If desserts were football, who would win the Superbowl: brownies or chocolate chip cookies? 

Brownies seduce you from the first dizzying perfume they give off as they bake to the last caress of tender crumbs on your lips. They are edible magnets of melted chocolate mixed with just enough ingredients to give them some form. Brownies are winners for sure. 

But chocolate chip cookies! Mmmm. Buttery and tender, with a compelling crisp edge and oozy half-melted, half-firm chocolate melting on your tongue. Aren’t they the champions of all cookies, outshining all others? The classic you call on when you want to be on top of your game?

At a bake sale, which outsells the other, brownies or chocolate chip cookies?

If you serve either or both, brownies or chocolate chip cookies, are any left over and if so, which ones?

Maybe it’s time to find out. Serve both on Superbowl Sunday. Or on Valentine’s Day. Or anytime. Here’s a recipe for Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies. But there’s another recipe for classic fudge brownies here and click on the link above for a recipe for the best chocolate chip cookies ever. 

Then let me know which won.

Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1 cup butter

2 1/2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped nuts

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13-by-9-inch baking pan. Put the chocolate and butter together in the top part of a double boiler set over barely simmering water. Stir 3 to 4 minutes or until the chocolate has melted. When the butter and chocolate have melted and are blended, stir in 2 cups sugar and 3 eggs. Whisk ingredients thoroughly.

Add the flour, salt, nuts and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and stir in the ingredients with a large wooden spoon. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla until thoroughly blended. Place blobs of the cream cheese mixture over the top of the chocolate batter. Cut through the cheese, making swirls and designs with the chocolate.

Bake about 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool. Cut into bars with a sharp knife dipped into hot water. Refrigerate brownies. Makes 32 to 40 brownies.

So which wins the Superbowl of desserts, brownies or chocolate chip cookies?

Can you eat just one piece of chocolate? My brother Jeff can. He eats one piece every day. He says it satisfies his craving, that he doesn’t need more than his little daily nibble.

This is quite a statement coming from someone who can’t hold back at all when it comes to bread. 

But I am sure Jeff will be thrilled to know about this article, which speaks to the benefits of chocolate, specifically dark, bittersweet chocolate. 

It sounds almost too good to be true. But, at least according to what I read here, there’s evidence that dark chocolate fights cancer, heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure. It has antioxidants and flavanoids that fight free radicals and may protect us from aging too quickly and from Alzheimer’s disease. And it also may help improve your vision.

Holy cow! Get me some of this stuff now!

My mother always said my brother Jeff was smart.

Of course the article does say not to overdo the chocolate thing. Be more like Jeff. Just a small portion each day.

So maybe just one piece of these brownies every day? (Freeze the leftovers)

Btw, these would be nice for Valentine’s Day. Or anytime, really.

Dark Chocolate Brownies

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate

8 ounces unsalted butter

3 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped nuts or semisweet chocolate chips, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking dish. Melt the chocolate and butter together in the top part of a double boiler set over barely simmering water. Stir, remove the top part of the pan from the heat and let cool. Beat the eggs and sugar together in a mixer at medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until the mixture is thick and pale. Add the chocolate mixture and vanilla extract and blend them in thoroughly. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt, add to the batter and blend thoroughly. Fold in the nuts or chocolate chips, if used. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs clinging. Let cool and cut. Makes 16-20 pieces

School’s out. Make brownies.

If you have a kid or a grandkid, make brownies with the kid or grandkid. That way you get delicious dessert, delicious photos and delicious memories.

This picture shows my granddaughter Nina, almost 4, after making a batch of our favorite chocolate-chip brownies. Her brother and cousins weren’t at my house so she had the beaters, spatula, wooden spoon and bowl all to herself.

Check out the jewelry. She was wearing her finest plastic rubies, sapphires and diamonds.

Here’s the recipe;

Chocolate Chip Brownies

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 large eggs

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking pan. Put the chocolate and butter in the top part of a double boiler over barely simmering water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter have melted. Stir to blend the ingredients thoroughly. Remove the top part of the double boiler from the bottom pan and set it aside to cool. Combine the eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat them with an electric beater set at medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until thick, light and well-blended. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and blend ingredients thoroughly. Stir in the vanilla extract. Add the chocolate-butter mixture and blend ingredients thoroughly. Stir in the chocolate chips. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 28 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the brownies in the pan. Cut into 16 squares. Makes 16

Hi Julie

Glad you like the book. The recipes are EASY aren’t they!

You didn’t say whether this is a sweets-only kiddush or a small meal or whether you can serve hot or only cold. So let me make a few suggestions and if you need more, ask me again.

For sweets only, you can’t do better than those Grand Finale Cookies. They are a combination chocolate-chip and oatmeal raisin cookies and I’ve never known anyone who didn’t love them. I usually add a few more chocolate chips than the recipe says because my grandson complains if I don’t. I use McCann’s Quick-cooking oats. I also use finely chopped almonds.

To make them nut-free, add a bit more oats (1/3 cup).

The Mexican Hot Chocolate Brownies are also easy and well-loved. And one of my favorites, which you can make ahead of time, is the Yogurt Spice Cake. You can serve that with cut up fruit and yogurt sauce or serve it plain.

My sister-in-law’s favorite is the Crunchy Almond Apple Cake.

Any of the above are easily transportable and easy to serve and all make-ahead.

If you are serving hot savory food, my best suggestions are: Spinach Pie, which you can make ahead and freeze (I did that last night!) or make 2-3 days before your event and keep refrigerated.

Another good hot dish that you can serve alone or with spinach pie (this is always a combination I serve) is the Bulgur Wheat with Lentils, Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms, a riff on Mujadarah (the recipe for that is on this website). If you make this ahead, keep the vegetables separate, reheat them separately and spoon the vegetables on top of the wheat just before you serve the dish.

If you need something cold: Tzadziki, the yogurt dip that you can serve with pita bread, cut up vegetables, and so on. This is one you can make 2 days ahead also. And my favorite: Bulgur Wheat Salad with Feta Cheese and Dill Dressing — so very refreshing (this is the recipe I have made at all my book demonstrations).

Note that the servings sizes change when you are not serving a meal. So, for example, if you serve both the Bulgur Wheat and Spinach Pie as a tidbit after services, they will serve 12-16.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you need more information.