Short & Sweet: Caleb’s Cookie Brownie Bar Thing
This may not be healthy, but boy oh boy is it delicious. If you find yourself asking why, let me tell you why. This recipe is essentially my favorite brownie recipe getting a big delicious hug from my favorite cookie recipe. Yeah. Delicious. I made three in a matter of hours not because I had to keep revising the recipe, but because people kept eating it!
The story behind this recipe goes something like this: an adorable foodie friend of mine – we’ll call him Caleb… because that’s his name – enlightened me to a delicious concoction one of his professors prepares each semester for kids as they feverishly approach a meltdown in the throws of finals – who wouldn’t want a delicious sweet tweet then. Since he is currently attending my alma mater I had no choice but to trust this young Longhorn’s tastebuds. He sent me the recipe and while I was excited, I was also a bit appalled at the number of boxed, canned, jarred, and preprocessed ingredients in it. Being the food snob I am, I agreed to redevelop the recipe using all natural ingredients, making it completely from scratch.
So I did and it was awesome. You should try it. It may look like a lot of steps but it is actually quite easy. This is definitely a bad-day fixing, breakup remedying, diet-breaking worthy, sweet-tooth satiating, wonder of a treat. It’s not really fall related but then again it’s delicious… so who cares.
Caleb’s Cookie Brownie Bar Thing
This recipe requires making two separate batters. I suggest to make the cookie batter first and set aside then make the brownie batter. Assembling is quite easy. You’ll need an 8×8 pan for this recipe.
Ingredients
Cookie Part
2 ounces unsalted butter, room temp.
2 ounces almond butter (can sub. peanut butter or any other nut butter)
3 ounces brown sugar
3 ounces sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
7 ounces flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon saltBrownie Part
2 ounces unsalted butter
3 3/4 ounces sugar
1 ounce unsweetened cocoa
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3 ounces chocolate, chopped (or chocolate chunks/chips)
1 ounce flourInstructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper – up the sides too.
Prepare the Cookie Part
2. Mix the butter and sugar together until thoroughly mixed. Add the almond butter and mix in well.
3. Add the egg and vanilla and mix in well.
4. Add the flour, baking soda and salt and mix until the batter forms – it will be crumbly.
5. Set the cookie portion aside.
Prepare the Brownie Part
6. Over a bain marie in a glass or metal bowl, melt the butter.
7. Once the butter is melted, add the sugar and cocoa and mix well. The mixture will look grainy.
8. Remove the bowl from the heat and allow the mixture to cool slightly.
9. Add the vanilla and salt and mix in.
10. Add the egg and mix in well – until completely blended together.
11. Add the chocolate chunks and the flour and mix in well. Set aside.
Assembly
12. Place 2/3 of the cookie mixture in the lined pan. Spread the mixture out so it makes an even layer on the bottom. Create a 1/2” tall lip around the edges – this will help hold in the chocolate portion.
13. Add all of the brownie mixture and spread it out evenly, leaving a little gap around the edges.
14. Crumble the remaining cookie mixture on top of the brownie mixture.
Bake
15. Bake for 18-24 minutes until the top is golden and a the center doesn’t jiggle too much. A tooth pick inserted in the cookie-only portion around the outside should come out clean, and if inserted in the center should come out with no cookie bits but a little brownie crumbs is ok.
16. Let cool in the pan before removing to a plate.
Enjoy.
Your photography is stunning! Sandwich a brownie with arugula and I’d still eat it :)
Oh yeah, this “thing” looks good!
Glad that you converted the semi-homemade to fully homemade. Also, I know that the brownie part is definitely fudgey-that first picture just looks like a filling of melted chocolate chips-yum. I will take a corner piece-I like those toasty edges. Well done!
Looks very yummy. I’ve done the reverse, put the cookie inside the brownie and also had only a bottom cookie crust with brownie on top.
This look soo good! A brownie and a cookie makes a good marriage.
Who cares about the season, this is a year round sweet tooth satisfier.
Who cares about healthy? Hand me that plate!
This got to be the holy grail of all simple dessert. I bet they travel well too (Hint! Hint!)
Ummm yes please! Must .. concentrate … on work for the next half hour instead of wanting to race down and make these right away.
It’s midterm week for me and I could definitely see how these would help with the stress and studying. A great dessert recipe; the more chocolate the better.
Oh my goodness, these look fantastic! On my bucket list for sure:)
Hey Russell, Thanks for dropping by my page! I’m so glad I could discover your blog :) Cookie bar and brownie together in one bite!! You are kidding, that’s the best thing ever!
