Today was a rough day- and I mean rough! It was also my first day back to school after a week off for spring break. It’s tough going back after a week of freedom, relaxation, and baking. I really had to force myself to get out of bed and trudge off to school. What was waiting for me at school was not my definition of fun. My eight o’ clock class provided me with a cranky professor who yelled at me for smiling- yes, smiling! Since when did smiling become a punishable crime? I was then taken to his office and reprimanded for interrupting the class with my smiling. I’m 27, I don’t need reprimanding. I have a million projects, papers, and homework assignments piled on my desk (which at the moment is my bed since we’re renovating the upstairs) waiting to be attended to. Then, to top the day off, I came home to the trash can knocked over with trash spilling out onto the floor and littered throughout the house. Thank you, dog! like I don’t have enough to deal with already without you creating a mess for me to clean up.

Needless to say, I needed comfort- fast! I can’t think of a better way to get comfort than through food. On that note, I whipped up a batch of cookies pronto. This day called for some heavy artillery, so I pulled out the strong stuff. Chocolate! Nothing else would do. Thanks to my new Joy the Baker cookbook, I found the perfect cookie recipe. Chocolate brownie cookies. Yum!

I wrapped the cookies as if I were giving myself a present to cheer me up. Lame. I know. Hey, whatever works. I’d like to thank Jessica from A Kitchen Addiction and Shelley from Piggy In Polka Dots for lifting my wounded spirit today. Both of them gave me the gift of The Versatile Blogger Award. Thank you so much, Jessica and Shelley. Go check out Jessica’s site; she has a lot of lovin’ from the oven happening over there. I’d really like to dig into her carrot cake cupcakes and chewy banana mini-chip cookies. Go check out Shelley’s site for some creative gift ideas. Shelley’s dipped and sprinkled easter egg cookies look amazing and would be the perfect gift to give for Easter. She also has some amazing chocolate dipped pretzel rods that look down right delicious.

 I’m not going to lie, I ate a few, okay six, cookies as I was photographing them. Like I said, rough day. These cookies are everything a cookie should be. And by that I mean crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. These cookies are the whole shebang! The crackly crust is just beautiful, not to mention delicious. These cookies are packed with some good stuff, too. Toasted almonds and white chocolate are peppered throughout the chocolatey goodness. Soul soothing.

Here’s one of the cookies I proceeded to eat after photographing. You can’t just put a broken cookie back in the container. Actually, it’s against the rules. Really, it is. Don’t believe me? Google it.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better. Boom! I surprise you with an ice cream filled chocolate brownie cookie. Now, I’m not telling you what to do, but the ice cream takes these cookies over the top. Totally do it. Add the ice cream. Trust me, you won’t regret it. I added mint chocolate chip, but you can add whatever flavor you like. Ahh, this day just took a turn for the better. It’s smooth sailing from here because I’m in cookie heaven, and nothing can bother you when your sittin’ pretty in cookie heaven.

Just in case you’re unfamiliar, this is what cookie heaven looks like. Enjoy!

Recipe:

adapted from Joy the Baker

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

3 tbs. unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. instant espresso powder (this enhances the chocolatey goodness without making the cookies taste like coffee)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. kosher salt

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup almonds, toasted and chopped

Preheat oven to 325 degress F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Simmer 2 inches of water in a medium saucepan. Place semisweet chocolate and butter in a medium  heatproof bowl and place the bowl over, but not touching, the simmering water. Melt the chocolate and butter together until the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool slightly.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, espresso powder, eggs, and vanilla extract. Add the cooled chocolate mixture to the sugar mixture and whisk until combined. Add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture, folding until the flour disappears into the chocolate mixture. Stir in the white chocolate chips and toasted almonds. Refrigerate mixture for at least an hour before baking. This helps the mixture set up so the cookies don’t become too flat when baked.

Using a cookie scoop or a teaspoon, dollop the batter onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 11 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before placing them on a cooling rack. Eat cookies by the fist full, or fill completely cooled cookies with your favorite ice cream for ice cream sandwiches. Enjoy!