Last week’s visit to the Nestlé test kitchens definitely put me in the mood to bake cookies. I have been looking forward all week to share these with you, I was so pleased with how they came out. For these Brownie-Swirled Chocolate Chip Cookies, I combined two on-the-package Nestlé recipes – Mini Morsels Cookies and Dark Chocolate Brownies – to create one pretty cool-looking cookie that tastes, if I may say, even better than the sum of its parts.
If the idea of swirling brownie batter into cookie dough sounds to you like something Jenny from Picky Palate might have come up with, you’re right! My supremely creative friend Jenny is the reigning queen of combining treats to make exciting new ones (her Oreo-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies are all over the food blogs right now). When I got it in my head that I wanted to combine brownies and cookies I looked to the technique she shared several years ago that ensured big bold swirls without “muddying” the dough. It worked like an absolute charm.
Read on to learn the easy technique for swirling brownie batter into cookie dough…plus a fabulous baking giveaway from Nestlé!
To get nice, clean brownie swirls into your chocolate chip cookie dough, you first transfer your cookie dough to a baking pan.
Spread out the dough into a thin layer. You don’t have to fill up the pan or anything. All you’re doing here is spreading out the dough to make it easier to scoop out the cookies – with brownie swirls – later.
Drizzle about a half a cup of brownie batter over the cookie dough. Yes, you’ll have extra brownie batter. No, this isn’t a problem in the least (you’ll bake the rest in a separate pan).
Go in with a toothpick and gently swirl the brownie batter into the dough. Don’t go too crazy with the swirling – the less combining you do the more distinctly the swirls will appear.
Lastly, scoop out your cookies. Jenny recommends using a cookie scoop. Since this is the one kitchen utensil I don’t happen to own I used a regular ice cream scoop and it worked just fine. Do your best to keep the brownie batter on top, that way your swirls will appear on the top surface of the cookie rather than on the bottom (as I learned). I scooped out golf ball-sized amounts of dough.
And there they are! They kind of remind me of the planet earth. 🙂 You can taste the difference between the brownie and chocolate chip cookie parts, but the entire treat has the chewy-crisp consistency of a cookie. There’s enough brownie batter leftover for a 9″x9″ pan of incredible dark chocolate brownies. This is the recipe that keeps on giving!
And speaking of giving…
Nestlé Baking Gift Basket GIVEAWAY! [THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED]
The folks at Nestlé were kind enough to offer Cooking On the Side readers the chance to win a Nestlé Baking Gift Basket. It includes:
- A sampling of all of the Nestlé Toll House morsels
- Nestlé Toll House Baking Cocoa
- Nestlé Carnation milks
- Libby’s Pumpkin
- Wonka bars
- An apron
Here are four ways to enter, you can do any or all of them (please leave separate comments for each entry):
- Leave a comment on this post sharing your hands down, all time favorite cookie.
- “Like” Cooking on the Side on Facebook
- Subscribe to free updates from Cooking On the Side via e-mail or RSS
- Follow me @paninikathy on Twitter
The giveaway will close on Monday, April 4, 2011 at noon PDT [THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED]. I will use random.org to select one winner to receive the gift basket and announce the winner in this post. Apologies to my international readers, due to shipping constraints the prize can only be shipped to U.S. addresses.
**UPDATED 4/5/2011 – Congrats to the winner!
Congratulations to entry #94 – Dara from Cookin’ Canuck!
Brownie-Swirled Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from the Original Nestlé Toll House Mini Morsel Cookies (on the back of the Nestlé Toll House Semi-Sweet Mini Morsels package) and Easy Dark Chocolate Brownies (on the back of the Nestlé Toll House Dark Chocolate Morsels package) recipes. Brownie swirling technique from Picky Palate.
Prep time: 30 min | Cook time: 1 hour | Total time: 1 hour 30 min
Yield: 36 cookies and 16 brownies
INGREDIENTS:
Cookie Dough
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups (12-oz package) semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
Brownie Batter
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 2/3 cups (10-oz package) dark chocolate chips
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Prepare the cookie dough:
- Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.
- Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in a large mixer bowl until creamy.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Gradually beat in flour mixture.
- Stir in chocolate chips.
Prepare the brownie batter:
- Heat sugar, butter and water in a medium saucepan just to boiling, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
- Add chocolate chips; stir until melted.
- Stir in eggs, one at a time, until blended.
- Stir in vanilla extract.
- Add flour, baking soda and salt; stir well.
Assemble the cookies:
- Transfer the cookie dough to a baking pan.
- Spread out the dough into a thin layer (you don’t have to fill up the pan; you’re just spreading out the dough to make it easier to scoop out the cookies – with brownie swirls – later).
- Drizzle 1/2 cup of brownie batter over the cookie dough.
