Chocolate Chip Oreo Brownie Bars & Iced Coffee

I'm sure many of you can agree that Pinterest is the ultimate diet sabateur! The other day I came across  this pin and knew I had to make it soon! The recipe originates from this blog post, and quite honestly I'm really bummed we didn't have any vanilla ice cream to go along with it that night!! Sadly, I had to wait an entire week before I could actually make it! My nephews were at the beach, and I knew if I made these while they were gone they would've never forgiven me! Plus the fact that I could actually send some home with them and you know, not eat the entire pan myself! As soon as they came out of the oven, we were all indulging in the gooey-ness of it! I had a jar of  Trader Joe's salted caramel sauce, and REALLY contemplated throwing that on top of the brownies before baking but figured it was already decadent enough, why add anymore calories! (Next time I'm going to forget about the extra calories and just do it!)

The recipe is actually really easy, and I imagine that if you already have a chocolate chip cookie or brownie recipe that you like, you can use that!

This picture cracks me up, because no matter where I turned to get a snapshot of these treats, my little ragamuffin was right there stalking me!

Chocolate Chip Oreo Brownie Bars

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks of softened butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups chocolate chips
• 1 package Oreos (the original recipe calls for Double Stuffed, but I used regular)
• 1 box brownie mix (I used a chocolate chunk one, so it was extra gooey!)

Directions

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
• Combine butter and sugars, then add in eggs, vanilla, baking soda, salt, and flour. Stir in chocolate chips.
• Spread cookie dough into a 9 x 13in pan. You can line the pan with parchment/wax paper if you want, but I ended up just spraying the pan with non-stick baking spray.
• Layer Oreo cookies on top of chocolate chip cookie base. (I didn't need an entire package of oreos, but I'm sure if I wanted to, it would've all fit!)
• Prepare brownie batter according to the box. Pour brownie mix over cookie base.
• Bake for approximately 35-40 minutes.
• Let cool completely before cutting. (This of course is optional since once it comes out you'll be dying to dig in! I served it slightly warm, and since the brownie mix had chocolate chunks it it, there was chocolate oozing everywhere!)

Iced coffee and Chocolate Chip Oreo Brownie Bar

And if you are looking for another mid-afternoon pick me up, I paired mine with an iced coffee! I found this off of Foodgawker the other morning and figured it'd be a great way to finish up some leftover coffee today. Hubby forgot to grab his cup for work this morning so I was left with an ENTIRE pot!! (I normally only drink one cup in the morning!) I didn't want to freeze them all into ice cubes (another great way to serve iced coffee or make frozen coffee drinks!) so I decided to just reheat a cup and try this other method! I don't know why I'd never thought of an ice bath before, but it definitely helps with not having watered down coffee too fast! Super easy, just pour a cup of coffee and sweeten to how you normally would (I totally do mine the Vietnamese way and have my strong coffee with sweetened condensed milk!) Pour into a ziploc bag and put into the ice bath (you'll need to replace the ice and water several times as it'll melt fairly quick). Let it sit in the ice bath for about ten minutes, then pour into a glass with ice (or coffee ice cubes!) and enjoy!

And, yes, I did let my little guy try a bite!