Category Archives: Brownies

Dec 06 11 comments
Bars, Brownies, Chocolate, Dessert, Fall, Quick, Recipes, Vegetarian, Winter

Sea Salt Ginger Brownies

brownies2

I think many of us go a bit crazy for all things spice when the weather cools. Crisps, cookies and waffles get that extra pinch of something and our spice jars get a real workout. It’s time the beloved brownie is included in the mix.

These brownies are kind of fancy. Not only do these have great chocolate flavor, there’s also “a lot going on” as one friend described it. You get a kick from the fresh ginger plus warm spices and a salty accent in every bite. I love the texture, too. Fudgy, as I feel brownies should be.

These are special brownies for special friends. Friends that can step out of the brownie bubble and open their heart to a twist on a classic.

Recipe: Sea Salt Ginger Brownies

Adapted from Not Derby Pie

Makes 9 large or 16 small brownies

1/2 C. (1 stick) unsalted butter

3 oz. bittersweet chocolate

3/4 C. granulated sugar

2/3 C. all-purpose flour

1/4 C. unsweetened cocoa

1/2 t. freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 t. ground ginger

1/4 t. coarse sea salt

1/8 t. ground cloves

2 large eggs

1/2 t. vanilla extract

1 t. peeled and freshly grated ginger

butter, for greasing the pan

1/2 t. coarse sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter an 8×8 pan and line with parchment paper with a 2 inch overhang. Butter the parchment.

2. Melt butter and chocolate together in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring often and watching carefully. When smooth, remove from heat and allow to cool a bit.

3. In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients and spices; whisk to combine. Add eggs, vanilla, fresh ginger and cooled chocolate mixture. Stir until just combined.

4. Pour batter into your prepared dish and smooth the top with a spatula. Sprinkle the salt strategically so that it is even over the brownies.

5. Bake for 20-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then lift out and let cool completely on rack. Cut into 9 or 16 brownies. Can be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature for 4 days.

Nov 30 7 comments
Bars, Brownies, Chocolate, Dessert, Recipes, Vegetarian

Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

swirlbrownies

How was your Thanksgiving? I hope really great. Mine was relaxing and I was sucked into a What Not To Wear marathon which I should be ashamed of. Clinton and Stacy have that formula down so well that they must be earning credits towards an honorary psychology degree somewhere. I am a sucker for the final reveal where the nominee is strutting confidently with their shoulders back. Enough about my reality t.v. marathon, I have yet to sort through my pictures from the long weekend and thought today I’d share these cheesecake swirl brownies from Smitten Kitchen.

I made these for a potluck and even though I over-baked them a bit, they were the first dessert to be snatched up. Now that the weather is really cooling off and a few flakes have flown, baking is on my brain. I would bake every couple of days if my waistline could take it. If you are in the mood for chocolate in a more manageable 8×8 pan size, this is your fix. I usually have all of the ingredients on hand, too, which is always a bonus in my book. Bake these to quell a chocolate craving, bring them to a potluck or bribe the nursing staff when you are ready to give birth like Deb did. I’m not here to judge.

Recipe: Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

Recipe from Smitten Kitchen

Brownie Batter

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces

3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 C. sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 t. vanilla extract

2/3 C. all-purpose flour

Cheesecake Batter

8 oz. cream cheese, well softened

1/3 C. sugar

1 large egg yolk

1/4 t. vanilla extract

Plus

1/2 C. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Brownie Batter: Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8×8 square baking pan. Heat butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl over simmering water (make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the simmering water) whisking occasionally until just melted. Carefully remove hot bowl from heat and whisk in sugar, eggs, vanilla and a pinch of salt until well combined. Whisk in flour until just combined and spread in baking pan.

2. Cheesecake Batter: Combine cheesecake batter ingredients in a small both until smooth. Dollop over brownie batter in pan and swirl in with the tip of a butter knife. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top of the cheesecake/brownie swirl batter.

