Cookie Dough-Filled Brownie Cups

Special occasions call for special desserts. So when my cousin Esther got engaged a couple weeks ago, I set out to create something special.... and certainly indulgent. And what is more indulgent than a giant brownie stuffed with cookie dough? Nothing, that's what.

Cookie Dough Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Bars

Remember the Lime Strawberry Cheesecake I shared a few weeks ago. I teased then that it was not the only cheesecake I made for the holiday of Shavuot. And indeed it was not, because sharing the spotlight was this jam-packed, sinfully delicious slab of cheesecake. That's right: cookie dough, peanut butter cup cheesecake bars.

Cookie Dough Truffles

While I'm constantly firing up the oven, I'm also just as happy to create something without it - and these no-bake cookie dough truffles are just the thing.
They're really pretty simple: an eggless cookie dough batter, flash frozen in to balls and rolled in chocolate. But you can't really eat more than one or two at a time, because they are certainly very sweet and rich.
I started out with a plan to cover half the truffles in semi-sweet chocolate and half in white chocolate. For the semi-sweet, I melted some chocolate and stirred in a little bit of oil. (They didn't start to temper until about 3 days later). For the white, I had some candy melts, that I microwaved until melted. However, I found that they really didn't look as nice - they didn't cover the center as well, and they were too transparent. So I stopped after two.
These are topped with a little sprinkling of blue sugar - a gift from my friend Laura. For reasons unbeknown to me, Laura has an obsession with blue decorating sugar, urging me to use it in every dessert I make. This is the first so far, but I do have some faraway dreams of blue palmiers....
Tip of the Day: "Tempering" chocolate is a method of melting chocolate that will ensure it is shiny and that it will not "bloom" later on - develop those white, chalky spots we've all seen. The process of tempering is long and complicated and not something I would ever put myself through. Getting the shiny coat is easy - stir a little vegetable oil in to the melted chocolate. Preventing blooming is also easy - eat within a few days.

Recipe: (from Baked Perfection)
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
dash of cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted
1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup crushed oreos or sandwich cookies

candy melts or baking chocolate

Beat together the butter, sugars and vanilla in a bowl.
Mix in the flour, salt and cinnamon.
Stir in the crushed cookies.
Form in to quarter sized balls and place on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper.
Freeze for 15 to 20 minutes until firm.

Melt the chocolate or candy melts and roll each ball in it.
Place on the wax paper.
If decorating with sugar, apply while still wet.
If drizzling additional chocolate on, wait until they set.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

Oh boy. This is practically the ultimate dessert. Honestly, I'm not sure how much better it gets than these.This past Friday and Saturday was the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, which is celebrated in part by eating dairy foods - like blintzes and of course, cheesecake! And when I knew I was making cheesecake, I couldn't imagine creating anything but this recipe from Bake or Break, for Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars.This recipe looks complicated, and the final product definitely looks fancy, but each of the individual components is simple and contain pretty standard ingredients.

Let's begin:

First up is the graham cracker base, which starts with graham cracker crumbs. You can buy these in the store, or make your own (and get out some aggression) by smashing up some graham crackers.
Next, the recipe calls for you to add the melted butter. Followed by the chocolate chips. Of course, since I'm impatient, and the butter was still in the microwave, and the chocolate chips were sitting right there, I added them first. Which meant that when I added the butter, the chips began to melt a little. That's what you get for impatience.
But it still worked fine, and when it was all mixed, I pressed it into a foil pan lined with parchment paper.
Bake that in the oven for 6 minutes. Don't forget it's in there!
Meanwhile, we're going to make the cream cheese filling. Nothing fancy, just the cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla.
Cream it up until it's light and fluffy. Note: the actual recipe calls for you to make the cookie dough first, then the cream cheese filling. Not sure it makes much difference. I suppose the cookie dough is probably easier to clean out of the bowl than the cheese. But I used a different mixer for the cookie dough anyhow. See:
So now you're going to spread the cream cheese filling evenly in the baked graham cracker base. When I did it, some of the crumbs came off and mixed with the cheese - but since I was covering it with the cookie dough anyhow, I wasn't too concerned.

Next came the cookie dough dolloping. Ooh boy. Try not to eat it while you go. Ok, just eat a little bit. There isn't even any raw egg in it! Not that that has ever stopped me before. I pressed the cookie dough pieces down a little bit here, but I think next time I might push a little bit more, to really get them submerged.
After it had baked and cooled, I melted the chocolate, with a little bit of butter for the topping. It was a little thick, so I thinned it out with some milk and plopped it into a ziploc bag and snipped a corner off.
Then I went straight to work with my design.
Isn't it beautiful! I just couldn't stop taking pictures.
Bet you're hungry now. Wouldn't you know, there is even some still left in my fridge. I'll be taking bids now. Cream cheese, cookie dough, graham crackers - is there anything really missing in life?
I should be honest though: this recipe is made for a 9 inch square pan, and I had the audacity to convert it to a 9x13 recipe. Which resulted in a lot of measurements like 7.22 tbsp of butter. So there was a lot of fudging, and a little guessing, but nothing in this recipe worried me, and trust me, it was delicious. So if anyone needs .78 tbsp of butter, give me a call.

Tip of the Day: Make these now! And try not to eat them in one sitting. I dare you.

Recipe: (from Bake or Break)

Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
5 tbsps butter, melted
2/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Cheesecake:
10 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Cookie Dough:
5 tbsps butter, softened
1/3 cup light brown sugar
3 tbsps sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1 cup chocolate chips (I used mini here too)

Topping:
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1/2 tbsp butter

Crust:
Stir graham cracker crumbs and melted butter together until combined.
Stir in chocolate chips. Press into a parchment paper lined 9 inch square pan.
Bake for 6 minutes then set on wire rack to cool.

Filling:
Beat together cream cheese and sugar. Add egg and vanilla and blend well.
Pour into baked crust.

Cookie Dough:
Beat butter, sugars, salt and vanilla together until well mixed.
Gradually add in flour, and stir in chocolate chips.
Drop dollops of dough into the filling.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until set.

Melt together the chocolate and butter and drizzle over the top of the baked cheesecake.