Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Chipster-Topped Brownies (TWD)

If you know me, I have a little "thing" for brownies. I'm game in trying all sorts of brownie concoctions, but I have only one requirement: keep the recipe simple --- no nuts, frostings, fillings, or other flavors to interfere with the chocolatey goodness.

You can bet that I was skeptical about this week's Tuesdays With Dorie recipe for Chipster-Topped Brownies. A chocolate chip cookie layered on top of a brownie? Doesn't sound like my cup of tea. In fact, I was going to skip this week's recipe.

Fate would have it that I would try this recipe out. The Los Angeles Marathon was a big event in the city yesterday, and part of the race goes right through my neighborhood (I live in Miracle Mile, between mile 16 and 17). With all of the road closures, I was landlocked for a good chunk of the morning. Aside from cheering on some AMAZING athletes (I can't even imagine running 26.2 miles in a little over 2 hours), I had a bit of free time on my hands. So, with all of the ingredients available in my kitchen, I decided to take this recipe for a spin.

You can find the complete recipe over at Supplicious. My only adjustments were omitting the nuts in the brownie layer, and substituting the chocolate chips in the cookie layer with this:
This recipe is definitely not for the faint of heart, as it uses 3 1/2 sticks of butter (yes, this is not a typo). After baking for 65 minutes (slightly longer than the 50-55 minutes as stated in the book), I was amazed at how thick this brownie would turn out. After cutting, I realized that the raspberry chips sunk into the brownie layer, thus you don't see these chips studding the cookie layer.

More importantly, how does this brownie taste? Oh my goodness, what an unexpected and delicious surprise!!! The brownie layer was wonderfully cakey (I'm one of the rare few that enjoy cakey brownies) with a fantastic bittersweet chocolate flavor. The cookie layer provided a crispy/chewy contrast, and the raspberry chips delivered an unexpectedly delicious flavor punch. It's definitely rich, so a small piece will satisfy a sweet tooth. Besides, a small piece probably contains two tbsp of butter - yikes!
Thank you Beth for a fantastic selection this week! Make sure to visit the TWD Blogroll to see how the other fantastic bakers fared with this recipe. Before I go, wanted to share the latest picture of Siena giving a little love to her new toy:

23 comments:

Marthe said...

You make this sound like the most amazing brownie ever, too bad I didn't get to taste mine!!

chocolatechic said...

This tasted so wonderful.

Mine baked for an hour and a half and still was goo.

Natalie said...

I've never seen those baking pieces before.. they look yummy - and so do your brownies! I'm glad you gave them a try!

Isabelle Lambert said...

C'est super réussi Linda, de plus tes photos sont vraiment belles...c'est pas facile de photographier des gâteaux au chocolat, les couleurs ne rendent pas toujours ce qu'elles devraient être :)

steph- whisk/spoon said...

now, why didn't my brownies turn out like this? yours look great! and i totally want to pet siena...her fur looks like velvet!

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Sounds good! Love the additon of the chocolate raspberry creme pieces. I hadn't seen those.

So HOW do yu make (basically) browne desserts look amazing?
~ingrid

Hindy said...

So much enthusiasm for brownies. Dorie's bakers rock!
Love your puppy!

Sara said...

Those look excellent, mine were all gooey - not in a good way. Your dog is just beautiful!

Banjo said...

They look gorgeous Linda... and omg love the pic of your sweet puppy!

Anonymous said...

Your chipster brownies look perfect. I'm glad you liked them.

Marta said...

I'm on a search for the ultimate brownie recipe and I'll add these to the list of contenders! They looks lovely and moist and decadent and gooey!

Madam Chow said...

My head is spinning -raspberry chips? I didn't know such a thing existed! And I LOVE your dog - what a sweetie!

The Food Librarian said...

Siena is sooo cute!! Oh, I love the cakey brownie. I haven't made mine yet! I was sick this weekend so need to get a-going!

Engineer Baker said...

Huh - your brownies turned out cakey? Too weird, mine were incredibly fudgey. I guess that's good, since I like fudgey brownies best. Yours look pretty darned wonderful though!

Passionate Baker said...

your brownies look great!!
i loveddd the combo of the cookies with the brownies...delishhhh
<3

Tammy said...

Your brownie looks beautiful. those raspberry centred chocolate bits look amazing! I so wish that we could get Hershey bit in NZ!

Bella Baker said...

Wow! Your brownies look incredible! The raspberry chocolate was such a great idea. Yum! Mine came out kind of cakey with hints of gooey-ness, if that makes sense. I thought this was a fun recipe!

Anonymous said...

Your brownies look fabulous! They really did come out thick! I've never seen those raspberry chips before but what a great addition!

Siena is beautiful!

How fun to be in the middle of the LA Marathon! =) (Well, except for being trapped at home...)

Pamela said...

They look stunning and the raspberry chocolate pieces sounds wonderful. Mine were more fudgey than cakey, but it was all good!

TeaLady said...

Baked, and baked and baked and finally done, but I think i like my brownies and cookies separately. Yours look delicious.

betty geek said...

Love the brownies. . and love the dog, too!

I didn't make the cookie part and the brownie turned out well. Put a scoop of ice cream over it and voila . . . perfecto! ;)

Unknown said...

Your brownies look awesome but I really wanted to comment on that adorable dog! It makes me want to run out and adopt one tomorrow. So sweet!

Flirting with Flour said...

I have two vizslas! Your puppy is adorable!!! I have made chipster brownies before. My chocolate chip layer got a little too crisp for my liking.. next time I think I'll cover it.. However, it was a different recipe then what you have used so maybe I'll try it from the Dorie Greenspan book I just bought! :)

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