Matcha Sugar Cookie Brownies: We Should Cocoa February

Man do I love blog cooking groups. It’s like a supper club that you can participate in at 3 am. If that’s the only time you have available to cook. Because that’s normal.

Do you know what else I love? Finding new blog cooking groups that interest me. Daring Bakers is cool, but it’s only once a month. So when I found out about “We Should Cocoa,” my ears perked up.

At 2:30 am, which was when I was reading about it. That’s OK, though. It’s also normal to read chocolate blogs in the middle of the night.

OK, maybe doing those things between 2 and 4 am is not normal. But don’t hate me for it. Instead, hate me because you didn’t get to eat any of these Matcha Sugar Cookie Brownies.

See, the February 2011 challenge, hosted by Choclette, required participants to incorporate tea into their recipes. I contemplated what I wanted to do, and after seeing Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies posted at Evil Shenanigans, I decided that a brownie topped with matcha cookie dough would be perfect.

Also, I hadn’t made brownies in months and it made me sad. But first, I had to whip up the matcha sugar cookie dough.

Matcha Sugar Cookie Dough Ingredients (as inspired by Kirbie’s Cravings)

1/3 cup butter

1/4 cup white sugar

1 egg yolk

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 tablespoons matcha tea, finely ground

Few drops green food coloring (optional)

Mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt, set aside. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy, then beat in egg yolk until incorporated. Add vanilla and tea, then mix in flour mixture on low speed until just incorporated. Add food coloring near the end of this process.

Allow this pretty green dough to sit in the refrigerator overnight so that the tea flavor mixes in more completely. The next day, it’s brownie time. Be sure to pull your cookie dough out of the refrigerator before you start so that it is at room temperature when it’s time to top the brownies.

Supernatural Brownie Base Ingredients (as adapted from Nick Malgieri’s Chocolate)

8 tablespoons butter

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (Scharffen Berger 70% Cocoa Bittersweet)

2 eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup flour

Prepare an 8”x8” pan by lining with parchment paper and buttering the parchment paper, set aside. Melt the butter and chocolate over low heat, set aside and allow to cool until slightly warmer than room temperature. Beat eggs until fluffy, then add sugars and beat for approximately 3 minutes on medium speed. Add salt, vanilla, and chocolate mixture, beat until incorporated. Carefully fold in the flour until just incorporated; pour into the prepared pan.

Now it’s time to make this more than just brownies – as if brownies are ever JUST brownies. Crumble the sugar cookie dough over the brownie batter in fairly large chunks, press down into batter.

Bake for at 350° F for 40-45 minutes. Allow to cool completely before slicing (really).

You could really do this with any kind of sturdy cookie dough. And you should. But this time, I did matcha sugar cookie dough thanks to the challenge from Choclette, which was great fun.

Do you belong to any blog cooking groups?