Cookie Brownies - By Popular Demand

Cookie Brownies

So a week or so ago, for a co-workers last day (we miss you Wade!), I decided to get baking to show how much he'd be missed. I purused the various websites I frequent but was looking for something that wouldn't take too long because I knew I'd be short on time. I still like to do things that are a little original though - and that's when I found these!

Here's the link: http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes.aspx/chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-brownies/eed4b2ac-42b3-4084-93ca-8a5fcda2a29c

The plusses about this recipe are MANY!

1. They stem from 2 different box mixes - well a box and a bag, but still, close enough! It's always easier when you're starting a recipe from a box - at least in my opinion. Semi-homemade ALLLLL the way! Seriously though, any recipe that says: 1. Make the brownies as directed on the box, 2. Make the cookies as directed on the box - ok those directions I can handle :)

2. There are endless possibilities as far as what kind of cookie to put in there (and probably what brownie too for that matter). I abided by the recipe because well, the dude abides. However while they were baking in the oven, I was thinking of all the other good cookies that could stem from this recipe - including but not limited to - peanut butter cookies (this is my favorite idea), snickerdoodles (or the molasses sugar cookies that Zack and I make), maybe even sugar cookies - I mean shoot, just look in that section of the bag cookie mixes! The possibilities are endless!

3. One thing I definitely want to do the next time I make these though, is add some nuts. Walnuts + Brownies is an epic combination. I know there are those that disagree with me on that - but... well... you're idiots... and probably yankee fans. Everyone likes walnuts on their brownies. I chickened out though when I made the brownies because I wasn't sure Wade would like them and I was looking for a crowd pleaser.

4. I didn't put icing on the brownies. I'm not much on icing on brownies. Although I will say that had I added nuts, I would've added the icing. I was worried mostly about the easiness of taking these into work so I didn't put it on there, but seriously, when does it ever hurt to add icing to something??? Honestly!

The most important thing about this great recipe though, is that while you can buy a pre-made cookie brownie that you could just pop in the oven, this recipe doesn't take too much longer and the results are infinitely better!

So hopefully you will see this and get the urge to take out that mixer and make some delicious cookie brownies. There are so many possibilities to make this delicious, even by just sticking the the recipe I've attached. Enjoy! And let me know if you try anything fun and different! I'm always interested to know :)

BBQ Beef Cups

Ok so I had 2 recipes to share this week! I almost had 3 because I made some great chili the other day but it will have to wait because I don't have the recipe here with me, nor do I remember even where I got it - but it is way too good not to share, so that will come soon! So for this little post, I just picked one of the recipes but hopefully the other 2 will be up here shortly!

BBQ Beef Cups

Unfortunately I forget where I found this one so I'll just have to post the recipe, but if you google around, Rachel Ray has a similar recipe and I think I found the recipe on some kind of website from a brand... like Kraft or Pillsbury or maybe Betty Crocker? I forget. What I like about this recipe though, is that you can healthy it up pretty easily! You can also make it vegetarian, which I thought about but decided to go with the real stuff this time.

So here's the recipe:

Ingredients

1. 1 lb ground beef - you can use pretty much any ground meat, or the soy crumbles that the Morningstar brand makes. Any will do.

2. 1 medium sized yellow onion

3. BBQ Sauce - I recommend something classic. I used this apple cinnamon bbq sauce that I got from the orchard by my parents house but any bbq sauce will do. I'll say though - that THIS bbq sauce was perfect for the recipe. The sweetness of the bbq sauce was great!

4. A package of biscuits in dough form - you know, by where all the Pillsbury stuff is, you want the grands biscuits - you can get reduced fat but a ww tip for you - the points aren't different enough to really justify getting the reduced fat type. The amount it's reduced in minuscule.

5. Cheddar Cheese - I'm not going to write how much because I think it's a personal preference thing. I'll say that I did use the fat free cheese.

So you get all these ingredients and start pre-heating the oven to whatever the temp is, on the biscuit package (I think it's 400 or 450). Start by sautéing the onion and once they start turning a little brown, add the meat. Cook that up until it's just about done and while the meat is cooking, get out your cup cake tin, the biscuits and the good old Pam spray. Basically you wanna spray all around the cup cake tin, and then place 1/2 of the biscuit (just do your best to tear each biscuit in half - the real recipe said to use a whole one but that was not a good bread to meat ratio so I went with the 1/2 biscuit and I thought it was perfect). So you lay the biscuit in the bottom of the cup cake tin - don't press it down just lay it there.

Once that's done and the meat is cooked, add the bbq sauce to the meat to taste but make sure there's no extra sauce in the pan. You don't want too much liquid when you start to put the beef into the cup cake tin. You want to put a small scoop of meat into each cup cake tin - I had some extra meat when I was done - you're on your own with what to do with that stuff - we just ate it plain. Once you've loaded up the meat into the tin, add the amount of cheese you'd like on top, throw them in the oven for around 12 minutes. Then take them out, and use a fork to get the cups out of the tins. Trust me the fork is the way to go unless you have one of those new fangled pop-out cup cake things. You know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, the recipe was great and I wouldn't change anything except to say that you can definitely make this recipe the healthy way or the regular way and I think it's safe to say both will be delicious! If you're going with healthy try some baked beans as a side and and maybe some kind of pasta salad or something. I went with just the beans. I think it would also be great to just make this and put it on top of mashed potatoes. I have a thing for bbq and mashed potatoes. I'm not sure what it is, but it's delicious.