combine.
- Add eggs, one at a time. Mix until you get a uniform, thick doughy mixture.
- Stir in vanilla.
- Chill dough 30- 45 minutes (until it holds it’s shape).
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease or line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Using a small cookie scoop (I think mine is 1 tbsp?), scoop out dough and shape it into balls. Drop balls onto prepared baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, then remove from oven and allow to cool on baking sheet 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While your cookies are cooling, start making your frosting.
- In a mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer, whip together butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Mix in flour, then add vanilla and 2 tbsp cream and blend until well combined.
- Add powdered sugar and whip until smooth adding an additional 1 tbsp of cream to thin if desired.
- Fold in chocolate chips.
- Using your same tbsp cookie scoop, spoon a dollop of frosting onto half your cookies. Top with the other halves and press down gently.
- Enjoy!
(Slightly adapted from Cooking Classy’s recipe)
Looks amazing!