3. Bake until the edges are slightly puffed and center is just set, about 30 minutes. (Mine cooked much faster and I recommend checking at about 15 minutes. Our oven is “vintage”, but I do have a thermometer in there.)  Serve warm, at room temperature or chilled from the refrigerator.

Jan 30 3 comments
Brownies, Cake, Chocolate, Dessert, Quick, Recipes, Vegetarian

Dark Cocoa Brownies for Coco

finishedbrownies

I’m really not a weeper, but I have to admit to the world that I was a bit teary-eyed when Conan O’Brien thanked his band, crew and fans for their support and said goodbye to The Tonight Show. Everyone has their favorite late night host and for me, it’s always been Conan. His awkward charm and self-deprecating humor made his show a pleasure to watch. For those that may not know, Tom Hanks gave him the nickname “Coco” a few months back and I’m dedicating these dark cocoa brownies to Coco. On Conan’s last day I changed my Facebook status to “Sad it’s Coco’s last day” and a friend from high school sent me her condolences on the death of my pet. Ha! We had a good laugh about that after I explained.

Now let’s get to some brownies…and I love me some brownies. I’m kind of particular, but I think others may agree with my view of brownies. Fudgy, made with high quality chocolate or cocoa, no chocolate chips for me, but nuts are ok. I also am very fond of dark chocolate and when I saw dark chocolate brownies on The Craving Chronicles, I was jumping up and down. She used Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa, but I realized I had seen black cocoa at King Arthur Flour. I added some of this black magic to my KAF order and waited for my delivery.

cocoaandbowl

cupwithcocoa

They are not kidding when they say black cocoa. It is dark and once you add your wet ingredients in, it looks like you’ve made oil. And the photo shoot was no picnic. The brownies mocked me as the natural sunlight bounced off its shiny black crust. I brought these to my in-laws and everyone loved them. They taste like soft Oreos and I think they would make a killer Oreo trifle of some sort, but they were a bit cakey for my brownie tastes.  I don’t think it was the recipe since the picture over at The Craving Chronicles looked perfectly fudgy. I think it was too much black magic.

If anyone has ever had the dream to incorporate chocolate in every room of the house, I believe you could grout tile with this cocoa powder. When I scraped the bowl, the batter left behind hardened and stuck. If you needed to occupy some kids, give them this bowl to lick and they’ll be working on it for days. I tweeted about my brownies and KAF suggested mixing their black cocoa with regular cocoa so that the deep cocoa is an accent. And that’s just what I did with the next batch.

bowlwithbatter spatula

batterinpan browniesinpan1

Brownie attempt #2. I used a different recipe that looked easy and the pictured brownies looked amazing. The first Oreo-like recipe was adapted from a KAF recipe and this next recipe was also from KAF for Deep-Dark Fudgy Brownies.  These were really good. So good, that I made my husband take the bulk of them to work as not to tempt myself to eat the entire batch. Marc returned with an empty container and apparently the whole office was buzzing and wondering who had brought in the “black brownies”. I tweaked the recipe a bit because I cannot help myself, so I will share my changes with you.

finishedbrownie2

Recipe: Deep-Dark Fudgy Brownies

Adapted from King Arthur Flour

1/3 C. black cocoa

1/3 C. regular cocoa (I used Droste cocoa)

1 C. granulated sugar

1/2 C. confectioner’s sugar

1 t. kosher salt (or 3/4 t. regular salt)

1 C. unbleached all-purpose flour

1 T. espresso powder

1 C. toasted almonds, chopped

3 large eggs

1/2 C. vegetable oil

2 T. water (or brewed coffee)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease an 8×8 square pan.

2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together cocoas, sugars, salt, flour, espresso powder and nuts.

3. Add the eggs, oil and water or coffee, mixing just until smooth. Spoon the mixture into a lightly greased 8×8 square pan, smoothing the top.

