Made using a box of store-bought brownie mix, if you're a chocolate lover and you've never tried chocolate brownie cookies, you are missing out on something good -- something very, very good. They're just the right ratio of crispy-on-the-outside to chewy-in-the-inside, and, they're loaded with ooey-gooey chocolate chips and crunchy toasted walnuts too. In the case of my recipe, they're flavored with cinnamon and orange, which is the perfect compliment to all the chocolatey goodness. There's more. These really are best made using a store-bought brownie mix -- homemade recipes vary too much from cook to cook -- the mix takes all the guesswork out of it.
The right ratio of crispy-outsides to slightly-chewy centers...
For the dry ingredients:
1 18.3-ounce chocolate-fudge browning mix (Note: I use Duncan Hines.)
7 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
For the wet ingredients:
2 large eggs
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon pure orange extract
For the add-ins:
3/4 cup Nestlê Toll House semi-sweet chocolate morsels
3/4 cup coarse-chopped walnuts, lightly-toasted in a 350° oven for 4-5 minutes
~ Step 1. Preheat oven to 350° and line 3 large baking pans with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, place and thoroughly stir the dry ingredients: the contents from brownie mix, the flour, the baking powder and ground cinnamon.
~Step 2. In a large bowl, place the eggs, vegetable oil and orange extract. On high speed of hand-held electric mixer, beat until thoroughly combined and frothy, about 30-45 seconds. Add the dry ingredients. On low speed of mixer and with the aid of a large rubber spatula, incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. A thick, somewhat shiny, sticky but manageable cookie dough will have formed. Add the chocolate chips and walnuts. Using the spatula, thoroughly fold the add-ins into the cookie dough.
~Step 3. Using a 1 1/2" ice-cream scoop as a measure, place 12-15 balls of cookie dough on each parchment-lined pan. Bake cookies, one-pan-at-a-time, in preheated 350° oven, 9-10 minutes. Cookies will be slightly flattened and crinkles will have started to form across the top. Do not over-bake these cookies. Remove from oven and cool on pan 1-1 1/2 minutes, then use a thin spatula to transfer cookies from pan to wire rack to cool completely.
... & loaded w/gooey chocolate chips & toasted walnuts too:
Cinnamon-Orange Chico-Walnut Brownie Cookies: Recipe yields 3 1/2 dozen 2"-round cookies.
Special Equipment List: 3, 17 1/2" x 12 1/2" baking pans; parchment paper; spoon; hand-held electric mixer; large rubber spatula; 1 1/2" ice-cream scoop; thin spatula; wire cooling rack
Cook's Note: Every chocolate lover remembers their first bite of fudge -- that creamy, semi-soft confection made with corn syrup and/or sugar, butter, cream and flavoring. The most popular flavor is dark chocolate, with milk chocolate second. Peanut butter, butterscotch, maple and vanilla are all contenders for third. When I was growing up, our neighbor loved to bake, and we adored her ~ Dark Chocolate Lover's Dark-Chocolate Fudge ~.
"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti
(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2021)
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