Oreo Truffle Brownies

My little sister had this party a few weeks ago. It didn't mean to be a party, it was just a whole bunch of teenagers getting together to "hang." I haven't done that in at least 5 years. I felt like I was part of this party because I was trying to make these beauts. After the awesome party where I felt like I was 17 again {Ha, no reference to the Zac Efron movie...}, I got to eat a pan of these alone {maybe my mom and dad were both there}. It was a nice little break from the real world of having two babies and a husband in a doctorate program...

Photo Credit to melskitchencafe.com

Oreo Truffle Brownies
Makes 9X13-inch pan
1 (12-ounce) bag semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

26 Oreo or other chocolate-sandwich cookies
8 ounces cream cheese, light or regular, softened
4 ounces white chocolate or white almond bark

For the brownies, preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and chocolate chips. Stir constantly and remove from heat when the chocolate is fully melted. In the same pot, whisk in the sugar and vanilla. Then add eggs, blending fully one at a time. Add the flour and salt and stir until well combined. Pour the batter into a greased 9 X 13-inch pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn the heat down to 325 degrees and bake for 10 more minutes. Remove from the oven and let the brownies cool completely.

For the Oreo truffle topping, crush the Oreo cookies and mix with the softened cream cheese until the mixture is well-combined. I find the best method is to lightly crush the Oreo cookies and then mix the cookies with the cream cheese in an electric stand mixer, food processor or with a handheld mixer. Lightly press the Oreo truffle mixture over the cooled brownies.

In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate or almond bark on low power at 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until melted and smooth. Pour the chocolate into the corner of a ziploc bag. Carefully snip a small piece off the corner and drizzle the chocolate across the brownies. Alternately, you can cut the brownies into squares and then drizzle with the chocolate. Chill the brownies in the refrigerator until the chocolate is set (10-20 minutes). Cut into slices and serve. In my opinion, these brownies taste best chilled but you can also serve them at room temperature.

Note: To be quite honest, I've had one homemade recipe of brownies, and didn't like it much, so when I saw this recipe, I made a box brownie instead of this recipe...and I'm sad I did. It was too sweet. When I do it next time {and there will be a next time}, I will make it with this recipe.

Recipe Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe