Chipster-Topped Brownies

Chocolate, Cookie, Desserts, Tuesdays with Dorie / Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

chipster-brownies-1

So, I haven’t posted in more than a week, because we were vacationing with family in Arizona, home of the Grand Canyon and an IKEA. One of them was so vast and beautiful, I had to step back and catch my breath. The other was the Grand Canyon.

Kidding!

But can you buy a lovely blue bowl at the canyon for less than $3? I think not.

The great thing is that you don’t have to choose between those particular wonders. You can enjoy them both. The same holds true for these Chipster-Topped Brownies, which have a brownie layer topped with a chocolate-chip cookie layer.

What could be better, except maybe an IKEA inside the Grand Canyon?

Chipster-Topped Brownies

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking: From My Home to Yours.”

    Brownie Layer:

  • 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
  • 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
  • 2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
  • 1 2/3 cups sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
    Cookie Layer:

  • 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 ½ sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • ¾ cup (packed) light brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or 1 cup store-bought chocolate chips
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-x-13-inch baking pan, line it with wax or parchment paper and butter the paper. Put the pan on a baking sheet.
  2. For the Brownie Batter: Put both chocolates and the butter in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Heat just until the ingredients are melted, stirring occasionally. Remove the bowl from the heat.
  3. Working with a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the sugar and eggs on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes, until pale. Beat in the salt and vanilla extract. Reduce the speed to low, and mix in the melted chocolate and butter, mixing only until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then, still on low speed, add the flour, mixing only until it disappears into the batter. Using the spatula, fold in the walnuts, and scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Set aside.
  4. Clean the mixer bowl to use again for the cookie dough.
  5. For the Cookie Dough: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
  6. Working with a stand mixer, beat the butter and both sugars together on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. One at a time, add the egg and the yolk, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear into the dough. Mix in the chopped chocolate.
  7. Drop the cookie dough by spoonfuls over the brownie batter and, using a spatula and a light touch, spread it evenly over the batter.
  8. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until the cookie top is deep golden brown and firm and a thin knife inserted into the brownie layer comes out with only faint streaks of moist chocolate. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to room temperature.
  9. When the brownies are completely cool, carefully run a knife between the sides of the pan and the brownies, then invert them onto another rack, remove the paper and turn right side up onto a cutting board. Cut into bars about 2 inches by 1 inch.

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43 thoughts on “Chipster-Topped Brownies”

  1. these look fabulous! i was also just perusing the ikea website before reading your blog, so i totally second that grand canyon bit. i love ikea.

    =)

  5. I'm not officially a member of TWD yet, but I'm still making them. Waiting for them to come out the oven now and I hope they look as good as yours. Lovely!

  6. I love Ikea. These look beautiful. I've tried something similar before and while I love brownies and love chocolate chip cookies I thought the combination left something to be desired. I guess I'll just have to have a big ol' brownie with a side of chocolate chip cookie….and a side of ice cream, just because.

  8. Ikea…gotta love it! And gotta love that snazzy blue bowl!

    Your brownies came out looking great! I 'liked', did not 'love' the combo. To me it was the best of both worlds…but they sort of operate for me best on their own.

  9. Oh, you're funny. Now if you could eat these brownies from a blue bowl while gazing at the Grand Canyon, you couldn't do better! Yours look just about perfect!

  10. Here's another reason you need to come to Toronto – we have three Ikeas! These brownies look delish!

  13. The brownies look great! GC is my favorite place. No, wait… Yellowstone.

    No… GC.

    No… Yellowstone.

    Sigh.

  16. YUM! Best of both in one bar. I'll have to try these sometime. And buy bigger pants who's need will inevitably follow. Glad you had a good trip!

  26. An IKEA *inside* the Grand Canyon? The world couldn't contain the awesomeness :) Great looking brownies!

  29. Rebecca, I'm glad you're back! I was worried. I totally agree with you about Ikea! Forget DisneyWorld–next to the Container Store, Ikea is the happiest place on earth! (And the brownies look yummy, too!)

  32. BRING YOUR PREGNANT SISTER THESE NOW! Good lord, if you brought me some with an awesome blossom i'd name her Rebecca, hand to GOD.

  37. Over Memorial Day Weekend, The Boy & I went to 2 amusement parks on Sunday. King's Island, and IKEA in Cincinnati. I preferred the latter.

  38. Glad you're back! I'm so disappointed. The husband and I are going to MT next month (holy crap in less than 2 weeks) and I have been dying to go to IKEA. Last week I did a store locater and there isn't a single IKEA on our way from KS to MT. I'm totally jealous. Oh well, I'll hit it in Dec when I'm in DC.

  39. Haha, I do love Ikea. Glad you had such a wonderful vacation. The Grand Canyon is truly an amazing sight to behold. So are these chipster topped brownies. Just wow. I can't wait to get out Dorie's book and try these for myself. Delicious!

  40. So what I'm really curious about is the batter. I'm a bowl-licker by nature and need to know if my world as I know it will be okay with this recipe. Can I still eat both batters as usual? Nothing crazy going on? Right. Okay then. Since it's a Dorie recipe, I'll assume perfection and give it a whirl.

  42. Okay, so this post is totally old news, but I am so amazed at the concept of chipster topped brownies that i just had to leave a puddle of virtual drool. I'm making these ASAP!

  43. I usually find that brownies are too rich, for me at least. A cookie, I think, would distract from that quite nicely! Or possibly making the brownie layer thinner, mmm!

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