Brownie Cookies

"The best things in life are nearest:  Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you.  Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life."  -Robert Louis Stevenson

So, basically, the simplest things in life are the best.


My favorite simple pleasures:


Sleeping next to the window when it's raining.
My morning bowl of oatmeal.
Hearing the right song at the right time.
Clothes straight out of the dryer.
The warmth of a sunny day.
Making people smile.
Coffee shops.
Morning silence.
Laying down in my bed after a long day.
The smells of baking.
Getting an 'A' on a test/assignment.
Walking to my car after work.
A good book.
Sitting by the fireplace.
The first snowfall.
Fresh fruits and vegetables.
Being loved.
A good laugh.
Driving on an empty highway.
A clean room.
Sleeping in.
Laying in a hammock.
Massages.
Rainbows.
Sitting on the front porch.

These are just a few of mine... what are your favorite simple pleasures?

I have to admit that when I read the extremely simple list for these cookies, I was a bit wary, but if anything proves that the simplest things in life are the best, it's these cookies!

I don't know how they do it, but they taste just like brownies in cookie form.  If you don't believe me, try them for yourself.  If you do believe me... try them for yourself, still.

I made them for my boyfriend for our 1 year, and his non-dessert-liking self enjoyed them.  They're actually "chocolate sugar cookies", but they don't taste like sugar cookies.  They're soft and not crumbly and that name does them no justice.

Before flour mixture.

After flour mixture, don't overmix it!

Wrap it up!

Chill it. 

Roll it.

Cut it.

Bake it. (This is how they should look right out of the oven.)

*Optional.  Ice them.  I used a SIMPLE mixture of powdered sugar and enough water to get it to the consistency that I wanted. Then I added a few drops of food coloring.

I also made some pumpkins, of course. :)

Brownie Cookies
Adapted from:  Smitten Kitchen
-From her mom's recipe.

*I halved the recipe below and got almost 36 cookies.

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

Whisk dry flour, salt and baking powder in bowl and set aside.
Mix butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and cocoa in mixer. Gradually add flour mixture, and mix until smooth.
Wrap in plastic and chill for at least one hour.
Preheat oven at 350 degrees.
Roll out cookie dough on floured counter. Cut into desired shapes, brushing extra deposits of flour off the top. (It does disappear once baked, though, so don’t overly fret if they go into the oven looking white.) Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 8 to 11 minutes (the former for 1/8-inch thick cookies, the latter for 1/4-inch cookies) until the edges are firm and the centers are slightly soft and puffed.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool.