Triple Threat Cookie Bars

What is a better way to spend a half day of school than to go to your best friend's house and do some experimental baking? To me, it really doesn't seem like it could get much better than that. Especially when that baking involves chocolate chip cookies, brownies and Oreos. Yeah, I know, right? You wish you were me. Today is your lucky day because I will let you be me for a little while and make these treats just as I did.

First you start with your traditional Nestle's Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe as follows.

Ingredients:

2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cups of sugar

3/4 cups of brown sugar, packed extremely tight

2 eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla 

1 teaspoon of salt

2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 bag of semisweet chocolate chips

Steps:

1. Cream together the butter and sugars.

2. Add eggs, vanilla and salt and mix.

3. Mix in the flour and baking soda.

4. Toss in a bag of chocolate chips... or more. Whatever floats your boat. 

5. STOP HERE FOR NOW!! 

And then you move on to the brownie layer... Which, by the way, is from King Arthur's Essential Cook Book, under "Fudgy Brownies". (Props to King Arthur, the man can bake one hell of a brownie.)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter

2 cups of sugar

1 cup of cocoa powder

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1 cup of all-purpose flour

1 cup of chocolate chips

Steps: 

1. Melt the butter fully and then add the sugar and mix until the combination becomes shiny and all the sugar is dissolved in the butter.

2. Stir in the cocoa, salt, powder and vanilla.

3. Whisk in the eggs, stirring until smooth.

4. Add the flour, again mixing until the batter is lump-less, and then add the chocolate chips. 

5. DON'T BAKE IT YET!!

Now it's time to finally put two and two together to get five, because this is clearly worth more than four. First spread the chocolate chip cookie dough evenly in a large pan (perhaps a 12 X 9 inch, if that suits your fancy) and then push Oreos into the dough without leaving any awkward gaps. We want everyone to be happy with their Oreo to cookie to brownie ratio. Next, spread your brownie batter Over the Oreos evenly. Bake this soon-to-be master piece at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes or until the brownie on top is set. Let it cool a fair amount before cutting, but I recommend cutting them and then letting them sit until completely cooled otherwise you may get a ginormous mess on your hands, and no one wants that.

If you want to make it a little bit easier when it comes to the cutting process, it is easily avoidable. You can just put an equal amount of cookie dough in muffins tins, put an Oreo on top of each and then brownie on top of that. They will get pretty filled up but since they shouldn't rise that much, it won't be a major problem. Bake them off at 350 degrees for about 20 or so minutes or until the brownies are set and they don't look completely raw, yet are still ooey-gooey goodness!