Crunchy Cookies and Cream Brownie Bar

Apparently, I am in the zone for the week—the brownie zone. So from Monday’s Inside-out S’mores Brownies to these Crunchy Cookies and Cream Brownies, I’ll have another very soon.

I don’t know if its summer, the heat or what, but my body has been set to slugginess for the past week. I’m having the hardest time with moving my butt around lately. Yes, I would love to just slump down on the sofa and succumb to it, but I’m always racked with guilt when I do nothing. And true to form—the other night instead of exhaling—I got up off the sofa at 10pm and marked this off the “to-try list”. Nevermind the “to-do list” full of weighty things pertaining to financial matters, household maintenance and all the other eye-skimming stuff Matt has written down for us.

The to-try list is just way more gratifying. And in keeping with the mood, I cherry-picked the easiest one to make—you know, something perfectly suited for the lazy baker in me.

These don’t take much effort. If the lazy me can muster up the energy, you can too. Trust me, you will be well rewarded.

A few notes:

• These Crunchy Cookies and Cream Brownies are an adaptation of these from Lindsay’s blog’with the following changes: I swapped the peanut butter for Nutella, omitted the peanut butter cups all together, swapped the Rice Krispie cereal for some of these cookies and cream cereal (or you can use any suitable cereal you have on hand) and increased that portion from 1 1/2 cups to 2 1/2 cups for more crunch, and then threw in some marshmallow for some textural contrast.
• As Lindsay mentioned, these get melt-y in the heat, so eat’m fast (not a problem here ) or serve slightly chilled.

Crunchy Cookies and Cream Brownies

Yield: Makes one 9x13 pan

Ingredients:

Brownie Base:

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 3/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder or 2 tablespoons brewed coffee (optional)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

 Topping:

• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups Nutella
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 1/2 cups Cookies and Cream cereal

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