Rarely is there a day around the TN.com offices that chocolate chip cookies, brownies or various other sweet treats are not discussed (and on good days, eaten). Today we decided to have our two resident experts in the field of baking sciences, Liz and Allison, have a little debate on which dessert is best: brownies or chocolate chip cookies?
Brownies
Liz: Allison's going to try and convince you that chocolate chip cookies are better than brownies, but she's wrong, and I'll tell you why:
1. Brownies are made entirely of chocolate. And you can add more chocolate to them. Why would you want a dessert with so little chocolate? Way too much boring cookie in chocolate chip cookies if you ask me.
2. It's easy to eat as much as you want, and ONLY as much as you want, because brownies can be whatever size (and shape, for that matter) as you want them to be. What if you want to eat somewhere between one and two cookies? That's just awkward.
3. You can decorate brownies like you can cakes. And put candles in it. All the advantages of cake, except better.
4. You can add way more stuff to brownies than you can to cookies. Nuts, chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, fruit…the possibilities are endless! As soon as you add more than chocolate chips to chocolate chip cookies…they aren't just chocolate chip cookies anymore.
5. Brownies have something for everyone. If you like desserts a little gooey, take the middle. Like a lot of crunch? Take a corner piece. Easy to please a whole crowd all at the same time.
6. Brownies can be broken into chunks and added to other things to make them even better (like ice cream). And they pretty much go with everything.
7. Two words: brownie sundae. (Note: this is different from just adding brownie chunks to ice cream. This involves a whole, warm and gooey brownie PLUS ice cream.)
8. Who doesn't love the smell of baking brownies?
9. Brownies are super easy to make, and the boxed kind is as good as (or better than) the homemade kind, in my opinion. They're also cheaper to make than cookies. It's a win-win.
10. You can make blondie brownies with chocolate chips. They're like chocolate chip cookies, but they're still brownies. BROWNIES ARE SO VERSATILE!
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Allison: Some people will tell you that the chocolate brownie is the best baked good. And those people would be wrong. Here's why the chocolate chip cookie was, is, and always will be the best:
1. Dipping warm chocolate chip cookies into a cold glass of milk is a quintessential part of the American childhood.
2. Nothing says "I love you" quite like a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies. (Whereas a pan of brownies says, "So, I had this boxed mix laying around...")
3. For those days when you crave a hint of chocolate.
4. For those days when you crave a delicious, buttery cookie.
5. Chocolate chip cookie dough. 'Nuff said.
6. Who doesn't love the smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies? (People who are wrong – that's who.)
7. Ice cream sandwiches made from chocolate chip cookies are refreshingly delicious, and conveniently portable too! Can't say the same for a brownie sundae.
8. Chocolate chip cookies are perfectly suited to any level of "doneness": crunchy, chewy, or soft and gooey. But over- or under-cooked brownies? BLECH!
9. This is a completely versatile recipe: Incorporate crushed walnuts or macadamia nuts. Substitute different varieties of chocolate (dark, semi-sweet, milk, white, butterscotch, M&Ms). All delicious options; all using the same recipe.
10. The "accidental" invention of the chocolate chip cookie at the Toll House Inn is a well-known and well-loved part of recent American history. (If it's not already, it should probably be a question on the U.S. citizenship test.)
I think we all know who the winner is here...
Which delicious side do you fall on? Vote in the poll above and let us know in the comments what your favorite dessert is!