Mocha Brownies

A friend of mine had a few people over last night, and I made some brownies to bring. My friend is known for liking coffee flavored things, so I decided on mocha flavored. Some quick google searching took me to Martha’s recipe. I made it almost exactly as Martha’s recipe called for, but I added a teaspoon of extra coffee extract, and some chocolate chunks. All of the chocolate I used (the melted and chunks) came from the same big Trader Joe’s pound plus dark chocolate bar (my favorite for baking, and eating, and anything else chocolate is needed in). I did make it in a 8x8 pan, since I didn’t have a 9x9 pan to use. The result was some very tall brownies, but they tasted great.

Mocha Chunk Brownies

Makes a 9x9 pan

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for pan

1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons instant espresso powder

16 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped, divided

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 large eggs

1 tsp coffee extract1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a 9-inch square baking pan with butter. Line bottom and two sides with a strip of parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the two sides. Butter paper, and set pan aside.

2. In a small bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

3. Place butter and half the chocolate in a large heat-proof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of gently simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes; remove bowl from pan.

4. Add sugar to the chocolate and mix to combine. Add eggs, and mix to combine, followed by the coffee extract. Add flour mixture; mix just until moistened (do not overmix). Add instant espresso powder and remaining chocolate chunks. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top.

5. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool in pan for 30 minutes. Using paper overhang, lift brownies out of pan; transfer to a rack to cool completely (still on paper). On a cutting board, using a dampened serrated knife, cut into 16 squares. Store in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 2 days.

Brown Sugar Blondies

This is the second dessert I made for my friend’s potluck last weekend. I found the recipe here, and was pretty tempted. I thought the recipe was great. The blondies had a nice molasses flavor, and was excellently moist. Unfortunately, the recipe is largely in grams, and I don’t have a kitchen scale here in DC. I did double the original recipe for baking in a standard US cookie sheet (~11” x 17”, technically a half sheet I believe). The only ingredient I really don’t have a good measure on is the brown sugar. I needed 800 grams, so I just dumped about 8/9 of a 2 lbs (900gram) into the recipe. I thought that these were really good, but I thought it was a little strange that all of the chocolate and nuts were put on top at the end. If I were making this again, I would have stirred the chocolate and nuts directly into the batter.

Chocolate Chip Brownies

Makes 1 cookie sheet worth

¾ Cups (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter

800 grams (most of a 2lbs bag) dark brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla

6 eggs, beaten

5 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

Generous pinch of salt

4 oz. dark chocolate, chopped

4 oz. milk chocolate, chopped

4. oz pecans, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with non-stick foil. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

2. Over medium heat melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the brown sugar.

3. Remove from heat, and let cool for a moment. Stir in the eggs and vanilla.

4. Sift the flour mixture over the butter mixture. Beat together until just combined.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared cookie sheet. Spread the chocolate and nuts over the batter, and lightly push them into the batter.

6. Bake for 25 minutes, until just firm. Remove and let cool completely before cutting.

Brownies for Dorie

Happy New Year! A friend of mine threw a holiday party the other night, so I decided to put together some brownies to bring along. Dorie Greenspan’s recipe for “Chipster-Topped Brownies” looked pretty tempting. The idea behind these brownies is that they are brownies topped with chocolate chip cookies. I didn’t think they quite turned out that way, the cookie top wasn’t really distinct from the brownie base. That said they were absolutely delicious. They take a little bit of work to make because you really have to make two separate batters, but I didn’t think it was too bad. Overall these were definitely a crowd pleaser, and made a nice, very chocolaty brownie.

Chipster Topped Brownies

Makes a 9x13 pan

For the Brownie Layer

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped 

3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped 

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut up into chunks 

1 2/3 cups sugar 

4 large eggs 

½ tsp salt 

½ tsp vanilla 

1 cup AP-flour 

1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped (I used pecans, because they’re what I had)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 x 13 cake pan, line it with parchment paper, and butter the paper.

2. Over a double boiler melt together the two chocolates and the butter, stirring just until smooth. Remove from heat.

3. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat the sugar and eggs on medium-high speed for 2 minutes, until thick and pale. Beat in the salt and vanilla.

4. Reduce speed to low and mix in the melted chocolate until just incorporated. Scrape down sides of the bowl with a spatula. With the mixer on slow add the flour and mix until just incorporated.

