My love of chocolate, Oreo's and fudge brownies have collided in this delicious recipe for Cookies & Cream Brownies. The homemade fudge brownies are loaded with Oreo cookies all throughout the brownies and then covered in a super easy but very tasty cookies & cream frosting! These brownies are the perfect treat for the Oreo-cookie-obsessed.
making brownies from scratch
First and foremost, this is a brownie recipe (duh!). So, you'll need a great brownie base recipe. For all my brownie needs I use this fudge brownie recipe. It's completely from scratch and yields the most fudgy, tender, rich brownies you'll ever have, promise! When it comes to brownies I don't mess around. You need good quality ingredients and a technical approach to get those super fudgy, gooey centers and crinkly brownie tops we all love. Don't worry, baking brownies from scratch is not hard. Once you see how easy it is and how delicious they are, you'll be making them all. the. time.
spotlight on cookies & cream buttercream frosting
So as far as frosting is concerned, let me just say that this is the only recipe for cookies & cream frosting you'll ever need. It's perfect for all your cake-cupcake-brownie-cookie frosting needs. The one ingredient that really makes this that "cookies & cream" flavor is the marshmallow fluff. Without marshmallow fluff this frosting would taste more like chocolate cookies and vanilla, which isn't bad but not what we're going for. Using marshmallow fluff in combination with crushed oreo cookies and vanilla extract really gives us that "cream" flavor in these cookies & cream brownies.
Cookies & Cream Brownies
Equipment
- electric hand mixer or stand mixer
- 8 x 8 inch baking pan
Ingredients
For the Brownies
- 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
- 12 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 tsp espresso powder
- 1 cup sugar
- ¼ cup dark brown sugar light brown sugar can be used too
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs preferrably room temperature
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup all pourpose flour sifted
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder dutch processed or special dark blend preferred
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 standard package Oreo cookies
For the Frosting:
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ⅔ cup marshmallow fluff
- ½ cup crushed oreo cookies
- 2 tsp vaniila extract
- 1 tsp salt
- extra crushed oreo cookies for garnish
Instructions
Make The Brownies
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 8x8 inch baking pan with non stick baking spray and line with parchment paper. Leave enough overhang on the sides to make for easy transfer when the brownies are done. Sift and add the all purpose flour, cocoa powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.
- Add chocolate chips, butter and espresso powder in a microwave safe bowl and heat in the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds. Remove the bowl from the microwave and stir the ingredients together and return to the microwave and heat for another 20 to 30 seconds. Stir ingredients together and repeat process until you have a smooth, completely melted chocolate mixture. Set the chocolate aside.
- In a separate mixing bowl combine the both sugars, eggs and vanilla extract. Mix on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Slowly add in the chocolate mixture and continue mixing on medium speed until thoroughly combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl once more and fold in the dry ingredients just until combined, do not over mix the batter. Place enough Oreo cookies in the bottom of the baking pan, creating a single layer of cookies. Pour the batter over the top of the cookies, use a spatula to evenly spread it out. Bake brownies for 35-45 minutes. For fudgier brownies bake closer to 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and allow the brownies to cool to room temperature.
Make the Frosting
- In a large mixing bowl beat the butter on med-high speed for 2 to 3 minutes. scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in the powdered sugar. Beat on slow speed unitl the sugar in combined with the butter. Add in the marshmallow fluff and mix on medium-high speed for 1 to 2 minutes. Slowly add in the crushed oreo pieces, vanilla extract & salt. Mix on low speed until cookie crumbs are evenly distributed throughout the frosting. Frost the top of the brownies and garnish with remaining crushed cookies. Cut into squares and serve.