Deep Dish Brownies

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Unsatisfied with the last brownie recipe I tried, I stumbled upon this one while browsing desserts online. This is what happens when I don’t feel well…I scour the Internet for recipes to try when I’m feeling better. And feeling better I am, so here they are.

Chocolate Brownies Chocolate Brownies Chocolate Brownies Chocolate Brownies Chocolate Brownies

Some of the reviewers declared this recipe to taste like box mix brownies and they do! They’re chewy and moist, and much more cakey than fudgey. They are delicious. Unfortunately, the top cracked miserably and they didn’t cut well, even when fully cooled. I’m not sure what caused that to happen.

Ingredients
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease an 8 inch square pan.
  2. In a large bowl, blend melted butter, sugar and vanilla. Beat in eggs one at a time. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Gradually blend into the egg mixture. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.
  3. Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Let brownies cool, then cut into squares. Enjoy!

Notes: The original recipe is different–I heeded the suggestions of many reviewers and omitted the baking powder and used only two eggs. Also, mine were done in about 35 minutes.

Recipe from All Recipes.

September 3, 2006 | Filed Under Brownies and Blondies | 1 Comment 

Chocolate Crinkles

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I don’t think I’ve eaten these since I was a kid. But they looked so cute, and I wanted to try a new recipe to take with me to a Labor Day BBQ. Chewy and delicious!

As a side note, this was the first time I used my Silpat for cookies and ohmygod, I’m in love.

Chocolate Crinkles Chocolate Crinkles Chocolate Crinkles Chocolate Crinkles Chocolate Crinkles

Ingredients
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled
2 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preparation

  1. Mix oil, chocolate, granulated sugar and vanilla in large bowl. Mix in eggs, one at a time. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours.
  2. Heat oven to 350ºF. Grease cookie sheet.
  3. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls into powdered sugar; roll around to coat. Shape into balls. Place about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.
  4. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until almost no imprint remains when touched lightly in center. Remove from cookie sheet. Cool on wire rack.

Notes:

  1. I put the dough back in the fridge between batches because it was getting really sticky.
  2. I dusted my hands with powdered sugar when rolling the balls; they didn’t stick to my hands that way.
  3. The recipe on the Betty Crocker site says this yields six dozen; I only got four dozen.

Recipe from Betty Crocker.

September 3, 2006 | Filed Under Cookies and Bars | 5 Comments 

Super Cool Product Alert

cupcake1.jpgIf you make cupcakes as often as I do, you’ll find this new cupcake courier a must buy as well! I’ll report back on how well it works when I use it. I can’t wait, I’ve been looking for something like this for a long time!

September 5, 2006 | Filed Under Cakes and Cupcakes, Products | 7 Comments 

Buttermilk Cupcakes with Praline Icing

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I was so looking forward to these, but they didn’t exactly come out right. The cake ended up slightly undercooked, and the frosting was just an all-around mess, setting the second I turned the mixer off. By the time I put the frosting on the spatula, it was already too hard to spread. I ended up going back to the mixer and adding a bit of milk each time I frosted about four cupcakes, just so I could get it temporarily back to spreading consistency.

Buttermilk Cupcakes with Praline Icing

More pictures coming soon. (Flickr is acting up.)

I may try these again, but will definitely add milk while mixing the frosting.

Cake Ingredients
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 egg white
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup low-fat buttermilk

Cake Preparation
Preheat oven to 350F. Line 18 muffin cups (you’ll probably need two trays) with cupcake wrappers.

Combine the sugar and butter in a large bowl, and cream together with an elextric mixer until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. Beat in the eggs and egg white, one at a time, followed by the vanilla.

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Add the 1/3 of the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and stir well, followed by 1/2 of the buttermilk. Add in another third of the flour mixture, followed by the rest of the buttermilk and the last of the flour. Stir only until no streaks of flour remain.

Divide the batter evenly into the prepared pans, smoothing the surface with a spatula. Bake at 350° for 18-22 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly pressed.

