Outrageous Holiday Oreo Brownies for Play Up Dessert with OREO

I’m excited to bring an old favorite recipe out of the archives,  livened up a bit for the Play Up Dessert Holiday Baking Challenge with OREO! This brownie recipe hails from Ms. Ina Garten, and is one I have made countless times with many variations. It’s a foolproof recipe – it makes a generous mountain of brownies so I regularly make 1/2 or 1/3 of the original recipe, and it works just as well every time.

I’ve made them with bittersweet chocolate chunks and walnuts, toasted coconut and white chocolate chips, regular Oreos, and today – Holiday Oreos! I was shocked at how deep red the creme filling is between the oreo cookies, but found the color to really pop even when baked and make these regular brownies look like a festive treat.

The brownies are fudgy, dense and chewy, with a lovely crust on top (harder to see in these photos because of the Oreos!) Usually I like to make chocolate baked goods with at least some cocoa powder, because I think it really enhances the flavor, but this is a recipe where there is none, and it’s still outstanding. Unsweetened chocolate and semisweet chocolate give these brownies all the chocolate flavor they need!

As a participant in the Play Up Dessert with Oreo baking event, I was sent a lovely prize pack – which included the pretty snowflake bowl pictured here, from Crate and Barrel.  The prize pack also included two packages of bright red holiday Oreos, a mini Oreo cookbook, red and green food coloring, candy cane sprinkles, a chocolate dipping stick, star-shaped cookie cutter, a snowman placemat and adorable Christmas gift tags.

The best news? You can get in on the fun too too! To enter for a chance to win a prize pack of your own (valued at $70), create an original OREO recipe, or recreate a recipe shared in this OREO Kitchen PLAY event. Write a post about it on your website and provide a link in the comments section of this Kitchen PLAY page. You can enter as many times as you want, as long as you make a new post for each recipe. So get to it! If you’re searching for inspiration, check out these other great OREO recipes. I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

Outrageous Oreo Brownies
adapted from this recipe, originally from Ina Garten

Ingredients
11 tablespoons (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter
5.5 ounces plus 4 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2 extra-large eggs
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 teaspoon salt
16 Oreos, plus more for the top
Sprinkles, optional, for garnish

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.Butter and flour a 12 x 18 x 1-inch baking sheet.

1) Melt together the butter, 5.5 ounces of chocolate chips, and the unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl over simmering water. Allow to cool slightly. In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, coffee granules, vanilla, and sugar. Stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature.

2) In a medium bowl, sift together flour, the baking powder, and salt. Add to the cooled chocolate mixture. Pour half of the batter into the prepared baking sheet. Line the Oreos up evenly on top of the batter in the pan, 4 lines with 4 Oreos each. Pour remaining batter over Oreo layer, and with a spatula spread to cover them evenly.

3) Bake for about 23-25 minutes. A toothpick will come out clean when these are done, and a nice shiny crust will have formed on top. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before slicing and serving. These will keep in an airtight container for a few days.

Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by OREO and Kitchen Play. As always, opinions expressed here are my own.

http://www.sweetlyserendipity.com/