More Brownies!

Brownies (on my CMM plate!)

I made brownies for a couple of friends because it was their birthdays! I used the King Arthur Flour recipe to start with but I reduced the amount of chocolate (the original recipe has A LOT) and I tried using a half sheet pan to bake them. Next time I will use 1.5x the recipe because the brownies came out a little thin because of the size of the pan.

These brownies are pretty chocolate-y even with the reduced amount of chocolate. The recipe has both cocoa powder and chocolate chips. I used Hershey's cocoa and semi-sweet chocolate chips. The recipe here is the one with the alterations I made. You can find the original King Arthur Flour recipe here.

Fudge Brownies

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbs vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a half sheet pan (18x13x1).
2. In a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter. Add the sugar and heat the mixture until it is hot, but not bubbling and stir until the some of the sugar as dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
3. Crack the 4 eggs into a bowl and beat with your stand or hand mixer with the cocoa, salt, baking powder and vanilla until smooth.
4. Put your mixture on low and gradually add the butter/sugar mixture, stirring until smooth.
5. Add the flour gradually and mix until just combined.
6. Let the mixture cool for a few minutes, then using a spatula, stir in the chocolate chips.
7. Transfer the batter into the pan and smooth out the top with a spatula.
8. Bake the brownies for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
9. Let the brownies cool before cutting them into pieces.

Enjoy!

Brownie's relative...the Blondie!

Chocolate Chip Blondies

Mmm. I love brownies, but these Chocolate Chip Blondies are a nice change from the traditional brownie recipe. To me, they are a closer relative to chocolate chip cookie bars than to brownies but delicious nonetheless. I made these now because my boyfriend doesn't care for blondies so it would be a waste to bake them when he will be around. It's his loss.

I followed the recipe from Everyday Baking with a few changes. The main changes were that I left out the walnuts, added some white sugar and I also didn't melt the butter like the recipe stated. This might have been a bad choice because the batter was definitely a bit tricky to spread into the pan and melted butter might have made it a bit looser. This recipe was easy and super quick!

Chocolate Chip Blondies
adapted from Everyday Baking

Ingredients:
8 tbs (1 stick) butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8 baking pan and set aside.
2. In a stand mixer, cream together butter and both sugars until combined.
3. Add the egg and vanilla extract.
4. Slowly add in the flour and salt and mix until just combined. Make sure not to over mix.
5. Using a spatula, fold in half of the chocolate chips.
6. Spread the batter into the pan and smooth out the top. Top with the rest of the chocolate chips.
7. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. (I've found that I tend to bake a lot of things for less than the recommended amount of time. I think I'm scared the will become dry.)

Yield: 16 bars

I'm Back...with Coffee Cake!

Cinnamon Coffee Cake

I'm not doing a very good job at posting recipes on a regular basis. I am going to try to take more time out to bake something and actually get it on here!

I've been craving sweet breakfast baked goods. Making a decision between cinnamon buns and coffee cake was difficult, but in the end coffee cake won...mostly because I had all the ingredients and it is a lot quicker to make. This coffee cake has a crumb topping with cinnamon and walnuts and I added a layer of cinnamon and sugar in the middle.

Cinnamon-Walnut Coffee Cake
adapted from A Taste of Home

Ingredients:
Cake
1/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
Middle Layer
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
Topping
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 tbsp cold butter
1-1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x9 square pan.
2. In a mixing bowl, cream together shortening and sugar until fluffy.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one. Beat in vanilla.
4. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl.
5. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk until just combined.
6. In a small bowl mix together the sugar and cinnamon.
7. Transfer half of the batter to a greased 9 in square baking pan.
8. Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon mixture evenly over the batter.
9. Pour the rest of the batter into the pan and spread it out evenly.
10. In a bowl combine the flour, sugar and cinnamon; cut in butter until mixture resembled coarse crumbs. Stir in nuts. Sprinkle over the top.
11. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy!