brownie cookies

So that apartment is slowly getting packed up.  I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel.  My kitchen is no longer all that functional, as I have packed almost everything except some plates and glasses and dinnerware and a baking dish to make some chicken and some pork chops for our last couple of dinners here.

These are some of the last cookies I baked in our apartment kitchen (and I say that trying to be sentimental, but really not feeling it at all because in our new kitchen I will have an island, so goodbye little apartment kitchen!), and boy were they a good choice.  First of all, no thinking ahead is needed, as in I don’t need to remember to have room temperature butter.  Even though I’ve figured out all kinds of little tricks to getting room temperature butter in an inordinate amount of time (the perfect setting on the microwave, cutting it into tiny pieces, etc.), it’s just a lot more easy to not worry about room temperature butter when I haven’t remembered to think ahead.  (But, to my credit I did think ahead with these cookies and looked at the recipe the morning before I was making them that afternoon and lo and behold, no butter needed to be set out on the counter.)

They are also a perfect cookie because the sum of all the ingredients combined is so much more than the ingredients themselves.  There is nothing special in the ingredient list.  No special chocolate or special flour or special sugar, or really even any kind of special method in the instructions.  They are just pure and simple dessert ingredients in amounts that are perfected to get the most soft and fluffy and chewy chocolate cookie.  Really the name is exactly what they are: brownie cookies.

The only thing that was not perfect about these cookies was how the dough was super runny for the first batch and then seemed to stiffen up for the rest of my batches.  My recommendations: let the dough sit for just a bit before you make the first batch, if you would like all the cookies to be more uniform, and cover the rest of the dough between batches.  I didn’t actually do this last one (or the first one either) but I suspect that covering the dough (perhaps even right on the surface with some plastic wrap) will help the dough to maintain its consistency a little better.  Also, stir it occasionally as it is sitting out.

These cookies come out perfect right out of the oven, but they also age wonderfully…chewy and brownie-like all through the week, with those chocolate chips that have melted their way into every bite of cookie and, if you prefer, pecans.  But I do not prefer pecans, because why do I need something to distract me from the flavor of chocolate?  Which I mean, if we’re being honest, is basically why I made these cookies, or why I make most dessert-related things for that matter.  Chocolate.

Brownie Cookies
adapted from The All-New Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Bake Time: 10 minutes

Makes about 2 1/2 dozen

1/2 cup butter
4 (1 oz.) unsweetened chocolate squares, chopped
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups chopped pecans, toasted (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium-sized saucepan, combine butter, unsweetened chocolate squares, and 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips.  Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the chocolate is melted.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.  (Alternately, you can heat these ingredients together in a microwave safe bowl, stirring at 30 second intervals until the chocolate is almost melted.  Then take the bowl out and keep stirring, letting the residual heat melt the chocolate the rest of the way.)
3. In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, and vanilla.  Beat at medium speed until combined.  Gradually add flour mixture, beating just until flour mixture is incorporated.  Add the chocolate mixture, beating until combined.  Then use a rubber spatula to fold the dough over, making sure that the chocolate is evenly distributed.  Stir in 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips and, if desired, the pecans.
5. Using a tablespoon or a small ice cream scoop, drop dough (about 2 tablespoons per cookie) onto the parchment lined baking sheet, placing them 1 inch apart.  Bake for 9-10 minutes.  Allow the cookies to cool slightly on the baking sheet, and then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely.  (Or just eat them warm.)