Brown Butter Brownies

I have been searching for the best brownie recipe ever. I've tried Ruth Reichl's brownies. They are good, but much more like pudding with a cooked top then a proper fudgey brownie. I've tried everything from Martha Stewart recipes to random blogs I had never seen before, but none of them seemed to be the perfect consistency until I found Brown Butter Brownies.

The recipe reads as follows:

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 sticks salted butter
• 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp water
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup high quality semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare a 9x13 baking dish by spraying with non-stick cooking spray and lining with parchment paper (optional, but I like to do it so I can lift the brownies right out of the dish).
3. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Stir constantly until butter has reached a light brown color and little "bits" have formed.
4. Pour the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the sugar and cocoa powder and beat until smooth, almost creamy.
5. Add the salt, water, and vanilla. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing in between each addition.
6. Add the flour and chocolate chips and mix well. Batter will be VERY thick.
7. Use a sturdy rubber spatula to spread batter in the 9x13 pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
8. Let cool, then cut into 2" squares to serve.

A few things to notice. She used salted butter, which is very unusual. Most bakers, including me, use unsalted butter to give us more control over the baking process and how the final result tastes. I chose not to use salted butter and used one teaspoon of salt and unsalted butter. The recipe also requires you to brown the butter. This step is essential or else the flavor won't be right. Brown butter is cooked untill it is golden brown with a few flecks in the melted butter. You need to watch carefully or else it may burn.

These brownies are now my favorite. They are the perfect combination of chewy and fudgey with a nice contrasting crunch from the chocolate chips that only adds to the the intense chocolate flavor that the brownies already have. I made the mistake of bringing the brownies to an event and didn't have any to take home. Luckily I sneaked a few before putting them on the plate, which, believe me, you will want to do.

Award-Winning Pumpkin Cheesecake

Last Saturday I participated in a pumpkin dessert cook off with my sister. My sister loves pumpkin. LOVES pumpkin. Before October even rolls around she has planned what she is going to bake. So you can see why we decided to enter. We chose to bake a pumpkin cheese cake from allrecipes.com.

Ingredients 

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground cloves
1 pinch ground nutmeg

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Blend in eggs one at a time. Remove 1 cup of batter and spread into bottom of crust; set aside.
3. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to the remaining batter and stir gently until well blended. Carefully spread over the batter in the crust.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until center is almost set. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Cover with whipped topping before serving.

For this cheesecake, make sure that everything is room tempature, especially the eggs and the cream cheese. This will help your cheesecake not to crack during baking. Another technique you can use to prevent cracking is to bake the cheesecake in a water bath. For a water bath, make sure you surround the spring-form pan with aluminum foil (to prevent water coming into the pan), then place the spring-form pan on top of a jelly roll pan filled with boiling water and bake

The recipe for the Gingersnap Crust:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups crushed gingersnap cookies
1/2  Finely chopped walnuts
1/3 cup butter

We combined these ingredients in a bowl and then pressed the mixture into the pan untill evenly distributed. Then we baked it in the oven for ten minutes at 350 degrees F.
  

 We then made an easy caramel sauce to decorate with. We also decorated with candied pecans and more crushed gingersnaps.

The end result was moist, rich and lighter than a pumpkin pie. The crust was crunchy and had a perfect spicy taste that complemented the pumpkin flavor and candied pecans perfectly. The caramel sauce added a sweetness that with the extra crushed gingersnaps created a match that must have been made in heaven. Unfortunately, even with the pumpkin obsession of my sister and all of our hard work, we only got second place. Next year however....

Flashback: Not On Friday?

As much as I love doing flashbacks on Fridays, there is so much more that I bake. So I have decided to do away with Flashback Fridays and post every Friday, if not more often, on something that I have baked. I will still have an occasional Flashback Friday, but not as often. This post does count for today's post, but I will post soon. I promise!

Flashback Friday: Blonde Brownies

I made these blonde brownies for a recent bake sale for my choir. They were a huge hit! I love these because of their wonderful vanilla taste with a touch of chocolate.

The consistency of the brownie is deliciously chewy and the chocolate, when cool, gives a nice contrasting snap.

