Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownie Bars

I have finally purchased and started reading Anthony Bourdain's novel Kitchen Confidential. Being a student I rarely have time to read for fun, and honestly I'm a tough sell on books. I need to be fully absorbed in the first 50 pages of a book or else I'll never finish it. (It's a terrible habit, I know. I blame this on being born in the "video game era", a generation raised on cheap thrills and the birth of the Internet.) But because of my ever-growing curiousity obsession with the food industry, I was hooked on Kitchen Confidential at the introduction.

My favorite story so far is Bourdain looking back on his childhood vacations in France and recounting the moment he bravely and triumphantly swallowed a live oyster fresh out of the water, much to the disgust of his younger brother, and learned that "food had power." In his words, "It could inspire, astonish, shock, excite, delight and impress. It had the power to please me... and others. This was valuable information."

If I had to choose one recipe that signified the moment I thought of food as more than just food, it would be these brownies. A staple recipe of my mother's, this dessert began my love affair with food. It's the first sweet I loved, the first thing I baked, and the first food I was ever praised for by my peers. The biggest joy in cooking for me is knowing what I create makes people happy. This is my go-to last minute dessert, partially because I've never met someone who doesn't like them and mostly because they are the easiest. And how can you go wrong with anything that begins with "chocolate chip cookie dough"?

Wanna know the best thing about this dessert? I'll let you in on a little family secret... It's the Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe, just put in brownie form! Now you're probably thinking, how unoriginal. BUT! The key to these melt-in-your-mouth doughy treats is how you cook them. You have to catch the timing just right so they're a little underbaked. That way, even the 3-day old leftovers have that gooey, fresh out of the oven taste.

If your mouth isn't watering at this point, something's wrong with you.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownie Bars
Makes: 24 brownies  Prep: 10 minutes  Total: 30 minutes

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 375. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract. Mix well. Add eggs one at a time, then add chocolate chips and mix until the dough is light and fluffy.
Spread the dough into a 9x13 greased baking dish and bake for 20 minutes. Remove immediately and let cool before cutting.