Cool completely on wire rack before frosting.

Frosting Ingredients
1 cup brown sugar, packed (light, dark or golden)
6 tbsp low-fat milk
1 tbsp corn syrup (light or dark)
1 tsp butter
dash of salt (1/8 tsp or so)
2 cups powdered sugar

Frosting Preparation
Combine the brown sugar, milk, corn syrup, butter and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat, and simmer for 5-6 minutes. Pour syrup mixture into a large bowl and let stand for about one minute. Add powdered sugar and the vanilla, then beat with a mixer at medium/high speed until smooth. Cool for 2-3 minutes (icing will be thin but thickens as it cools) before frosting, mixing for a few more seconds with the mixer to smooth it out.

Frost cupcakes and let them stand at room temperature until ready to serve so the frosting can set.

Makes 18 cupcakes.

Recipe from Bakingsheet.

September 10, 2006 | Filed Under Cakes and Cupcakes, Frosting | 3 Comments 

Printable Recipes

I installed a plugin that should allow you to print recipes by clicking on Print This Post at the bottom of each post. Of course, this was so simple to install that I’m pretty sure it won’t work properly. And unfortunately, I don’t have a printer at home to test it out tonight. So, if anyone happens to try it, let me know how it works.

Update: I noticed that the Print This Post link is only available when looking at posts on the main page. It won’t work if you get to the post via the archives or categories. I’ll look into this.

September 12, 2006 | Filed Under Blog | 3 Comments 

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

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A soft peanut butter cookie with a miniature Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup inside. These are delicious and so simple to make. I’m mailing them to my sister in New York, so let’s hope they don’t melt or get squished.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies Peanut Butter Cup Cookies Peanut Butter Cup Cookies Peanut Butter Cup Cookies Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

If you can’t eat peanut butter cookies, use your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and a Hershey’s Kiss instead.

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
40 miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cups, unwrapped

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
  2. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.
  3. Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar until fluffy.
  4. Beat in the egg, vanilla and milk. Add the flour mixture; mix well.
  5. Shape into 40 balls and place each into an ungreased mini muffin pan.
  6. Bake at 375 degrees for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into each ball. Cool and carefully remove from pan.

Makes 40 cookies.

Notes: I use a small cookie scoop to measure the dough. Also, I put the muffin tins in the fridge for about 10 minutes after I push the peanut butter cups into the cookie; this way they cool faster and the chocolate doesn’t melt.

Recipe from All Recipes.

September 17, 2006 | Filed Under Cookies and Bars | 5 Comments 

Apples and Honey

I probably won’t be trying any new recipes again until after the high holidays, so I wanted to wish my fellow Jewish readers a happy, healthy, and sweet new year. Shana tova!

September 21, 2006 | Filed Under Blog | 3 Comments 

Oatmeal Bars with Chocolate Icing

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I got back into town early and decided to bake. But I didn’t want to scoop cookies or frost cupcakes so I decided upon a nice and easy bar cookie. I simply Googled “oatmeal bars” and came up with this one.

Very Disappointing Oatmeal Bars with Chocolate Frosting Very Disappointing Oatmeal Bars with Chocolate Frosting Very Disappointing Oatmeal Bars with Chocolate Frosting Very Disappointing Oatmeal Bars with Chocolate Frosting

These are okay. Nothing special and a little boring. I probably won’t be making them again.

Ingredients
1 cup butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
6 ounces milk chocolate bars or morsels
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preparation
Cream 1 cup butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks. Add flour and rolled oats and mix well. Spread in a greased and floured 13×9x2-inch baking pan. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.

Melt chocolate bars or morsels with the 2 tablespoons of butter. Spread over cooled cookie layer; sprinkle with chopped nuts. Cut into 1 1/2-inch squares.

Makes 48 cookies.

Notes: I omitted the nuts. Also, I used my hands to spread the batter into the baking pan–it was really thin.

Recipe from about.com.

September 24, 2006 | Filed Under Cookies and Bars | 8 Comments