Ingredients
for the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 package instant vanilla pudding mix (3.4 oz)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips
For the brownies
1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso (optional)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon table salt
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a tray or baking sheet with parchment, plus spray a mini-muffin tin with baking spray. Set both aside.
First make your chocolate chip cookie dough. In the work bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the butter and both the white and brown sugars, about three minutes. The mix should be light and fluffy. Next add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla. In a separate bowl combine the flour, dry pudding mix, baking soda and salt. Add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Toss in the chocolate chips and combine again. Scoop out teaspoon sized balls of the dough, and place them on the parchment-line tray. Once you have about 65-70 of them, place the tray in the refrigerator while you make the brownie batter.
To make your brownies, whisk cocoa, espresso powder (if using), and boiling water together in large bowl until smooth. Add unsweetened chocolate and whisk until chocolate is melted. Whisk in melted butter and oil. Add eggs, yolks, and vanilla and continue to whisk until smooth and homogeneous. Whisk in sugar until fully incorporated. Add flour and salt and mix with rubber spatula until combined.
Taking your mini muffin pan, place 1 -2 teaspoons of brownie batter in each slot. Then plop in a cookie dough ball and cover with another teaspoon or two of brownie batter. Each slot should be about 3/4 of the way full. Don’t worry if each cookie dough ball isn’t fully covered by brownie batter.
Bake cookies for 15-16 minutes or until the brownie bites are just set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean (a few crumbles are fine). Remove from the oven. Let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before gently removing the brownie bites with a bamboo skewer or fork. Repeat with the remaining dough balls and batter (I made approximately 60 brownie bites and a few balls of dough leftover so I made some mini-cookies.)
