Fudgy Oreo Brownies

Last Friday, I found myself craving brownies. I needed them desperately. Well, I needed chocolate… Because I hate my thesis. There. I’ve said it. I hate my thesis. You see, I’ve been working on it for what feels like months and months and months, but so far I’ve only managed to write exactly 879 words. Which is discouraging. Especially if you consider that eventually I need to come up with 25.000 of them. And that it’s due the first of August. Which means that I have precisely 39 days to come up with 24.121 words that together form sentences that are somehow, kind of, a little bit related to the topic of my thesis.

It’s driving me crazy!

Anyway, to make a short story even shorter: I needed chocolate. Which in this case translated into needing brownies. That’s how I roll. Well, that’s how I rolled last Friday, at least. 

Naturally, I did what any sane person with brownie-cravings would do: sneak into the kitchen to make some. There was only one problem though… I was all out of Golden Syrup, my all-time favorite secret ingredient when it comes to brownie-making and the stuff that makes these brownies so ridiculously fudgelicious.  

I felt like crying, but I didn’t. I’m a big girl. Besides, I could always just have some chocolate, right? Wrong! Arnold Swarzenegger kind of wrong! I was all out of chocolate too. And I didn’t feel like running out to the store to get some. I don’t like stores. Especially not when I’m dressed in my thesis-writing uniform (read: the Rocking Rebel’s sweats. I’ve been wearing them a lot lately).

Luckily, I knew just what to do: browse the web for a brownie-recipe that doesn’t call for magical ingredients like Golden Syrup or chocolate to sooth my chocolatey-fudgy-brownie cravings. Oh, and it couldn’t call for four or more eggs either, because I only had three…

And guess what: I found a great recipe! It’s easy, straightforward and you don’t need any chocolate to make it. Basically just butter, sugar, cocoa, flour and eggs. Four eggs. But I simply used a smaller pan to solve that problem.

Oh wait, before I forget: the original recipe does call for chocolate. Chocolate chips to be exact. But I was all out of those too. The cake store where I used to buy them suddenly disappeared. Well, the building is still there, but the store things are gone. Have they moved? Did the world run out of chocolate chips? Doesn’t anybody want to bake anymore? Did they went bankrupt? Who knows… I’m a little sad that they’re gone. It was such a convenient little store…

Anyway, so I didn’t have any chocolate chips. It wasn’t really a big deal. Chocolate chips are usually optional anyway, right? (Yeah right… Like someone would leave out the chocolate chips.)

I had heard that some people like to substitute chocolate chips with crumbled up Oreos! Apparently, as the brownie bakes, the oreos melt into the brownie batter, resulting in fudgier brownies with an otherworldly chocolate kick!

That sounds like my kind of brownie! Because yes, I’m in camp fudgy when it comes to brownies! Although, come to think of it, I wouldn’t say no to a cakey brownie either. In the end, it’s all chocolate, butter and sugar… Which means delicious. Besides, cakey brownies taste like chocolate cake, which is not a bad thing…

But I digress…

As I had a roll of Oreos lying around in my pantry, I crumbled them up with my hands and stirred them into the brownie batter! The crumbs were pretty big, by the way. Kind of like the crumbs in the picture above… 

The result? Chewy, fudgy, dense brownies with great chocolate flavor! And the oreos had indeed completely melted into the batter. It’s magic… And brownies…

Enjoy!

5.0 from 2 reviews

Fudgy Oreo Brownies

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

45 mins

 

Author: Adapted from King Arthur Flour's 'Fudge Brownies'

Serves: 18

Ingredients

• 170g (or ¾ cup) unsalted butter
• 340g (or 1½ cups + 3 tablespoons) granulated sugar
• 118g (or ¾ cup + 3 tablespoons) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 3 large eggs
• 2¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 140g (or 1 cup + 5 teaspoons) all-purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon table salt
• ¾ teaspoon espresso powder
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• 10 Oreo cookies

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C/350°F (standard oven setting) and butter and line a 22x18-cm (or 7x9-inch) brownie pan with baking parchment. The baking parchment is optional, but it allows you to easily lift the brownie out of the pan after baking.
2. Melt the butter in the bowl of a double boiler (or in a medium-sized, heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water). The butter should not start bubbling/sizzling. Once the butter has melted, add the sugar. Stir to combine, then heat until the mixture reaches a temperature of about 43°C/110°F. You can easily test this by dipping your finger in the mixture; the mixture should be slightly above body temperature. Heating the sugar like this ensures a nice, shiny crust on top of the brownies.
3. Add the cocoa powder and, using a rubber spatula, stir to combine. Add the eggs and vanilla and, using a mixer this time, mix until smooth.
4. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, salt, espresso powder and baking powder. Add the flour mixture to the butter-cocoa mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until smooth. Finally, crumble up the oreos and add them to the batter. Stir to combine.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared brownie pan and bake in the middle of the oven for about 25-30 minutes. Be careful not to overbake! To make sure the brownie is cooked to perfection, poke a cake tester into the center of the brownie and dig around until you can see the interior. You should see moist crumbs, but no uncooked batter.
6. Remove the brownie from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before cutting into it.

Notes

The oreos will melt into the brownie as it bakes, making it richer and fudgier.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 1 Calories: 220

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