{TWD} Peanut Butter Chipster Topped Brownies

In my nearly one year of Tuesdays With Dorie participation, the group has made multiples of pies, cakes, cookies, and even puddings. But this is the first true brownie recipe! in her Chipster-Topped Brownies Dorie combines two treats which are classic and beloved on their own: a chocolate brownie with a chocolate chip cookie layer on top! I love both, and I was interested in seeing how they would be together.

From reading this week's P&Q I knew going into this week's recipe that (1) the cookie layer on top was thin and got quite crispy and brown, and (2) the brownie layer took a long time to cook through. Crispy chocolate chip cookies are never my cup of tea, so I came up with a plan that I hoped would provide for a thicker softer cookie layer and a thinner brownie layer that would bake a bit quicker.

As for flavor, Dorie suggested peanut butter chips in the "Playing Around" section of this recipe, so I decided to create a peanut butter and chocolate combination with a few simple adjustments to Dorie's recipe.

n.o.e.'s notes:

- I made 1/3 recipe brownie base, 1/2 recipe of the cookie topping, and baked the combination in a 7.5 x 7.5 inch square pan.

There are still a lot of egg parts hanging around my kitchen (and the June TWD recipes will leave a bunch more egg yolks orphaned!). For the eggs in the brownie, I used egg yolk from the freezer and egg white from the fridge.

- To make peanut butter cookie out of Dorie's cookie recipe, I swapped half the butter for smooth peanut butter. I folded both chocolate chunks and peanut butter chips into the cookie dough.

- To further carry out the theme, I stirred peanut butter chips into the brownie layer.


- It took forever (and a day) for these to bake. Maybe because of the cookie sheet underneath and/or the ceramic baking dish? I lost track of how many times I set the timer for 5 more minutes.

- The cookie layer was so crispy that it cracked and crumbled as I cut it, even with a serrated knife, and lots of care.

the verdict:

I enjoyed these brownies warm, but they were even tastier at room temperature. They had a solid shot of peanut butter flavor, supported by dark chocolate goodness. I'm nearly always a soft and chewy cookie person. The cookie layer on my brownies was quite crisp, which I didn't mind as much with the peanut butter cookie, as I would have with regular chocolate chip cookie as the top layer.

JDE, who's home this week (yay!), and her friend G sampled the brownies. They thought that the peanut butter flavor predominated - in a good way. I am having to pack these up tightly and freeze them or give them away so I don't nibble them all away! However, at the end of the day, I know I'd rather have a brownie, a chocolate chip cookie, and/or a peanut butter cookie, rather than a combination rolled into one.


Thanks to Beth of Supplicious for choosing this week's brownies. You can find the recipe on her post, or on page 94-95 of Dorie Greenspan's book Baking From My Home to Yours.