4.  Bake brownies for approximately 30-40 minutes, but check early. Mine were done in about 30 minutes.  To check for doneness, stick the tip of  a sharp knife into the center and wiggle around enough to see what’s going on. If the batter under the crust is still shiny and smooth, they are not done. Put back in and check frequently If the batter is ultra-moist and crumbly looking, they are done.

5. Place pan on a cooling rack and cool for 1 hour before slicing into 16 rich brownies.

6. Raise your brownie in the air and toast Conan before taking a delicious bite.

Sep 01 1 comments
Brownies, Chocolate, Dessert, Recipes, Vegetarian

Fudgiest Outrageous Brownies

Outrageous Brownies

I can’t remember where I first encountered these over-the-top brownies, but as a lover of brownies, I had a feeling we would eventually come face to face. Deb of Smitten Kitchen made these in 2006 and as she described the obscene amount of butter in the recipe, I made a gagging face at my computer screen. I couldn’t make up my mind. Did these brownies disgust me or did I have to have one? Then my sister-in-law asked me to make brownies for her engagement party. Since this was a gathering of 50 people, I felt I could finally make these, praying that I would enjoy one at the party and not take any of these decadent, sinful guys home. My prayers were answered. Most were polished off at the party, but I also had three requests to take one home for later.

The consensus from the party goers and my co-workers was that these were certainly outrageous and very delicious. Several people likened them to fudge and I got the “wow, this is delicious” face. My favorite response was that my boss felt “tweaked” from the extreme chocolate/coffee combo. I was going to take a cue from Deb and cut back on the butter, but I wanted to try the (mostly) original recipe first. These are a real crowd-pleaser and while Ina recommends cutting them into 20 large brownies (another outrageous suggestion), I cut them into 35 medium brownies.

Outrageous ingredients.

Outrageous ingredients.

Recipe: Outrageous Brownies

Adapted from Ina Garten

Below is the recipe I followed. I made my adjustments based mostly on Deb’s advice. I wanted the coffee flavor to enhance the chocolate flavor without being overpowering, so I cut back the coffee. I think the balance worked.  I also cut out a bit of the sugar.

Makes 20 large brownies (or 35 medium brownies)

1 lb. unsalted butter

1 lb. plus 12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips, divided (I used Ghirardelli semisweet with a few bittersweet)

6 oz. unsweetened chocolate (I used Scharffen Berger)

6 large eggs

1 T. instant espresso powder

2 T. real vanilla extract

1 3/4 C. sugar

1 1/4 C. AP flour, divided (1 C. for batter, 1/4 C. for chips and nuts)

1 T. baking powder

1 t. kosher salt

3 C. diced walnut pieces

1. Preheat the oven to 35o degrees. Grease and flour a 13x18x1 sheet pan (I used non-stick spray with good results. Also, the original recipe is for a 13x18x1-1/2 pan, but I used my 1″ high pan and it worked fine. The brownies rise slightly above the pan, but did not spill over).

2. Melt together butter, 1 lb. chocolate chips and unsweetened chocolate on top of a double boiler (I used a heatproof bowl over a pot with 1 inch of simmering water. Do not let bottom of bowl touch the hot water).

3. In a large bowl stir together eggs, instant espresso, vanilla and sugar. Stir n the warm chocolate mixture and cool to room temperature (cooling the chocolate is important so that the chocolate chips that are added later do not melt).

4. Stir together 1 C. of flour, baking powder and salt. Add to cooled chocolate mixture. Toss walnuts and 12 oz. chocolate chips with 1/4 C. AP flour to coat (the added flour prevents the nuts and chips from sinking to the bottom of the brownies). Then add to the chocolate batter. Pour into prepared pan.

5. Bake for about 30 minutes, but do not overbake! Halfway through the cooking time, rap the pan against the oven shelf to allow air to escape from between the pan and brownie dough. Cool thoroughly, refrigerate well and cut into squares (the pieces cut nicely while cold, but I served them at room temperature).