 Here's the recipe:

Blonde Brownies


2/3 cup of butter or

2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Melt butter in saucepan and remove from heat. Add brown sugar and beat well. Let cool. Add eggs and vanilla and blend. Add flour and other dry ingredients a small amount at a time mixing well. Spread in a greased 9 x 12 inch pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips over top. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Do not over-bake. Cool in pan and cut in squares. 

A few things to remember: First, if you use margarine instead of butter, add one tablespoon of hot water after you remove the pan from the heat. Second, when they come out of the oven, the chocolate will look bubbly. Don't worry, that will go away after it cools. Lastly, to cut these easily I put them into the freezer for about ten minutes. Then I turned the pan upside-down and cut them upside-down into squares, which made it a lot easier. Bake these and trust me; these will become your go-to bar cookie!

 

Flashback Friday: Mark Bittman's No-Knead Bread

I love this bread. It was one of the first breads that ever turned out like I wanted it to. The crust is crunchy and the inside is dense and has a nice thick crumb. But the best part is the slightly sourdough taste.

The ingredients for this bread could not be simpler. The flour is all purpose flour, not bread flour like most bread recipes (bread flour has more gluten than all-purpose flour which helps create a denser bread). Then there is just a little bit of yeast, water, and corn meal! A few reminders though. Check your yeast, make sure it is still alive. Preview the recipe so you know when and what you need to do. Make sure to not let the dough over rise. Follow those tips and you should be fine.

This is definitely a gateway to loving baking. The recipe and ingredients are simple and the payoff is huge! So what are you waiting for? Go bake it!

Not So Jumbo Coffee-Cake Muffins

I hate cereal. A quick breakfast is usually not something I enjoy, with the exception of muffins. These coffee cake muffins are some of the most moist muffins I have ever had and last surprisingly well throughout the week.

I made these into regular sized muffins (the recipe is for jumbo muffins) and found some problems. First there was way too much streusel. You could cut the ingredients in half if you are going to make these. Another problem I experienced was that they did not make an even dozen. Now maybe that would only bother me, but if you do make them you probably will end up with nine muffins.

I also made a change to the ingredients. Instead of sour cream, I used plain Greek yogurt. It still was deliciously moist, and the Greek yogurt made it a whole lot healthier!

A few final reminders. One, do not overmix the batter or you will end up with tough muffins. Two, remember to bring all ingredients to room temperature (eggs, Greek yogurt everything except the butter for the streusel). Third, make these. You won't regret it!

Flashback Friday: Pain Au Chocolat

Five years ago, I went to Vietnam with my family during Christmas. In Vietnam, we became addicted to chocolate croissants, also known as pain au chocolat. We ate the deliciously flaky croissants every morning for breakfast. My sister came home in April, and when I asked her what she wanted for a welcome home treat, all she wanted was a chocolate croissant. I, being the dedicated  brother I am, wanted to make it from scratch. My mother, being the realist she is, knew I didn't have the time to do it. So to make it easier, I decided to try Nigella Lawson's chocolate croissants.

The recipe use pre-made puff pastry, which makes it ten times easier. When the croissant comes out of the oven it is tender and flaky. The chocolate on the inside is mouthwateringly melted so when you bite into the croissant the chocolate explodes in your mouth.

They turned out great for pre-made dough. This recipe would be a great last-minute party food because they are easy to do and they make a lot! Sadly, these don't last that long--four days at the most. That is, if you don't eat them all first!

Antique Caramel Cake

This cake was one of my favorites. I made it a few weeks ago and although this isn’t a Flashback Friday I needed to start to share a recipe with you.  

This cake is found in the book Baked Elements. It is a classic southern treat so it is not for those without a sweet tooth. The cake itself tastes faintly of caramel and is denser than you would think, but it is still delicious. The frosting is a mouthwatering sour cream concoction which helps to cut down the sweetness. The best part about the cake is the salted caramel glaze. It is truly the best part. I used this guide to help me frost the cake: 

http://www.whisk-kid.com/2011/02/how-to-frost-cake.html

This really helped frosting the cake—something I am usually terrible at!

Welcome

Hello,

This blog is all about my baking and a few thoughts…

I will have Flashback Fridays (highlighting past creations) and also publish my new projects.

I may also scatter a few of my thoughts in every once and awhile so stay tuned!

—Spencer