A Mindful Migration

Celebrating Intentional Living and Mindful Spending

Monster Brookies, aka Monster Cookie Brownies

Monster Brookies

by Tanya // 14 Comments

I pondered for some time about what I should post as my first food post now that I’m back in Minnesota. Should it be Minnesota-esqe? A tearful homage to my beloved California? Something completely unrelated? I had ideas. Lots of ideas. But ambition? Well, that’s another story! Ultimately, I went completely unrelated to where I live and just good food. Also food I could share with co-workers to prevent me from noshing on the whole pan, because self-control ain’t my strength.

Just want the recipe? Cool. Here you go: Jump to Recipe.

Brookings, aka brownies and cookies, are quite genius when you think about it. I’m not sure who came up with the clever idea or if it was one of those weird, happy accidents but regardless, I’d like to hug them. I love brownies and don’t mind making them. I love cookies but I do mind making them. They take more time and see the aforementioned ambition. Or lack thereof. 

Bars = One Pan
Cookies = Multiple pans and a need to pay attention.

Bars win hands down. Unless someone else is making them, then both are winners! Thus, my discovery of brookies was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because one pan but a real curse to my hips. Thighs. And belly. 

But so worth it. Mostly.

Monster Brookies, aka Monster Cookie Brownies

Yes, worth it. Worth it 100%.

What I truly love about this particular version is the cookie is a monster cookie. I adore monster cookies with their peanut butter and both M&Ms and chocolate chips. And with the little bit of oatmeal mixed into the batter, you can also pretend they’re healthy. Ish. I meant healthyish. And all-around delicious.

My co-workers devoured them and my family enjoyed them too, which made me a happy baker. And yes, I loved them too, particularly the fact that I only ate 2 (okay, fine. 3) versus the whole pan. 

Monster Brookies

Makes 30-36 small bars
Recipe from Together as Family

Ingredients

  • 1 box (18.3 oz) milk chocolate brownie mix (plus box ingredients)
  • 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 2 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup quick cook oats
  • 1/2 cup miniature M&Ms, divided
  • 1/4 cup miniature chocolate chips

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9×13 baking pan generously with non-stick cooking spray. You could also line with parchment paper too. Set pan aside.
  2. Prepare brownies according to box directions. I followed the directions for the more fudgy brownies. Set aside.
  3. In a small mixing bowl, stir the peanut butter and softened butter together until smooth. Next add brown sugar, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. Stir until thoroughly combined.
  4. To the peanut butter mixture, add flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir just until combined, don’t over mix! Gently stir in the quick-cooking oats, 1/4 cup miniature chocolate chips and 1/4 cup of miniature M&Ms.
  5. Pour brownie batter into prepared baking pan. Next drop small spoonfuls of cookie batter over brownies or use your hands to flatten cookie dough and place randomly over brownie mix. The monster cookie batter should mostly cover the brownies but you should still see gaps of just brownies. Press the remaining M&Ms on top of the cookie mix.
  6. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the pan comes out clean. I baked mine for 30 minutes but will try 28 minutes next time (a little too crispy on the edges but every oven is different so I recommend testing at 25 minutes).
  7. Remove from oven and cool for 30 minutes to 1 hour, then cut into small squares. Or big ones! You decide but they are rich. Store leftovers in a covered container at room temperature.

Special Notes

I could not find mini M&Ms in the candy aisle but the baking aisle had M&Ms Baking Bits which work fine.

These bars are quite decadent so you can cut them relatively small too, which is nice when you’re serving a crowd. They also whip up fast since this version uses a brownie mix as the base versus a from-scratch base. You could, of course, make a from-scratch version if that’s your preference. You do you!

Enjoy!

Tanya

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Tanya
Connect with Me

Meet Tanya
I'm a web designer, freelance writer (check out my services) and a full-time Mom to one playful cat named Mighty Max. My hobbies include whipping up culinary creations on Eat Laugh Purr, adding to my flip-flop collection and indulging Max. I hope you'll join me on my journey to mindfulness.

Comments

    • Tanya says

      Thanks! Love Rebecca Jo and happy to meet one of her blogging buddies. I’ll have to check out your blog!

      Reply

  4. Audrey says

    Oh yum yum yum!!! I don’t love peanut butter but the brownie + cookie combo is making my mouth water!! I’m afraid I’d eat the whole pan… lol!

    Reply

    • Tanya says

      Whaaaat! You’re not a PB fan? Oh man. This changes how I feel about you. I mean I still love and adore you but … okay, it really doesn’t change how I feel about you. 😀 I worried that I’d eat the whole pan too, so it was nice to be able to bring it to work and let my co-workers devour it so I wouldn’t!

      Reply

    • Tanya says

      Exactly! The oats make them super duper healthy and I will argue all day (while eating one) about that fact!

      Reply

    • Tanya says

      I don’t mind doing completely homemade recipes but I also don’t mind a little “help”. 😀 Plus, that little help made this super simple to make, which I appreciated as I endlessly peeked in the oven while these were baking. LOL!

      Reply

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