White Chocolate and Macadamia Brookies
(This post may contain affiliate links at no extra cost to you. This is my way to keep this site afloat and free of ads. Read my full disclosure here.)
Let’s all be Brookies
You are going to love these brookie bars. Brownies and cookies combined!! What’s not to love about that?! They’re super gooey and decadent and I promise you won’t be able to eat just one! The brownie layer has mini chocolate chips for a fudgy texture and the cookie layer is full of white chocolate chips and roasted macadamia nuts, so not only we are combining brownies and cookies together, we are combining dark chocolate and white chocolate as well. It’s the best of so many worlds!!
What are brookies in the first place? Brookies are a mix of brownie batter and cookie dough baked together. There are recipes that layer both batters up, as I did here, and there are other recipes that marble the two batters. Either way is two of the best things combined!
I like the idea of these very much. We’re entering the hot days of summer and not only are these so easy to make, I love how fun they are! They will be your perfect companion for a trip to the beach, a camping, a pool party or, let’s face it, a chillin’ lazy weekend catching up with whatever series you need to watch right now. They are that cool! Each bite is pretty fun!
I have to admit I have to be the only person on the planet to not be crazy about chocolate chip cookies, that’s why I decided to use white chocolate and roasted macadamia instead. Since I knew I would be doing a brownie layer with chocolate chips anyways, I thought to myself the dark chocolate part was well covered.
I think what I like most about these is the contrast of flavors and textures. The sweet buttery taste of the white chocolate contrasts nicely with the semi sweet and bitter chocolate notes from the brownie layer and the macadamia’s nutty notes keep everything in balance with all the sweetness that’s going on. I wanted to make sure the brownie layer was baked to the max, baking it sturdier than a typical brownie so it would hold the gooey cookie layer and also to appreciate the contrasting texture with the super duper gooey cookie top.
Here’s the rundown on making these white chocolate macadamia Brookies:
Making Brookie Bars
Start by melting the butter for the brownie layer and mixing it with sugar. Since it has to cool down, you can prepare the pan (see more notes below), take out the butter for the cookie layer to soften it and gather the rest of the ingredients during this time.
Add the cocoa powder, vanilla, salt, egg, flour and mini chocolate chips to the cooled down butter-sugar mixture to finish the brownie batter. Bake for 15 minutes.
The mini chocolate chips are totally optional, they just create a nice contrast with the white chocolate chips from the cookie layer. And I prefer to use minis here because the brownie layer is pretty thin.
While the brownie layer is baking make the cookie dough. Just beat the butter with the sugar, add the egg and vanilla and mix with the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt). End up by folding the white chocolate chips and the macadamia nuts.
If you want ultra gooey brookie bars, use 8 tablespoons of butter instead of 7.
I like to let the brownie layer cool down for 5 to 10 minutes so it doesn’t break when spreading the cookie dough on top. When the brownie is ready, dump the cookie dough. Start spreading with a spoon using light pressure and once you see the dough is almost evenly spread, use your hands to press out and down and finish covering the brownie layer. Make sure you spread the dough until it touches all of the pan’s inside walls. And if there’re chips or nuts in you way, just take them out and press those on the inside, making sure you then press more dough to reach the empty gaps left. Bake according to recipe, between 20 for a gooier texture to 25 minutes for a crumblier and drier texture.
You can sprinkle more white chocolate chips on top but beware that if you bake the bars longer than 20 minutes, those chips will burn a bit. It’s nothing too dark and the taste won’t change, but I’m just giving you the heads up.
And talking about the chips, since they are the star of these bars, use good quality chocolate chips. I used Ghirardelli.
Let the bars (can I call them like that if they haven't been cut yet??) cool down completely and chill them in the fridge for a few hours before cutting. I know that technically you can cut them as soon as they cool down but they’ll be crumbly and probably too gooey inside. They get a nicer structure after being chilled in the fridge for a while.
How to prepare a cake pan for baking bars
You can use any cake pan to make bars. I like to use this easy technique that allows me to remove the bars from the pan while keeping a perfectly squared shape! This is for an 8 x 8 cake pan but you can use this technique with any cake pan size.
Start by cutting a piece of cold butter and rub the bottom and sides of your pan. Rub the outer sides as well. This will serve as “glue” to keep the parchment paper on place.
Cut 2 - 8” x 16” parchment paper pieces (I use this unbleached parchment paper that is already cut in 12” x 16” sheets, so I just had to cut it 8” wide). Place one paper centered into the pan and press through the bottom and sides, inside and out. Rub some butter on the parchment paper area inside the pan and place the other piece of paper across. Again press the paper through the bottom, inside and outside the pan to seal it towards the pan. Smear a bit of butter or spray some baking spray on the bottom and sides of your pan as an extra precaution. If your area is too warm or you are going to wait more then 30 minutes to fill the pan place it in the fridge.
