Brownies are sort of like cheesecake, aren’t they? There’s nothing better than the perfect dense, fudgy brownie, just like not much can beat a classic piece of creamy cheesecake. Yet with both of these desserts we’re always fiddling around with different versions, swirling things in and layering things on the top and the bottom (incidentally, peanut butter goes well with both!). It’s an endless merry go round of dessert experimentation, where there really can never be a bad result. Feel free to check out all of my brownie recipes and cheesecake recipesto see how many times I have spun around this little kitchen carousel. But like a little kid at the amusement park, you never want the ride to stop, so we keep going… which is where these amazing brownies come in.

When I first saw these over on RecipeGirl I stopped in my tracks. Aside from looking amazing, they were pure genius. I’ve done the whole chocolate chip cookie/brownie combo, but chocolate chip cookie dough?! SO much better! The topping for these brownies is very similar to the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip that a friend passed along to me years and years ago, which is always a huge hit. Both the dip and the topping for these brownies are egg-free, so no raw egg consumption. (Your mom just breathed a sigh of relief.)

You know how milk and cookies go well together? And how it’s great to wash down a rich brownie with a glass of milk? Yeah, you’re going to need at least one glass of milk after one of these babies – they are sweet and rich, and everything that is right with the world.

Back to the merry-go-round to do more kitchen experiments!

I’ve been on a bit of a granola kick lately. A little while back I made those chewy, 100% customizable granola bars that are totally fun for mixing and matching ingredients. Then, I shared with you my all-time favorite granola recipe. I am hopelessly addicted to that stuff. I made a batch of it for our road trip to Florida, where we had no trouble polishing it off. Then I made another batch before we left to come home so we had a stash for the trip back. (I think there are still granola remnants in the car.) Once back home, I started thinking about merging the two – the awesome crunchiness of the granola with the portability (and cohesiveness) of a bar. I began searching for a crunchy granola bar and after sifting through countless recipes these really jumped out at me. It was different, had a combination of grains, seeds and dried fruit, and sounded delicious. My intuition was right. These are phenomenal. I’ll definitely be keeping a steady supply of these on hand for healthy snacking.

Since you may not be familiar with all of the ingredients needed to make these bars (I wasn’t) I thought I would go through the uncommon ones and let you know where I found them so hopefully you don’t have to do too much wild goose-chasing.

Puffed Kamut – I found this in the organic/health foods section of the grocery store near where the Kashi cereals and other organic puffed rice and wheat were displayed.

Salted sunflower seeds – I picked these up in the produce section of the grocery store on the shelves where the bulk nuts are found. They had regular and unsalted, but the recipe specifically called for the salted version, so I got those.Raw pumpkin seeds – I also found these in the organic/health foods section of the grocery store.Brown rice syrup – This was also in the organic/health foods section. It has the sticky consistency of honey, and after doing some Googling I came up with a 50/50 on whether it needs refrigerated after opening, so I went the safe route and stored it in the fridge