Oreo Brownies

Position oven rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 325ºF.
Line a 8-inch square pan with parchment or alumni paper. Spray with non-stick cooking spray, then set aside.
Place butter in a large, microwave-safe bowl and heat for one minute. If butter is not fully melted after one minute, return to microwave and heat in 15 second bursts until fully melted. Remove bowl from microwave.
Add sugar, cocoa powder and salt to the melted butter and mix well to combine. The mixture will likely be dry, that's to be expected. Allow mixture to sit for five minutes to make sure it has cooled prior to adding additional ingredients.
After mixture has cooled slightly, add vanilla and mix well.
Add room-temperature eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each egg is added. Once both eggs have been added, mix with an electric mixer on medium for 3-5 minutes.
Add flour, salt and baking powder to batter and mix by hand to combine. While we want to avoid over mixing, this batter does need to be stirred well to incorporate all the ingredients. Stirring about 40 strokes with a spoon is a good guide.
Fold in 1 cup of crushed Oreos into the batter and gently stir until combined. Spread batter into prepared pan.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a tester comes out with some moist crumbs attached. Once the center has started to set up and no longer jiggles when you shake the pan, it's time for these brownies to come out to avoid over baking. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

With an electric mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy, approximately 3-5 minutes. Butter should become a very pale yellow color.
Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. After each cup, mix well until powdered sugar is fully incorporated. Continue until you have added four cups of powdered sugar.
Add vanilla, salt (if using) and 1 tbsp of heavy cream, and mix until well combined. If a firmer frosting is desired, add more powdered sugar (1/4 cup at a time). Add more heavy cream (a tsp at a time) if a thinner frosting is preferred.
Once brownies are completely cool, frost with frosting, then top with remaining crushed Oreo cookie piece. Oreo cookie pieces could also be mixed into the frosting if desired.