Chocolate covered oreo surprises

My mom sent me a link to this recipe a few months ago. At first peek it looks like the classic american thing to do - oh, lets just take a few things that are all bad for you, and combine them together!  (Fried twinkles??).  But luckily I was lured in by my love of chocolate, peanut butter, Oreos, and simple recipes (4 ingredients!).  I’m happy to report these are not just another gimmicky recipe, they are delicious, and were devoured rapidly at work.  They taste basically like a crunchy, chocolatey-er Reeses - and who doesn’t want that??

We’ve been struggling to come up with a suitable name for them.  The best suggestion so far is the “Whor-e-o” - as I think of this cookie as a cousin to the slutty brownie. While I think this name is pretty perfect, it may possibly not be appropriate for all situations… So if you have any ideas please comment below!

Oreo Chocolate Fudge

I've been travelling a lot for rotations the last two months, away from my kitchen, so I've been behind in posting new recipes, however I've still been somehow baking 2-3 times.  I'm enjoying making simple old classic recipes recently, and have been asking around for inspiration of forgotten desserts.  This current recipe came up due to complaints in the difficulty of making reliable fudge, along with annoyance at using candy thermometers.

So I set out for a simple reliable fudge recipe that isn't picky enough to require a candy thermometer (thus ruling out most the really classic recipes).  I've stumbled upon this fudge base recipe, and look forward to building on it with all sorts of flavor combinations (next is dark chocolate and raspberry!).  I believe the fluff gives it more stability, leaving you with less risk of a grainy fudge, or one that doesn't set up.  I'm not the biggest fan of white chocolate, so I altered the original recipe to use half dark chocolate and half white chocolate, and really liked the resulting flavor, it tastes a bit like milk chocolate.

The texture of this is part way to being mousse-like, melting in your mouth with chocolaty goodness, and the cookies add a great crunch. After trying this I realized I hadn't eaten fudge since I was a kid, so while I can't attest to how classic this tastes, I can say it was hard to stop snacking on.  Remember when buying white chocolate for baking to make sure it has cocoa butter as one of the first few ingredients!

The Slutty Brownie

To me, the slutty brownie is the ultimate American dessert.  We take classic baked goods that are great on their own and think - Oh, why don't I just combine them all together?  When they first went viral two summers ago I thought it would just be a fad that quickly came and went and was likely more impressive in description and looks than taste.  But as usual, I was willing to try baking them, just in case, and I'm lucky I did.  After letting these fully cool (ideally overnight) the flavors really meld together into something amazing and special.

These are the ultimate pot luck treat - my mom says they often disappear before people start on the savory dishes.  They are also the best pick-me-up - I have started a tradition that I bring a batch of these to celebrate our last final exam at the end of each semester.  I first did this at the end of our first year exams.  Our last final was a long MCQ and people came out of it looking miserable and depressed.  Upon biting into their first slutty brownie - you could literally see some of the depression just melt away into deliciousness.  It may be just a transient feeling of happiness, but its worth it!  Tomorrow marks our last exam of our clinical teaching and after passing this we start rotations next year.  So of course I made the traditional slutty brownies and this time added some extra festive sprinkles on top (homemade!!).  If you still haven't tried these yet, go home and make them.  You won't regret it.