Dreamy Oreo Brownies

Funny thing, this working for a living.  As the weekend got closer and closer I was excited about the prospect of sleeping passed 6:30 in the morning and that was my plan as I went to sleep last night.  I made it all the way until 7 am and woke up wide awake.  It's amazing how productive a weekend can be when you get up before 11.  I got up, showered, did all the laundry, cleaned the kitchen and the rest of the house, went grocery shopping, to the bank, and finished the third Harry Potter.  J worked until five and said he wasn't having the best day.  It was officially time for the Dreamy Oreo Brownies.  And not only did the brownies provide me with an opportunity to use my beautiful apple green stand mixer, I got to use my adorable mini food processor as well.  Oh, I am just having the best day!

THE MISSION: 

These Dreamy Oreo Brownies come courtesy of another cooking blog I follow, Cookies and Cups.  Check it out here: http://cookiesandcups.blogspot.com/.  Can I also just say: Does anybody actually eat a brownie that small?!  If you do, good for you.  You'll probably live far longer than I do.  

And this blog makes the spacing of everything that I type all weird.  It drives me crazy.  I'm far too much of a perfectionist to be okay with that.  Just an FYI.

THE INGREDIENTS: 1 box Pillsbury Fudge Brownie mix + ingredients to prepare them according to the box directions, 1 16.6-oz package of Oreo cookies divided equally into thirds and all coarsely chopped, 1 8-oz tub of Cool Whip thawed in fridge, 1 8-oz block of cream cheese softened, 2 cups powdered sugar, 1.5 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil.  

The ingredient list is another winner.  I had most of the stuff to begin with and you use everything up - the whole tub of Cool Whip, the whole block of cream cheese, a whole bag of chocolate chips.  And wow, does this recipe make a lot of brownies.  It'll definitely be a Rachel-brings-treats-to-work kinda' Monday.  

I started off by chopping up the Oreos.  I used my mini food processor and did it in small batches of six or seven cookies. 

It saved a lot of time.  If you don't have a food processor, a good trick is to put them either directly on a cutting board or in a big Ziploc bag and crunch them up by rolling over the Oreos with a rolling pin.  My way was less messy and a lot quicker.  A blender might actually work on a low setting, too.  Let's get to work on the rest of the recipe!

Prepare the brownie batter according to the package directions, folding in 1/3 of the chopped Oreos.  

Bake according to the package directions, until a toothpick inserted 1 inch from the edge comes out clean.  Let brownies cool completely.  

Meanwhile, in your mixer bowl beat the softened cream cheese and powdered sugar until combined and smooth.  

This is how it looks right when you add both ingredients into the mixer.  I took a picture of the finished, creamy product but the image came out fuzzy.  I need a camera with a better zoom function.  It would make the blog's photos look a heck of a lot nicer, that's for sure. 

With a spatula fold in the Cool Whip and another 1/3 of the coarsely chopped Oreo cookies.  

Spread the cream cheese mixture on top of the cooled brownies.  Then, in a microwave safe bowl melt the chocolate chips and the vegetable oil on medium for 1 minute.  Stir and repeat in 30-second increments until melted.  When the chocolate is melted, spread evenly over the cream cheese/Cool Whip layer and sprinkle with the remaining Oreos.  

As you can see, the recipe makes so many brownies that it could have used quite a few more chocolate chips to cover the whole thing.  I ran out unfortunately.  If you make it, better up the chocolate chip ante to 2 cups.

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.  Cut into squares and enjoy!

MISSION COMPLETE: 

Yeah, and they taste even better than they look.  

DEBRIEFING: The verdict?  The aptly-named Dreamy Oreo Brownies are, in fact, dreamy.  They are very rich and very thick and it's very good to eat just one.  My hips will be thanking me later.

This recipe is a non-baker's baking dream.  You take little shortcuts - premade brownie mix, for example - and basically just mix together the ingredients.  Foolproof and exactly the way I currently like to bake.  I do think the next thing I make will be from scratch.  I have a wonderful baking cookbook courtesy of one of my best friends and all the baseline baking necessities (baking soda, corn starch, those types of things).  I went through and flagged recipes I'd like to try so now all I have to do is narrow it down to one.  That might actually be the most difficult part.  

There's a new show on The Speed Network with Adam Carolla called "The Car Show."  That's my big plan for the evening: watching a car show with my husband and dog, drinking Mai Tais, and eating brownies.  That actually sounds like the best night ever.  

I'm actually watching Julie & Julia right now.  I've heard that this blog reminds people of Julie's blog in the books and movies, so I thought I'd watch it. It's adorable.  I remember watching old television episodes of Julia Child when I was little.  What a special, kind of crazy lady.  She sure loved her butter.  But who doesn't?  Right now Julie is making Julia's Beef Bourguignon.  I need to make that.  If anyone has the recipe, please share it with the rest of us.  

I'm happy tomorrow is Sunday but I'm actually looking forward to work on Monday.  Ask me how I feel on a Saturday five years from now.  I truly hope my answer is the same.  

Cheers,

Rachel