Brownie Cookie Sundae Bowls

Hubs was out of town over the past week-end so I had a few girlfriends over for a girls night. Since the food is as important as the gossip, I wanted to make something fun for dessert. I came across Michael Ruhlman's chocolate chip cookie sundae bowls and thought they were perfect. How fun, we could all make our own sundaes and eat the bowl too! I made some caramel and chocolate sauce, toasted some coconut, and got out the sprinkles. What's more girlie than a than a bowl of sprinkles?

The cookie sundae bowls were a hit. We were so busy eating them, I never got a picture of the chocolate chip cookie bowls. While we were devouring our cookie sundaes, one of my friends asked if brownies could be used instead of cookies. Well of course I had to try it out to see if it would work.

Okay don't judge, but I had a brownie mix in the pantry that I thought would be perfect for this experiment. I used the brownie cookie recipe on the back of the box. It just cut back on the oil and liquid for a denser batter. I thought cookie dough would work better than the thinner brownie batter. I used the same process as I did when making the chocolate cookie bowl.

How to make brownie cookie sundae bowls:  
1 recipe of brownie cookie ( I used Hershey's brownies and followed the brownie cookie recipe)

 Oven proof bowls that nest inside one another. (one needs to be a little smaller than the other.)

Spray the inside of the larger bowl and the out side of the smaller bowl with cooking spray.

Lightly press 3-4 tablespoons of the brownie cookie dough into the bottom of the larger bowl. Press the smaller bowl into the dough so that it starts to come up around the sides. As it cooks the dough will expand to the top of the bowl. (If you put too much dough into the bottom of the large bowl it will cook over.)

Bake in a 350 degree  oven for 20 minutes. Remove the bowl(s) from the oven and carefully twist the small bowl to free them from the dough then remove it.  Return to the oven and continue to bake the cookie bowls for 5 minutes of so until the inner bottom of the cookie bowl finishes cooking.
When the bowls are cool enough to handle, cut off any dough that’s over flowed the edge and, very carefully, run a pairing knife along the sides, gently lifting up to free the bottom of the cookie bowl. Cool completely.

Fill the bowls with ice cream and the toppings of your choice!

I think almost any cookie would work as a cookie bowl. I can't wait to try all different kinds of cookie bowls. If you make cookie bowls, leave me a link to your post in the comments section. I'd love to see your bowls!

Caramel Sauce
Source: Simply Recipes (slightly adapted)
Ingredients:
1 cup of sugar
6 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
pinch of sea salt
1 Tbs bourbon (optional)
Method:
Have all your ingredients measured out and ready to go. The process goes very fast once the sugar starts melting. You have to work fast as the sugar burns quickly so all your ingredients must be ready to go.
Heat sugar on moderately high heat in a heavy-bottomed 3-quart pan. As the sugar begins to melt, stir vigorously with a whisk or wooden spoon. As soon as the sugar comes to a boil, stop stirring. Just swirl the pan a few times. As soon as all of the sugar crystals have melted (the liquid sugar should be dark amber in color), immediately add the butter to the pan. Whisk until the butter has melted.
Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat. Slowly add the cream to the pan and continue to whisk to incorporate. Be very careful with this step. When you add the butter and the cream, the mixture will foam up and sputter quite a bit. Add the sea salt and the bourbon. Whisk until caramel sauce is smooth. Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then pour into a glass jar or a small bowl. Let sit to cool to room temperature.  The caramel sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Rewarm before serving.

Four years ago this week, I started this little blog. I totally started it on a whim, and for this reason I named my blog Half Baked. I didn't know what I was doing, whether or not I'd enjoy blogging, or if I'd even keep it up. The whole thing started with a half-baked idea and here I am at my four year blogiversary! My own birthday is just about a week away so lot of reasons to celebrate around here.
Thanks to all of you that have been with on this blog adventure over the last four years. An unexpected, but wonderful gift that has come with doing this blog is getting to "meet" so many wonderful people from all over the world. Hope to see you here again soon!