I've been on an adventure this week, from DC to NC, from the mountains to the beach. This is the first week in a long time I haven't baked. I did make carrot cake pancakes on Monday, that recipe is coming soon. So...Part 1: I drove home by myself for the first time in a while; I left at 5:30 a.m. and was home by 10:00 a.m. I have a problem with speeding... If you are ever driving from Washington, DC to North Carolina, down that long stretch of 95 and you have a craving for a delicious fast food meal stop at the Chick-fil-a at exit 126. The staff here are so nice!
Part 2: My mom had a surprise up her sleeve for my birthday. On Monday morning I got in a car not knowing where we were going. Where we ended up was in Hendersonville, NC at a Bed & Breakfast. If you were a Gilmore Girls watcher think the episode that they went on a random trip and ended up staying at a B&B minus the strange activities and the cats room (The Waverly Inn). The people were nice, the breakfast were delicious and the entire thing was very relaxing. Let's just say things are slower in North Carolina, especially in the mountains, everyone isn't rushing about, running down escalators in order to not miss trains, switching lanes in and out of traffic. People actually have time to sit around, listen to a little blue grass, square dance a bit and maybe even clog.
On day two we went and explored Biltmore Estate. We walked around the gardens, toured the house, had a delicious lunch and tasted some wines. Day three we decided to head up to Blowing Rock to do a little shopping. We took the Blue Ridge Parkway part of the way and it was beautiful. Plus it was about 15 degrees cooler up in the mountains, than in Greensboro or DC. The entire trip was just about relaxing!
Part 3: My dad and I drive to the Wilmington to spend three days sitting on the beach and once again just relaxing. I may have gotten just a bit burnt and it might have been on my legs, you know sometimes you miss a spot or two. Oops.
So before I left on a week away from work, a week of relaxing, and with a bit of adventure, I made Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownie Bars. What can I say, I wanted cookies, I wanted brownies. I just couldn't make up my mind, so I made both. They are gooey, they are chocolaty and they are Vegan!
Cookie Dough spread out evenly.
Brownie batter ready to go.
All baked!
Look at those layers...
The Chocolate Chip Cookie Layer:
1 cup Earth Balance, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup egg beaters, at room temperature
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1-12 oz bag semi sweet chocolate chips
Brownie Layer:
3/4 cup Earth Balance, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup egg beaters, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup strong coffee, at room temperature
Making the cookie dough:
1. In a large mixing bowl, cream together Earth Balance and sugars.
2. Whisk in the egg beaters and vanilla until well incorporated.
3. In a separate mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt.
4. Mix dry ingredients in to the wet ingredients. Fold in the chocolate chips and set aside
Making the brownie batter:
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13 x 9 inch cake pan with non-stick cooking spray.
6. In a large mixing bowl, cream together Earth Balance, sugar and cocoa powder.
7. Mix in egg beaters and vanilla until well combined, set aside.
8. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and baking soda.
9. Add the dry ingredients and coffee to the sugar mixture, alternating between dry ingredients and coffee, mixing between the addition of each. Begin and end with the dry ingredients. Do not over mix.
10. Spread the cookie dough evenly in the bottom of the prepared cake pan. Pour brownie batter on top of cookie dough. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
11. Let cool and enjoy! These go great with vanilla ice cream!
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