Brownie Cookies

Brownie Cookies sounded like a great idea. The goodness of a chewy brownie surrounding an Oreo type cookie? Dipped in chocolate or not, my choice? I thought they’d be quick and easy and a perfect little treat. I was bored and in the mood to create a new dessert.  Brownie Cookies would happen!  And they wouldn’t be as easy as they sounded in the recipe!

I was tempted to make the brownie batter from scratch but decided to follow an actual recipe that told me to use a boxed mix. She further said the Pillsbury one worked best for her so I complied and bought a Pillsbury brownie mix. The 9×13 pan size, as directed.

Ingredients

I mixed up the brownie batter, which took a minute or two. Too easy, I was thinking. Then I opened up my packet of sandwich cookies. I’d chosen Oreo Berry Burst cookies because the blog suggested they’d be cute because the filling is pink. I’d had the cookies before and loved the flavor.

Mix brownie batter

I dipped each cookie into the batter and carefully laid it into my prepared muffin cups. I’d sprayed them well, as directed. I filled a muffin tin of 12 and 2 of 6, so I made 24 brownie cookies. I had 5 or 6 cookies left over, no problem.

Dip cookies and set in muffin tins

I had a little brownie batter leftover so spooned it into the cups over the cookies, portioning it out among the 24 cups. Looking good!

Bake 12-15 minutes

My oven was preheated to 325°F and I slid the first pan of 12 into the oven and set the timer for 12 minutes. The recipe said to test with a toothpick and I had no idea what to test. They seemed pretty wet still so I let it go 5 more minutes. The outsides of the brownies looked like they were done, so I took them out of the oven and put in the next two pans of 6 each.

Remove from pan and set on rack to cool

The recipe said to immediately run a plastic knife around the sides of the cups and that wasn’t possible. The dough started to stick to my knife and they looked horribly messed up. I did two and said well that is silly and switched to a sharp paring knife. Again it made them messy. I let them sit for 10 minutes and the knife ran around the outsides cleanly. So that answered that. Don’t do it immediately.  That part of the recipe was wrong.

Place frosting in a plastic bag or piping bag to decorate

Next the recipe said after 5 minutes remove from pan. Oh no. They wouldn’t come out. Again I ran the knife around, trying to coax them out, and no luck. I dumped them upside down onto a rack and 3 came out, another one’s top half came out, and I was frustrated. This shouldn’t have been so difficult.

Drizzle tops with frosting and sprinkle with colored sugar

The next pans were done in the oven and I let them sit on a rack and cool without touching them. I was frustrated and annoyed. My P.S. was home by then and he ran the paring knife around them all and kept dumping them upside down gently (can one dump gently?) until they were all out.

Brownie Cookies

One of my pans was a nonstick pan, heavily sprayed, so I have no answer to why I had so much trouble. But they were finally out and I was ready to frost. By then I didn’t have enough time to dip them all in chocolate so I melted a small amount of white chips, colored them with red food coloring specifically for candy (regular coloring would make the white chocolate seize up) and drizzle the pink frosting over the brownie cookies.

As a final touch I sprinkled shiny pink sugar over the damp frosting and they looked adorable. My P.S. gave me his PHE (patented husband eyeroll) and I ignored him. I tasted a brownie cookie and was not happy. You couldn’t see the pink center of the Oreo cookie, I think it had mostly melted in the oven. The flavor of the cookie was not pleasant, again probably because it had been in the oven.

Brownie Cookies

My P.S. said the flavoring for the berry burst middles probably went rogue when heated. There are just times when heat ruins a flavor, and this may have been one of those times. They weren’t awful, they just weren’t anything that made you go “Wow, I LOVE this!” I may try to make them again sometime, and not use a flavored middle. Plain ole Oreos might be the best bet.

Making the brownie cookies again is a maybe, as I said before, but I’d definitely use the unflavored, regular Oreos. I dislike doing a lot of work for things that don’t taste good. I’m lazy that way.  If anyone has luck with these, I’d like to know, please!

Brownie Cookies

1 box brownie mix for a 9×13 pan; made according to directions
1 package Oreos; plain is best, or you’re on your own
Chocolate for dipping or frosting cookies if desired
Sprinkles if desired

Spray 48 muffin cups very, very well with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 325°F.

Dip each cooking into the brownie batter, coating it completely. Lay each in a muffin cup.

Bake cookies for 12-15 minutes, or until outsides begin to lose their shine.

Let cool for 10 minutes. Run a paring knife around the outsides of the cookies. Let set to completely cool, about 30 minutes.

Run a paring knife around the cookies again and turn upside down over a rack. Set cookies upright and frost or dip as desired.

Store in covered container at room temperature for up to a week.

Made 48 cookies