5. Fold in the walnuts. Scoop the batter into the prepared pan, and level with a spatula.

 

For Cookie Layer

1 ¼ cup flour 

½ tsp baking soda 

½ tsp salt 

¾ cups (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened 

¾ cup packed light brown sugar

2/3 cup white sugar 

1 large egg 

1 large egg yolk 

1 tsp vanilla 

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate chips1. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.2. Beat together the butter and the sugars in medium high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes.

3. One at a time add the egg, then the egg yolk, beating for a minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla

4. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Mix in the chocolate chips.

5. Drop the cookie batter on top of the brownie batter by spoonfuls. Using a spatula, gently spread the cookie layer out over the top of the brownie layer.

6. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until the top is a deep golden brown and a knife tester comes out with only faint streaks of moist chocolate.

7. Remove the pan from the oven, let cool completely on a wire rack. Once cool, invert onto a cutting board, then flip back to right-side up. Cut into bars and serve. 

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

I made these brownies to bring to a friend’s football party. The recipe comes from Martha Stewart’s Cookie Book. I’ve got to say, I’ve made a lot of recipes from this book now, and I think they’ve all turned out well. This book is definitely worth the investment if you’re interested in some pretty straightforward baking.

 I used my baker’s edge pan to make these, which is why the pan in the pictures looks a little odd. I did end up with brownies that were all edge pieces though.

Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

Makes an 8x8 pan

For the Batter:

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter cut into small pieces 

2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped 

4 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped 

2/3 cup AP flour 

½ tsp baking powder 

¼ tsp coarse salt 

¾ cup sugar 

3 large eggs 

2 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted 

½ cup confectioner’s sugar 

¾ cup smooth peanut butter 

¼ tsp salt 

½ tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter an 8x8 baking pan and line with parchment, allowing a 2-inch overhand. Butter the lining.

2. Melt the chocolate and butter in a heat proof bowl. Stir until smooth. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

3. Whisk the sugar into the chocolate mixture. Add eggs and mix until smooth. Stir in the vanilla

. Add the flour mixture; stir well until combined.

4. Stir together all the ingredients for the filling in a separate bowl.

5. Pour 1/3 of the batter in the baking pan. Put tablespoons of the peanut butter filling on the batter, spread about an inch apart.

6.  Pour the remaining batter over the top, and smooth with a spatula.

7. To make the swirl pattern, place dollops of the remaining peanut butter mixture on top of the brownie batter. Drag a butter knife back and forth through the brownies and peanut butter to create a swirl pattern (see the pictures).

Mascarpone Brownies

I saw this recipe on Bake or Break a few months ago, and was intrigued, but didn’t get around to actually making the brownies until yesterday. But, last night I was going over to a friend’s place, and had some unused mascarpone in my fridge, so I decided to take a whack at it. I first had these brownies when they were still warm from the oven, and then I had some again the next day once they had fully cooled off in the fridge. Served warm, they were deliciously gooey, served cold they were dense blocks of fudgy chocolate. In both cases they were rich and super chocolaty. I can’t swear that the mascarpone added anything that you can’t get from another brownie recipe, but I definitely liked it. And these brownies are all about the chocolate, so use good quality chocolate if you have it.

Mascarpone Brownies

Makes one 8 x 8 pan

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup sugar
½ cup cocoa powder
½ cup mascarpone cheese
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
½ cup AP flour
¼ tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 325 and butter an 8 x 8 glass baking dish. In a microwave safe bowl melt the chocolate and butter together, using 30 second intervals at half power (this took two times through for me), stirring after each time.

2. Sift the sugar and cocoa powder into the chocolate mixture. Stir until well combined. By hand, beat in the eggs, mascarpone and vanilla.

3. Sift the flour and salt over the mixture, and fold them into the rest of the mixture.

4. Pour the batter into the buttered baking dish. Bake in the middle of the oven for 45 – 50 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Place on a cooling rack.

Ganache Topping

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
6 Tbs heavy cream
3 Tbs unsalted butter

1. Combine the ingredients in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave the ingredients in 30 second intervals at half power, mixing thoroughly after each time through. Continue until ganache is completely smooth and melted.

2. Pour the ganache over the brownies, and spread evenly.

3. Allow the brownies to cool and the ganache to solidify before serving.