Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Topped Brownies

One of the blogs I really enjoy is the Smart Cookie Cook.  A young college girl who loves food.  She really seems to enjoy blogging and works hard to connect with her audience.  This recipe is perfect for fall and Halloween.  Adding pumpkin to a chocolate cookie and complementing it with the fudge brownie (I used fudge brownies to make it even richer) – in one word, delicious.

The only nuance to making these is to cook the brownies for a little less time than called for and then add the cookie on top.  I would say this step is more of an art than a science and you will definitely have to adjust for your oven.  My runs hot.  So I cooked my brownies almost 15 minutes less than called for on the box and cooked the pumpkin topped brownies a little longer.  This gave me a good consistency to each layer.

Recipe
Pumpkin Chocolate cooker Topped Brownies (Adapted from the Smartcookiecook):

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup + 2 tbsp. packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 oz. dark chocolate morsels
1 batch brownie batter, prepared as directed by recipe or box instructions, homemade or store-bought (I used a boxed mix)

Directions:
1. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.
2. In an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the pumpkin, egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add the dry ingredients while beating at low speed just until combined. Stir in the chips and chunks to taste. Chill the dough in the fridge for at least an hour before continuing.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper so that it hangs over the edges. Pour prepared brownie batter into pan and bake for 10 – 15 minutes less than the box or recipe you’re using states. It should be almost done, but just a bit fudgy in the center still. Take the cookie dough batter out of the fridge and spoon on top of the brownies so that it’s entirely covered – gently smooth the top. Bake for the remainder of the time just until the cookies start to brown.  Let cool in pan for 20 minutes then use the overhang of parchment paper to lift the brownies out of the pan and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely and enjoy.