Hi Russell, this is way better than just a cookie or a brownie. Two in one! At least my kids and I will be thrilled. :-) I love your photography and I’m enjoying browsing your site now. :-)
wow…sounds scrumptiously tasty..
first time here…love your space..
awesome posts with excellent cliks..
happy following u..;)
do stop by mine sometime..
Tasty Appetite
Rusell!!!
I want that brownie bar!!
Haha ha!
Loves the photos!
Loves the ingredients!
Loves the post!! ;)
may I have some? :D
Great idea! Looks very delicious, a simple way to put two of my favorites together.
Mmmm looks good! I’ll take mine with a glass of milk please!
Now this is a cookie brownie bar thingy that would win anyone’s heart. So what if it’s not fall related. I would eat this anytime of the year and you know what? I would be damn proud of it.
wow first off this is my first time to your blog and I am seriously in love with your pics.
secondly just looking at them made my ass fatter so thanks for that
thirdly – really who says thirdly but whatever i love that you totally replaced all the preprocessed packaged stuff with “real” ingredients
I had a box mix version of these one time (Gasp, I know). They weren’t very good (no surprise since they were from a box mix…). I might have to try these, though. They look great.
This looks scrumptious! :)
Russell, these look crazy delicious! Do you think it can hold up its texture for 2-3 days in a canning jar? And can I make this in individual discs or cut it into other shapes after its baked? Thank you for such an awesome revelation… I finally chose what to bake as a gift…
A Chocolate chip cookie and a brownie in one?! Now that’s just irresistible.
this sounds serious…must make :)
You know what I’m envisioning. One, this on my plate. Two, this sprinkled with Maldon sea salt. Three, a glass of milk. Make that happen for me, okay? :)
Just discovered you via London Bakes blog…these look like sheer heaven! Brownie and cookie combined? Amazing :-)
A cookie and a brownie in one bite? Two of my favorite desserts in one pan. Love your pics.
I’ll give up healthy, just for an hour to enjoy one of those brownie bar “things”. They sound so good. :)
Healthy or not, who cares?????
These looks DELICIOUS!!!!!!
Making them soon for sure.
These looks incredibly delicious! Would go great with a large glass of milk, yum!
mmmm cookies AND brownies? It couldn’t get much better than that!
WHOA! Those look…well just yumilicous! I love brownies and I love cookies, so put them together? Heaaavveeennn!
Food snobs unite! You definitely get brownie points for this recipe. Fabulous! Great photos, too.
Oh, gosh, does this sound fabulous! And I’m so glad you cleaned out all the processed junk (although, I’d probably not refuse one of those bars, either!). This one would be a hit at my house :)
Wow…these look amazing! I can see why they were brought in to calm the student’s nerves before finals. I like how you describe them as a cookie giving a brownie a hug haha! I would feel like my stomach was getting a hug if I ate a few I am sure :)!
Congrats on the Top 9 today!!!
It’s like peanut butter and chocolate – two great tastes that taste great together! And perfect for those days when you just can’t decide if you want brownies or cookies…
Sounds super! Can I use plain butter instead of any nut butter or would that be too much of it? (4 ounces)
You can definitely substitute butter for the almond butter – that’s what I traditionally use in my cookies. You may want to only use 1.5 ounces though otherwise the batter could be very soft and hard to work with.
Oh man, this sounds like a treat I’d kill for! Thank you for sharing this recipe, and congratulations on Top 9!
Wow, this is a really interesting recipe. Looks pretty easy to make, too, as you say. Great combination of flavors. Thanks for this.
Oh my. This does look decadent. Glad you adapted it to “homemade.”
Yum! Best ‘thing’ I’ve seen all day. I want a big glass of milk when I look at those photos… I should get to bed before I get too hungry :)
MMM, mmm, mmm!
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Great looking crust on there! What a good looking bar… thing… Nicely done!
Man alive, those look good! Way to go for subbing natural ingredients for processed ones. I hate when delicious-looking recipes contain crap like corn syrup.
Yum!! This sounds amazing! Why not throw cookies & brownies together, delish!
I absolutely love cookie bars! The perfect go to dessert when having football parties. The hubby watches, I usually just show for the food :)
These look so awesome! I’ve been dreaming about them. Well not really- how about thinking about them constantly. Making them for a party tomorrow! Can’t wait!
This is pretty brilliant, and as I tweeted you the other day, I just love your blog!
My friends call them Brookies or Crownies.
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You’ve combined my two favorite treats. I’m drooling over my keyboard
Thanks for the inspiration! I blogged about your recipe here (giving you credit, of course!)! http://www.dishingthedivine.com/2012/02/08/peanut-butter-cookie-brownie-layer-bar/
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