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Of course since it's his birthday he also has Ortho call also which means he will have to go in 2 hours earlier and won't be able to eat dinner with us at all! Being the loving/doting wife that I am typically I will make him his favorite food for his birthday...lasagna. But, since he wouldn't even be able to eat it I decided maybe I would make a favorite dessert. Well, I hate to admit that I did not discover this recipe that seems to be his current favorite my friend Brooke did. Of course it has to be a cookie recipe, right? I told you how much I don't have time or patience for cookies in a previous post. And considering that I am now 39+ weeks pregnant, birthday or no birthday, these were destined to become bars, period. So first I have the original recipe here if anyone wants to try it and it is really good! But, if you want to be lazy like me and make some awesome bars just slide on down to the second version.
Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 sticks softened butter
3/4 Cup packed light brown sugar
1 Cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla
3 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
10 oz bag chocolate chips
1 bag Oreo Cookies, I used the double stuff
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer cream butter and sugars until well combined. Add in eggs and vanilla until well combined.
2. In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined. Using a cookie scoop take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo Cookie. Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo Cookie. Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo Cookie is enclosed with dough. Place onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake cookies 9-13 minutes or until cookies are baked to your liking. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Serve with a tall glass of milk, enjoy!
Makes about 2 dozen VERY LARGE Cookies
Quick Version:
The main modifications I made were to the tempurature and cook time. (Refer back to November: Tip of the Day: The Margie Edition to find out how you can make your own favorite cookie recipes into bars.) I also made them slightly healthier with a tad less sugar and some whole wheat flour snuck in (no need to copy this aspect). I have to admit that I never tried the first recipe even when Brooke was kind enough to give us a bag full of them because DrOgg ate them up too fast. But, after trying my version he did a happy dance so I think it must live up to the original. I thought they were great! And I was pleasantly surprised at how soft the chocolate chip cookie part turned out in bar form so I 'm thinking this would be a good recipe for chocolate chip cookie bars even if you didn't have or -gasp- don't even like Oreos.
Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
2 sticks softened butter
3/4 Cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 Cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla
3 Cups all purpose flour and 1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour (or just use 3 1/2 c of all purpose)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
10 oz bag chocolate chips
12-15 Oreo Cookies, I used the double stuff
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer cream butter and sugars until well combined. Add in eggs and vanilla until well combined. This step is important with bars to do thoroughly so they aren't too dense so whip them as much as you have the patience for.
2. In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda. Slowly add to wet ingredientsuntil just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
3. Take 2/3 of the dough and spread into an un-greased 13x9 pan. Then take your Oreos and press them into the dough trying to make the tops of the Oreos as even with the top of the dough as possible without peeking through the bottom. I found using the palm of my hand worked the best for this step and don't worry about breakage because they will break and it doesn't matter. Also, I used 12 cookies as you can see here but, I'm thinking you could definitely fit at least f15 if you want more Oreo goodness.
Next, take the remaining 1/3 of the dough and spread evenly over the cookies/dough. I did this by spreading my dough evenly over a piece of wax paper until it was the right size and shape to evenly cover then turned it over and removed gently onto the top. But honestly you could probably just dollop a little over each cookie and it would turn out fine that way too. Either way it will look something like this:
Now, bake for 25-30 minutes in a 325 degree oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes before cutting but, when you do it will look something like this:
Serve with a tall glass of milk...
And enjoy!
