Brownie Cookies

I set out to make homemade brownies from scratch and figured one of my favorite food blogs (Joy the Baker) would have a great recipe. As I searched her site for brownie creations, I came across these. I knew in an instant, it was meant to be: I had only 1/2 a stick of butter in my house, but what sensible homemade brownies don't have more than 1/2 a stick butter in them? Brownie COOKIES! Actually, that should be their selling point...they taste as delicious and rich as a brownie, but the whole batch only has 3 tbsp. of butter in it! What more could anyone ask for? This blog is here, after all, but to serve your inner chocolate cravings. ;) And to drag you through my long, drawn out cat stories, which I can only imagine makes you all want to run out and adopt a cat! Or even better, a couple of them! Oh, the crazy life I lead....

Anyway, back to what will make you salivate until you whip a batch up for yourself!

Brownie Cookies

Ingredients:
8 oz. dark chocolate - I used 60% cacao chips (you can use semi-sweet instead of dark if you prefer)
3 tbsp. butter
1 c. sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. butterscotch chips - I thought the sweetness in the butterscotch brought a perfect balance to the richness of the dark chocolate, but if you like life on the edge, you could use semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips if you are on the hunt for even MORE chocolate!! Also, this amount is very adjustable based on what you want in your cookies - remember, you're the boss!

Directions:

In a double boiler (or in the microwave if you are lazy like me!), gently melt together the chocolate and butter. To avoid heating the chocolate too much and possibly burning it, the best method is to heat until the butter is melted and the chocolate has partially melted, then remove from the heat. Stir until all the chocolate melts. Try to refrain from digging in with a spoon at this point...but I am not here to judge.

In a separate bowl, beat together the sugar and eggs until thoroughly combined. You don’t need a mixer, just do it in a medium sized bowl with a wooden spoon. Add the warm melted chocolate, then stir in the remaining ingredients, including the butterscotch (or chocolate) chips. Please make as big of a mess in the bowl as you can; I have demonstrated this technique below. ;)

Refrigerate the "dough" (consistency more like batter) for about an 1 hour...you can throw it in the freezer for less time if you want (be honest, who has the patience to wait a whole hour?)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease (or line with tin foil) baking sheets. Drop the cookie dough using two spoons onto the prepared baking sheets. Leave about 2 inches between the cookies, because they will spread as they bake.
Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, until their tops are shiny and cracked. They won’t crack until the very end, so keep a close eye on them. You want these baked all the way through, but just barely; additional baking makes them more crispy rather than chewy. Remove the cookies from the oven, wait a couple min., then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool.

Now for your challenge: try not to eat the whole batch by yourself! I wish you all good luck! Tip: have a glass of cold milk handy; these babies are rich!!