Before I get to the chocolate brownie cookies, I’ll tell you about my morning. I was scheduled to have an echo stress test at 11am. It’s the final test on this ongoing health saga I’ve been living. I was awake at 5:30am (thanks Liz Posmyk for messing up my body clock) so I got up and started working – in my nightgown.
At 7:45 the phone rang and it was the hospital, “Can you come right now? We’ve had a cancellation and it would be good if you could come right now.”
I live 25 minutes from the hospital AND I hadn’t gotten dressed yet. I raced around trying to find what I thought I needed to wear. I was told to wear a front buttoning shirt and shorts – easy.
Within 5 minutes of arriving they were sticking those gummy electrodes to my body and then it was time to have the first echo cardiogram. The nurse asked me if I knew my height and weight.
“Short and fat,” wasn’t good enough apparently.
Imagine this scenario. The cardiologist is male, the sonographer is male, the treadmill expert is male and the nurse is male. They are all in their early 30s and there I am with the love bubbles all exposed for the world to see.
After the first ultrasound I got on the treadmill. The room is dimly lit for the sonographer to see every little detail so as I was getting on the treadmill I asked if they could turn on some music.
“Music?”
“Yes, if I’m going to be prancing on this treadmill with the hooters going this way and that, the least you could do is put on some stripper music for me.”
The look on their faces was priceless and then they all cracked up. Honestly, when you’re half naked in a roomful of men, the best offense is humor. I did the treadmill and I did so well they had to turn it off and then I hopped back on the bed for another ultrasound to make sure I didn’t have any issues from the test.
Had an ultrasound? That goo all over your chest is gross! You know what it feels like when you wipe it off? – I’m not going to say it.
Then a conversation with the cardiologist telling me it all looked fine and I’m good to start exercising and to do it regularly but only when the chest pains from the costochondritis go away.
“Do you have a treadmill?”
“Yes, it’s in the spare room and I don’t think I can get to it.”
“So you don’t use it?”
“Seriously, look at me, do I look like I use it?”
“Point taken. Use it or you risk falling off the perch. Got it?”
I’ve got it.
Now about these cookies. I love chocolate and peanut butter and when I saw these chocolate brownie cookies I thought they looked perfect to make sandwich cookies with. I wasn’t wrong. The cookies are soft and the peanut butter buttercream is like air.
I’m trying to be good so I made 3 and froze the rest. I needed 3 for the photographs or I would have made only one. You can’t photograph only one because then people think you went to the bakery and bought stuff.
- 7½ oz bittersweet chocolate chips
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoonkosher salt
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 stick (113 grams) butter, soft
- ⅔ cup peanut butter
- 1 cup confectioner's (icing) sugar
- Preheat your oven to 350°F/180°C
- Place the chocolate and butter into a small bowl, and microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring thoroughly after each 30 second interval. Continue until the butter and chocolate are completely melted. Set aside to cool slightly.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the eggs, sugars, and vanilla. Beat on medium for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is pale in color, and a bit foamy.
- Add the (slightly cooled) chocolate mixture to the egg mixture, and combine well.
- Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder and add this mixture to the chocolate mixture in 3 batches, mixing until just combined after each addition.
- Place the dough in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes and it will be easier to scoop.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner (don’t skip this step; these cookies stick pretty fiercely, even with the silicone liner). Use a 2 teaspoon scoop to portion out cookies, about 2 inches apart on the sheet pan.
- Bake for about 10 minutes, until the surface of the cookies is cracked, and they are risen and just set.(they will deflate to flat)
- Allow the cookies to cool on the sheet pan for about 3-4 minutes, and then carefully move them to a cooling rack. Using a very thin, flexible spatula to move them will help keep them from falling apart!
- Cream the butter and peanut butter on high speed in a mixer box fitted with the paddle attachment.
- On low speed mix in the sugar until combined and then on high speed until fluffy and smooth (about 3 more minutes)
- Match cookies by size and place a little more than a tablespoon of filling between them.
