Stupid life getting in the way of my blogging….

So life has more than caught up with me and has not allowed me to be baking or blogging like I want to. My poor hubby has Bronchitis and is super miserable. Unfortunately for him(and me) he coughs all night, so sleep is not much of an option. This week he started back to work. We only have one car(trying to help out mother Earth) and he usually walks to the park and ride. But being sick I now get up and drive him in the morning. I am horrible at going back to sleep after I get up and so I have been averaging about 3 hours of sleep or less a day for over a week now. Luckily the weekend came and I got to get a little more sleep and therefore start to function once again. Sadly, all week, due to being so tired, I had NO inspiration for my blog. Nothing, nada. Last night I had a girls game night to go to and so I had to force myself to make something.

I turned to the book that I agreed to review as well as post a couple recipes about, Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. Sara from I Like to Cook asked me if I would be interested and I jumped all over the chance. The nice thing about this cookbook is that it is truly for everyone. It is well written in everyday speak so that non-foodies can understand. But also has great recipes that would inspire any level of cook. The book is HUGE, weighing in a 6 pounds and is chalked full of recipes. I have spent the last few weeks going through the book and breaking them down into categories, the two main ones being: stuff I want to make and stuff my husband will eat…which are usually very different. Since my hubby is sick I decided to make something from his category. I ran across a recipe for Chipster-Topped Brownies. I thought how perfect, my husband loves brownies and he loves chocolate chip cookies and this combines the two. It is a fairly simple recipe with the only hard part being the spreading out the cookie dough over the brownie batter. I must admit that I did not do that well on that part. I think the next time I make these(and I will make them again) I will make a little more cookie dough because I definitely needed some filler around the edges. I’m not sure what I was expecting of these but they did not turn out how I expected. I guess I just assumed there would be a brownie layer and then a cookie layer. But this is really more brownie than cookie and the cookie part forms the most yummy crispy top that is very addicting. My hubby loved them, the girls at game night loved them and the small amount I had(evil diet) was wonderful.

The good thing is now that I have baked, had a little more sleep and will go play hockey tonight….the world is starting to get back to normal. I have a list of things I want to bake now, many of them from this book. So if you don’t own this yet, I highly suggest that you get on Amazon or go to your local bookstore and purchase this cookbook, you wont be sorry.

 

Chipster-Topped Brownies

For the Brownie Layer

6 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 oz unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1 2/3 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 tsp salte
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup walnuts

For the Cookie Layer

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks of butter, room temperature
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, either chips or chunks

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a 9×13 inch pan, line it with wax or parchment paper and butter the paper. Put the pan on a baking sheet.
To Make the Brownie Batter:
Put both chocolates and the butter in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Stirring occasionally, heat just until the ingredients are melted, shiny and smooth. If the mixture gets too hot, the butter will seperate from the chocolate. Remove the bowl from the heat.
Working with a stand mixer, preferable fitted with a paddle attachement, or working with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the sugar and eggs on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes, until pale, thick and creamy. Beat in the salt and vanilla extract. Reduce speed to low and mix in the melted chocolate and butter, mixing only until incorporated. Scraped down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then, still on low speed, add the flour, mixing only until it disapperar into the batter. Using a spatula, fold in the walnuts, and scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Set aside.
To Make the Cookei Dough:
Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
Working with the stand mixer in the cleaned bowl or with the hand mixer in another large bowl, beat the butter and both sugars together on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. One at a time, add the egg and the yolk, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear into the dough. Still on low, mix in the chocolate. Drop the cookie dough by spoonfuls over the brownie batter and, using a spatula and a light touch, spread evenly over the batter.
Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until the cookie top is deep golden brown and firm and thin knife inserted into the brownie layer comes out with only faint streaks of moist chocoalte. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to room temperature.
When the brownies are completely cool, carefully run a knife between the sides of the pan and the brownies, then invert them onto another rack, remove the paper and turn right side up onto a cutting board. Cut into bars about 2 inchesX1 inch.

Source: Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, Houghton Mifflin Company, November 2006