Description
Delicious 4th of July Brownies featuring cookie-filled centers and festive colors.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup baking cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder
- ⅔ cup butter-flavored vegetable shortening
- 2 cups granulated white sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
- 27 chocolate sandwich cookies (Newman’s Own or Oreos)
- Food coloring gel (Americolor Sky Blue and True Red)
- Decorative sugar or sprinkles
Instructions
- Twist apart the cookies and scrape the filling into three small bowls.
- Mash the white filling with the back of a spoon until smooth. Add a drop of red or blue food coloring gel to the other filling bowls and mix until smooth and evenly colored.
- Transfer each filling into the corner of a separate small sandwich bag.
- Snip a small piece of the corner off each bag, then pipe alternating colors of rows of frosting back onto a cookie half.
- Top with the other half of the cookie to form a sandwich, pressing gently to adhere.
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Coat a 12-cup pan (or 9″x 13″ pan) with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and espresso powder. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the shortening, sugar, and eggs. Beat until light in color and fluffy (about 3 minutes).
- Gradually add in the flour mixture, until combined.
- Stir in the mini chocolate chips.
- Scoop about 2 tablespoons of batter into each individual brownie cup. Gently press a sandwich cookie into the center of each cup so that the batter comes up around the edges of the cookie.
- Top each cookie with a tablespoon of batter and smooth to cover the Oreo completely. The cup will be almost, but not quite, full.
- FOR A 9” x13” PAN: Spread half of the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Gently press the sandwich cookies into the batter. Top with the remaining batter. Use a spatula or spoon to smooth the surface.
- Bake the brownie bar pan for 12-15 minutes or the 9″ x 13″ pan for 20-25 minutes. The toothpick test doesn’t work very well because of the cookie center. If the top is firm, the brownies are done.
- Remove from the oven and cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
- Store brownies at room temperature in an airtight container or zip lock bag for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
- Use gel food coloring for vibrant hues.
- Ensure brownies are cooled completely before storing.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 brownie
- Calories: 250
- Sugar: 18g
- Sodium: 150mg
- Fat: 12g
- Saturated Fat: 3g
- Unsaturated Fat: 8g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 35g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 45mg