Brownie Cookies [with Chocolate Chips or Mars Bars or Andes Mints or Nuts]

Black Friday calls for indulgence. Let’s keep these 12 Days of Holiday Baking going with another bakery knock-Off: Brownie Cookies

Okay, so I love love love the brownie-style cookie at Harbord Bakery in Toronto. It’s a big blob of brownie-ness with chocolate chips and walnuts. They were my secret, spendy vice during grad school. Of course, I had no idea how to make them, then.Several years ago, reading a magazine in my dentist’s office, I finally discovered what I thought might be the recipe. I scribbled the details down on the back page of my calendar, without, of course, noting the name of the magazine or the author, for which I heartily apologize. But….Dear anonymous, I am forever grateful! Because, I’ve made these cookies dozens of times since, and in all sorts of variations: with chocolate chips and walnuts, with white chocolate chips and NO nuts, with Christmas colored M&Ms, with chopped Mars bars and little Mars bar slices on top, and with Andes Mints! 

So, here’s my recipe, with plenty of ways to doll up that brownie cookie base!

Print Recipe

Brownie Cookies [with Chocolate Chips or Mars Bars or Andes Mints or Nuts]

Ingredients

• 1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips for melting in the dough
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate chopped fine
• 2 tbs unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla

+ 2 cups total add-ins, such as: 

• 1 c additional chocolate chips [these can be chocolate or white] 

AND

• 1 c anything festive such as: chopped walnuts or other nuts, chopped Mars Bars, chopped Andes Mints [2 1/2 small 71-gram packages] or anything festive like M&Ms or Broken Candy Canes

OR

• 2 cups add-ins such as chopped Mars Bars Chopped Andes Mints, M&Ms, Candies, etc.

NOTE: For the Mars Bar and M&M cookies, you may wish to thin-slice a few extra Mars bars or quarter a few extra Andes mints to use as toppings before baking. Purchase accordingly.

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350.
• Line cookie sheets with parchment or silpats.
• In a high-heat-friendly glass bowl set over a pot of gently boiling water, melt the butter, 1 cup of the chocolate chips and the chopped unsweetened chocolate.
• Set the bowl aside to cool, or transfer the melted mixture to a large mixing bowl.
• Cool for 5-10 minutes.
• Add the sugar, flour and baking powder and stir to combine.
• The mixture will look grainy.
• Once the batter is no longer hot to the touch, add the eggs and vanilla and combine.
• The mixture will begin to shine.
• Using a spatula, incorporate your additional chocolate chips and/or the other add-ins.
• Using a tablespoon, dollop your coookie dough onto the lined cookie sheets.
• If you are using a candy "topping" like a Mars Bar slice or a bit of Andes Mint, place it on the centre of each cookie now.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the cookie is shiny but not dark or wet towards the middle. The cookies will still be soft to the touch, though. So, don’t over bake!
• Cool cookies on the pan for 3-5 minutes.
• Move the parchment or silpat sheets of cookies to wire racks and cool completely.
• [Optional re the Mars Bar variation] After cooling, if you really need to have the cookies make a tidy appearance, use kitchen shears to carefully trim off the caramelized bits and drips of candy bar that may be sticking out from the edges of your cookie. You can save those scissored-off bits as ice-cream toppings!
• Enjoy!