Oreo Bars

Oreos and milk ... but even better! Because there's a brownie under the Oreos. And a vanilla icing glaze over them. Is your mouth watering yet? Mine sure is.

This recipe calls for making a from-scratch brownie batter, which I did.  You could absolutely take a shortcut and use a mix, but the from-scratch batter is actually really easy.  The only thing that makes it take longer than a mix is melting the chocolate and butter together, and then letting this cool to room temperature.  It adds a few minutes, but it's not hard.  So if you've ever been afraid to make from-scratch brownies, don't be.  It'll be okay.  You can do it!

Start by beating some eggs and salt together until they're good and fluffy, like this:

Fluffy beaten eggs

Then add in your vanilla and sugar (gradually) ...

Adding sugar from my good-ol' favorite measuring cup

Ooooooohhhh, then the best part - pour in your melted chocolate and butter mixture.  Yummy, yummy!  I love chocolate.

Chocolate!

Fold in your flour, and then put the batter in a baking pan.  Now the second-best part ... or maybe the best part, it's hard to decide ... scatter crushed Oreos all over the top.  Then pop the pan in the oven.

Ummmm, yum!

While the brownies are baking, make a really simple vanilla icing glaze with butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and hot water.

Glaze

Drizzle the glaze over the brownies just after they come out of the oven.  Cover the top really good!

Drizzle, drizzle

The first batch I made, my husband said "I think I'd like these better without the white stuff on top."  Well ... a comment like that is like double-dog-daring me to do something.  I had to put that to the test.  So, I made another batch - and this time glazed half the pan, and left half "without the white stuff," to quote my husband.  Mark and I then put the two versions through a taste test, and ...

1/2 & 1/2 pan

... the "white stuff" won!  Mark had to eat his words.  And a lot of Oreo bars.



Oreo Bars
Source:  A Friend

Ingredients
Brownies:
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1/2 c. butter
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. flour
2 c. crumbled Oreo cookies

Icing Glaze:
1/3 c. butter
2 c. powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 to 4 T. hot water


Directions
For the Brownies: 
1.  Melt chocolate and the 1/2 cup butter in the top of a double boiler, or in a small saucepan over low heat.  Let cool to room temperature. 

2.  Beat eggs and salt until very fluffy.  Gradually beat in sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla.  Fold in chocolate mixture.  Add flour and gently fold until blended.

3.  Pour batter into a greased 9x13" pan.  Scatter crushed Oreos evenly over the top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes (I had to bake mine for another 8 or 9 minutes).

For the Icing Glaze: 
4.  While the brownies are baking, heat the 1/3 cup butter until melted.  Stir in powdered sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla.  Stir in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until glaze is of desired consistency (I used 3 T. water).

5.  Once brownies are out of the oven, drizzle the glaze on top.  Cool before serving.

Enjoy!

This post is linked with Flash-Back Friday hosted by Cookin' for My Captain.