- With a toothpick gently swirl the brownie batter into the dough. Go lightly on this – the less combining you do the more distinctly the swirls will appear.
- Scoop out golf ball-sized amounts of dough with a cookie scoop or ice cream scoop. Do your best to keep the brownie batter on top so that your swirls will appear on the top surface of the cookie rather than on the bottom.
- Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
- Transfer the remaining brownie batter (add in nuts, if desired) to a greased 9″ x 9″ pan. Bake 15 to 18 minutes until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out slightly sticky. Cool in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.
Interesting technique! I did mine a much harder way but they ended up looking the same!
http://collegebakergirl.blogspot.com/2011/03/week-12-peanut-butter-marble-cookies.html
Wow, they did come out looking exactly the same! I love the peanut butter-chocolate combo. 🙂
my favorite cookie has to be a simple sugar cookie with hardened icing 🙂
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My absolute favorite cookie would have to be pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I scarf so many of those down during the holidays!
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These look awesome & I will definitely be trying these.
It’s so hard to pick an ‘all-time’ favorite cookie—who doesn’t love all the special cookies at Christmas time? I have a couple favorites that we make just at that time of year–coconut macaroons, and apricot ‘roshky’ cookies.
I also love chewy oatmeal raisin cookies, and double chocolate chocolate chip cookies!
My favoritee is gingerbread cookies!
I’ll go with shortbread but ginger snaps and snickerdoodles aren’t far behind!
My favorite cookies are my mom’s snickerdoodles. I have the recipe and all, but they taste so much better when she makes them!
Great recipe! My favorite cookie is a salty oat cookie from Teaism in Washington, DC. The recipe is top-secret, but there is a decent copy cat recipe that can be found on Smitten Kitchen’s blog.
I love me the mountain cookie and coconut macaroons and rugelash and snickerdoodles and……..OK, I love me ANY kind of cookie!!
Hmm, my all-time favorite is probably a Chewy Salted Hazelnut cookie. Great giveaway!
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What an interesting idea. I never thought of swirling brownies with cookies and I wouldn’t know to use the technique you provided. Thanks for the step by steps!
My favorite cookie is soft chocolate chip cookies
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love the “swirl” & chocolate chip cookies with tons of chips is my all time favorite!
thanks for including me!
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Yummy! Two favorites together in one cookie. My favorite is chocolate chocolate chip cookies. Too easy, made with a box of devil’s food cake mix, 1/2 cup oil, 2 eggs and chocolate chips. Very good if you don’t overcook them.
Mine have to be the chocolate brownie crinkles.
My favorite cookies I ever had were a delicious cross between oatmeal raisins and macadamia nuts. I’m not sure what the person did, but they mixed it all together and they tasted glorious!
This is hard because I love them all. If I pick one it will be Chocolate Chip Cookies.
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Chocolate Espresso Chews and Thomas Keller’s Chocolate Chip Cookies!
Coconut Macaroons dipped in bittersweet chocolate.
My all time favorite cookies are the Butterscotch Cookies with Burnt Butter Icing that my grandma used to make.
My all-time favorite cookie is Bobby Flay’s chocolate chip cookie. A high-ranking cookie is the chocolate ginger cookie from Ben’s Cookies in Oxford, UK
Those triple chocolate cookies that are like fudge with a touch of flour. 🙂 Oh, and pumpkin with butterscotch chips. Yum!
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Best cookies are either the chocolate chip cookies served on board Midwest airlines (now Frontier Airlines) or chocolate chip cookies made by Sodexho Dining Services when they are fresh out of the oven.
Very cool! My favorite cookie is the classic chocolate chip cookies!
Oh boy, my favorite cookies and brownies in one! I think I’m in heaven. Yup the good ole chocolate chip cookie is my favorite kind.
My hands down favorite cookie? Is there just one? But right now it would have to be this cranberry, white chocolate chip, walnut cookie my friend made over the holidays….oh was it good!
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My favorite cookie is an eggless molasses cookie I found a recipe for in a cookbook that’s over 100 years old. 🙂
Years ago I was so excited to find a recipe for cream cheese sugar cookies that reminded me of a cookie I would get at a bakery until they closed.
My all-time favorite cookie is Chocolate Chip but Snickerdoodle is a close second!
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My favorite cookie right now is a vegan-ized Snickerdoodle. So good!
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These cookies are so pretty, Kathy. They would be perfect dunked into a glass of milk. I highly recommend buying a cookie scoop – it will pay off in no time.
My favorite cookie is a chocolate chip malt cookie from Pioneer Woman
The oatmeal raisin cookie from Rocky Mountain Candy Factory! Soooo good!
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Favorite cookie? That is one hard question. I guess I would have to say the World Peace Cookie.
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