Today was the first time in almost 2 weeks that both my Elementary school kids have both gone to school! Between the flu, colds, fevers, and even hand, foot, and mouth disease, we have had more than our fair share of sickness around here.
I told my husband that I felt like a new woman today, haha 🙂 I tackled my mountain of laundry, I shampooed the carpet (the 1 year old smeared ice cream bars all over the carpet in the hallway), and I started cleaning out my closet.
We're preparing to put our house up for sale so I have lots of rooms, closets, drawers to clean out.
My two girls LOVE chocolate and can't ever get enough of it. They are always requesting chocolate treats so I am always on the look out for fun sweet treats that will fulfill their raging chocolate cravings.
These chocolate fudge brownie cookie bars are a winner! So chocolatey, so fudgey, with a brownie taste with a cookie bar texture. And the best part, according to my kids, are the mini m&m's on top! You can of course add anything on top, we just love the m&m's and tend to add them to anything we can.
Tips for making chocolate fudge brownie cookie bars
The batter is very thick so don't be alarmed by that. It is not normal brownie batter, it's more of a thick cookie bar batter. Hence the name 'brownie cookie bars'.
You can top these cookie bars with anything you want. Chopped candy bars, sprinkles, leave them plain, or drizzle them with some white chocolate or milk chocolate once they have cooled.
To make cutting these bars easy line your baking dish with parchment paper or tin foil and then lightly spray it with cooking spray. Once they are cooled, simply lift out the bars (using the overhang of the foil or parchment paper) set them on the counter or a cutting board and then cut into squares.
As noted in the recipe, you will need melted shortening. Measure out the amount needed and then melt it. I put the shortening and butter in the microwave together in the same bowl, because they both need to be melted.
I hope you love these delicious little things. They're perfect for those days that you NEED some chocolate! You know what I mean 🙂
Try these other chocolate recipes
- Black Forest Chocolate Cobbler
- Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins
- Quick & Easy Chocolate Chip Brownies
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Layered Pudding Dessert
Chocolate Fudge Brownie Cookie Bars
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup butter melted
- ¼ cup shortening melted
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup baking cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup mini m&m's for topping
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9x13 baking pan by spraying well with cooking spray or lining with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, with a handheld blender or stand mixer, beat together the eggs, sugar, and vanilla until well blended. Add in melted butter and shortening. Beat to combine.
- In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking cocoa, and salt. Stir with a whisk to break up any clumps. Add half to the creamed butter mixture, stir together with a spatula or wooden spoon. Add the other half and stir together just until combined.
- Dump the batter into the prepared baking dish. The batter will be THICK. Spread batter out evenly. It helps if you drop spoonfuls of it all over the dish instead of just one big pile. Top with the mini m&m's and gently press them down.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes. Watch carefully because you do not want to overbake these. I would suggest start checking around 23-25 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the middle should not come out wet.
- Let cool and then cut into squares. Serve at room temperature or warm, or you can microwave leftovers for a warm brownie treat.
Notes
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I just made it and the taste is great. But I have a question ,since I have not tried cookie bars before, should it be like a cookie crunchy? Like a cake? A brownie? Mine were like firm cake or brownie you didn' t need a fork to eat.
These are definitely more of a chewy, thick cookie bar not a gooey brownie. I call them brownie cookie bars because they have both that brownie and cookie texture, if that makes any sense 🙂 So glad you enjoyed these!