Delicious Reading: Oreo Brookies from Shugary Sweets

The first thing Aimee, the author of the blog Shugary Sweets, wants you to know is “yes, SHUGARY is spelled correctly. It’s a take on my last name.” When she started her blog in 2007, it was dedicated to family life, but she “re-branded” in 2011 as a food blog. She is a self-taught foodie and combines old- fashioned comfort food with convenience foods in an effort to “appeal to everyone but mostly my own family.” Her favorite dessert is Rice Krispie Treats (she has a whole section of the blog dedicated to variations on them) but what brought me to her site was a brookie recipe I found on Pinterest.

The “brookie” — a brownie and cookie hybrid — has always held extra appeal to me because my family nickname as a child was “Brookie.” So, it seems as if this dessert is named for me. However, I made it in honor of my husband’s October birthday because he said it would be fun to have something different than cake. Because we would be celebrating during the workweek, I looked for a shortcut ... but wondered if it would be possible to use boxed mix and refrigerated cookie dough and get a good result. We did!

While this was an over-the-top birthday treat, I think I will also make it for Thanksgiving. My pumpkin pie is wonderful, but it is often only eaten by me and my mom, despite the many guests we host. This will be the ninth year I invite my international students to join us for the intercultural experience of a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner. They try a lot of new foods that day — dressing/stuffing, cranberry relish and sweet potato casserole. But, they usually choose a chocolate dessert that someone brings instead of my pie. I realize eating a gourd in a pie might seem strange to them, but a friend recently told me another reason it isn’t appealing for some of my students. She was a missionary in China and found that because cinnamon is often used medicinally there, people don’t like the taste of it in sweets. There’s no cinnamon to be found in this monster dessert and it’s easy enough, my kids can make it while I tend to basting the bird.

Oreo Brookies

This recipe originally was published as “Spooky Brookies” on shugarysweets.com.

• 1 box (18.75 oz) Brownie Mix (makes an 8x8 inch pan)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 large egg
• 16 Oreos
• 1 package (16.5 ounces) Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (I used break and bake)
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate morsels

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8 or 9inch square baking dish with parchment paper. Set aside. Mix ingredients for brownies in a large bowl using a whisk. Mix until just combined. Pour into bottom of baking dish, spreading so batter goes all the way to the sides.

Top with 16 Oreo cookies. Breaking the chocolate chip cookie dough into chunks, drop by tablespoons onto the brownie/Oreo layer. Continue until all cookie dough is used, and brownies are nearly covered. Top with extra milk chocolate morsels. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

Allow brookies to cool at room temperature. Once cooled, cover with foil and refrigerate for 2 hours (or overnight). Cut into 16 bars. ENJOY.

(For the spooky version, she used Halloween Oreos and candy eyes, then pressed the “eyes” onto melted chocolate chips.)