-
So, as the saying goes that cupcakes are just muffins that believed in miracles, brookies have to be cookies that believed they deserved to have it all! I think we need to go out to the world like brookies. We should all be brookies. Never forget that!
(Remember to leave your email when you make a comment to receive a notification as soon as I get back to you. Don’t worry, this will not add your email to my email list.)
White Chocolate and Macadamia Brookies
Ingredients
Brownie layer
◯ Butter, preferably from grass-fed cows (I used Kerrygold Irish style butter) - 7 TBSP, 99g
◯ Natural granulated sugar (I used Florida Crystals) - ¾ cup, 155g
◯ Unsweetened cocoa powder - ¼ cup + 3 TBSP, 42g
◯ Vanilla extract - ½ Tsp
◯ Fine sea salt - ¼ Tsp
◯ Large egg (preferably organic) - 1
◯ Unbleached all-purpose flour (can use traditional bleached as well) - ¼ cup + 3 TBSP, 65g
◯ Mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional) - ½ cup
White Chocolate and Macadamia Cookie layer
◯ Unbleached all-purpose flour (can use traditional bleached as well) - 1 ½ cup, 236g
◯ Baking soda - ½ Tsp, 4g
◯ Baking powder - ¼ Tsp, 2g
◯ Fine sea salt - ¼ Tsp
◯ Butter, preferably from grass-fed cows, softened - 7 TBSP, 99g
◯ Natural granulated sugar (may use regular white sugar) - ½ cup, 111g
◯ Light Brown Sugar - ½ cup, 97g
◯ Large egg (preferably organic) - 1
◯ Vanilla extract - 1 Tsp
◯ White chocolate chips - about ¾ cup, 135g
◯ Roasted macadamia nuts, roughly chopped in halves - ½ cup, 70g
Details
Yield:
16 squared bars
Total time:
1 hour
Prep time:
15 minutes for the brownie layer, 15 minutes for the cookie layer (to make while the brownie layer is baking)
Baking time:
35 minutes
Equipment:
8 x 8 cake pan, parchment paper, stand mixer or electric hand mixer.
Steps
To make the brownie layer:
Preheat oven to 350°.
Put the 7 tablespoons of butter in a large glass bowl and place it on a large skillet filled with some water. Heat it over medium heat until melted. Add the sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves into the butter. You’ll end up with a paste that is smooth and just a bit grainy. Take it out of the skillet and let it cool down.
After the butter mixture has cooled down mix in by hand with a wooden spoon or silicon spatula the ¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder. Add the ½ teaspoon of vanilla and ¼ teaspoon of salt and stir. Add the egg and mix well. Add the ¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons of the flour and gently mix just until you can’t see streaks of it. Add the ½ cup of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional) and fold them in.
Transfer the batter to the pan and press it down with your hands to make it even. Bake for 15 minutes. Take them out of the oven and let them cool down in a cool area for at least 5 minutes before spreading the cookie dough on top.
Keep oven temperature at 350°.
To make the white chocolate macadamia cookie layer:
While the brownie layer is baking, prepare the cookie layer.
Place the 1 ½ cup of flour, the ½ teaspoon of baking soda, the ¼ teaspoon of baking powder and the ¼ teaspoon of fine sea salt in a large bowl and mix for a couple of minutes using a hand whisk. Set aside.
Place the 7 tablespoons of butter in the bowl of the stand mixer or in a large bowl to use with an electric hand mixer. Beat in medium-low speed (#2 in the Kitchen Aid) for 30 seconds just to make butter smoother and a bit fluffier. Add the ½ cup of both natural granulated and light brown sugar and mix. Increase speed one notch and beat for 3 minutes, until butter is paler in color and mixture looks smooth. Add egg and mix one minute. Add vanilla and mix to combine.
Add flour mixture onto your butter-sugar mixture. Mix until roughly mixed and when there are no large streaks of flour visible. Add the white chocolate chips and the macadamia nuts and using a wooden spoon or spatula manually mix everything in a folding motion.
Dump cookie dough and, taking as much care possible to not break the brownie layer, start spreading out and pressing down the cookie dough. Make sure there is dough touching all the pan edges and corners and if there are any white chocolate chips or macadamia nuts touching the pan, bring it to the center and press the dough to accommodate it to touch the pan. If desired, sprinkle extra chocolate chips on top for decoration (they could turn a bit dark at the end of the baking time).
Bake at 350°, 20 for a very gooey and chewy bite or 25 minutes for a crispier drier texture. I baked mine 20 minutes and the chips barely burnt, if you bake more than that, remember the chips will get a bit tanned.
Let it cool down completely. Technically you can cut them at this moment but they will be very crumbly. Place then in the fridge a few hours for a sturdier but still soft and gooey brookie bar.
