Oreo Brownies

Pinterest is a funny thing because you pin things based on their appearances, literally judging the book by it's cover every time. So then when you go actually look at what you pinned sometimes you aren't getting exactly what you expected.

That was the case with the Oreo brownies I pinned a while back - they look delicious but they were a bit fussier than I was looking for on a day when the kid was politely refusing to nap (no THANK YOU mommy - as if that makes it better. geez.).



So before you think all I cook (ok, bake) around here is sweets, let me tell you that this was a baking request and when you've been invited to dinner on a school night by wonderful friends who know how hard it is to entertain a 2 year old by yourself for many days, you bake.

So this was the version of Oreo Brownies that I was looking for but couldn't find. Necessity is the mother of invention right?

So I lined my 9x13 pan with foil, greased it and layered 20 double stuff oreos in it.

Then I mixed up a box of brownie mix (that's right, I'm a dedicated baker like that) and poured right over those brownies. Actually I spooned it over them so they wouldn't slide all around. Then I baked them for about 30 minutes and cooled them.

Then, and this is where the magic happens folks, I made from scratch cream cheese frosting to put on top. You could put this frosting on almost anything and people would love it. LOVE. It.

BEST cream cheese frosting:
1 8oz. block cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
4 C powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix until smooth - if it's too thick add a little splash of milk to thin it out a little. That's it. I know it seems like not enough to be magical but trust me on this. It is magical. Spread on top of cooled brownies.

So then my pint sized helper sprinkled the chopped oreos on top and we headed off for dinner and playing.

I could have taken a better, more "professional" looking photo but honestly we were much too busy shoving these in our mouths while the kids weren't looking to do much of anything else ;-)

Good times!