browned butter blondies

i've been gone for a while. well, longer than a while. i've missed baking and i've missed my readers and today i decided to take a few hours, un-busy myself, and make something spectacular to get myself back in to the blogging groove. that treat, ladies and gentleman, is browned butter blondies. they actually double as the best air fresheners money can buy - and these are actually edible!

it all starts with butter. five totally magical words. i chopped my butter into rough tablespoons and let them melt over medium heat, swirling every thirty seconds or so. once it all melted i grabbed a spoon and stirred constantly, fearing that i would end up with hardened caramel fused permanently to the bottom of my pan.

the end result is a bowl of pure heaven. liquidy caramel perfection that will take the every day blondie, which i normally don't care very much for, over the top.

with very little effort (seriously, no mixer needed!) after the butter-melting, you have yourself a pan of blondies ready for the oven. i added walnuts to half of mine, due to a request from the peanut gallery/baking assistants, but you can add or not add any toppings you'd like. oh, and good luck trying keep yourself from eating all this raw.

then you have to wait the thirty grueling minutes until those bad boys can come out of the oven. to pass the time i laid on the floor, supported by my new and on sale target pillows, and kept an eye on my cat. she decided the best place for a nap was directly under my tripod, which i thought would end in disaster. she's more responsible than i give her credit for.

then, the moment of truth. these blondies have a soft, melt-in-your-mouth center and a delicious and crispy edge - my personal favorite part. the walnuts added a really nice nutty flavor and crunch that complimented the browned well. we also tossed around the idea of incorporating bananas somehow, an idea that might be featured on a post in the near future.

oh, and this recipe was adapted from cooking light, so it is surprisingly not too terrible for you. i ended up halving the recipe, what i usually do when i try anything for the first time, but i would definitely recommend making an entire batch. these will go fast. 

browned butter blondies

adapted from cooking light

yields 24 servings

ingredients:

9 ounces (about 2 cups) all purpose flour

2 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 eggs

1 egg whites

directions:

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. weigh or measure flour, sugar, baking power, and salt in a large bowl. whisk to combine.

3. slice butter into rough tablespoons and cook in a small skillet over medium-high heat until lightly browned, stirring frequently once butter melts. pour into bowl and let cool, about ten minutes.

4. once cooled, combine eggs and butter with a whisk. 

5. pour butter mixture over flour mixture and fold together until just combined. 

6. pour batter into a greased 9x13 baking pan coated with cooking spray and smooth top with spatula.

7. bake for 30 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

8. cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.

nutritional information:

calories: 170, fat: 4.8g, protein: 1.9g, carbs: 30.5g, fiber: 0.3g, cholesterol: 13mg, sodium: 108mg

as always, thanks for reading & happy baking!

amanda

ps: my sister & i are starting a small baking company in the dc area, so there's a good chance i may be testing out new recipes here. stay tuned for more!

deep dark brownies with white chocolate drizzle

now, i'm not here to tell you that i'm a top chef. or an iron chef. i'm not even a rachael ray. but, i will say that these brownies are outstanding and maybe, just maybe, worthy of one of those titles. except the rachael ray one, she's down right annoying. 

the secret to my success* lies in using the cocoa with the highest percentage of cacao you can find. essentially, the darkest chocolate powder. this makes the brownies almost black in appearance and extremely rich in taste. 

* note: i define success by how much batter gets eaten before anything actually gets baked. in this case, it was a lot.

this recipe goes pretty smoothly until about halfway through where you will be told to randomly mix milk & cocoa into the batter. i'll be honest, the first time i made this i was caught a little off guard, with the general rule-of-baking-thumb being to mix the dry and wet ingredients separately until the very last step. but, i trusted the process and soldiered on. what i got was a semi-curdled chocolatey pudding that did not seem anywhere near brownie consistency.

i'm here to tell you, don't do i what i did (which was panic). take a deep breath and know that this little hurdle is simply there to weed out those who couldn't handle the intense brownies to come. you can make it through this - i believe in you!

i generally line my pans with parchment or aluminum foil when i make brownies because one too many times i've been left with a brownie bottom with so many craters it looks like the face of the moon. by using a lining (versus spray), i can pull out my whole loaf without the fear of stickage.

another helpful hint when it comes to brownies is to let them cool for as long as you can stand it. i let mine rest in the pan for almost a full hour before i slid them out and let them continue their journey to firm-dom on a wire rack. basically, you want them to be completely room temperature when you slice them up or risk there being a lot of crumbs and broken pieces.

i got a very oreo-vibe from this recipe, in both taste and appearance, so i decided to top them off with white chocolate drizzles. i actually wanted to title this recipe "faux-reo brownies", but i didn't know if that was just too cheesy. if i get enough support from the internet, though, i just might change it. 

this recipe is also fantastic because of its versatility. while making it i was thinking about how delicious mint chocolate chips would be mixed in the dark chocolate, or walnuts, or a vanilla buttercream topping, or caramel, or sea salt, or potato chips! listen, sweet & salty is a thing. 

if you come up with a creative take on this base let me know!

deep-dark brownies with white chocolate drizzle (or, faux-reo brownies!) 

yields 2 dozen squares

adapted from cooking light

ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large egg whites

1 large egg

2/3 cup unsweetened 100% cacao cocoa

1/2 cup skim milk

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 13x9 inch pan with parchment or coat with cooking spray.

2. cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. add egg whites and egg, one at a time, beating will afer each addition. add vanilla and combine.

3. add cocoa and milk and beat - this is where it may appear curdled!

4. combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl and mix with a whisk. 

5. add flour mixture to cocoa mixture 1/2 cup at a time on low speed until just combined. overmixing leads to tough brownies!

6. spoon batter into prepared pan and spread evenly.

7. bake for 30-35 minutes or until set. cool for 1-2 hours.

8. optional: once completely cooled, slice with a serrated knife or pizza cutter into even squares. melt 1/2 cup white chocolate in microwave on low until melted. pour chocolate into a ziploc baggy, cut at tip, and drizzle onto brownies. place in refrigerator to set for 10-15 minutes.

nutritional information:

cals: 142, fat: 5.22g, cholesterol: 19mg, sodium: 74mg, carbs: 22.4g, fiber: 1g, sugars: 14.72g.

as always, thanks for reading & happy baking!

amanda

ps: oh! and check out the newly-created about me page and my recipe index!

fleur de sel caramel brownies

have you ever experienced the combination of chocolate and salt? i'm really hoping you have, because if you haven't i'm going to have to pack up my car with a whole lot of it and go on a major road trip. seriously folks, it's phenomenal. the salt, however weird this may sound, completely enhances the depth of the chocolate and takes it to a whole other level. okay, i'm done raving!

 

these brownies came together when i found some trader joe's fleur de sel caramels laying around my house and decided to adapt a brownie recipe i had saved. if you don't have caramels, don't worry. you can substitute a quarter cup of anything your heart desires - chopped walnuts, toffee, or chocolate chips would all be delicious.

whenever i take the double-boiler-shortcut and use the microwave i use the defrost setting so that the heat isn't as aggressive.

the dough was thicker than i expected and it took a little working to get it spread out, but trust me - it was worth it. i cut the caramels into quarters and gently pressed them into the top of the dough. once it baked, i sprinkled the top with sea salt for that extra punch.

side note: when i bake i generally halve the batch because i hate to have too many tempting leftovers around the house, hence the loaf pan instead of the 9x9 the recipe calls for!

i ended up yielding eight pretty sizable brownies, around an inch and a half by and inch and a half. they are so decadent that i can barely make it through one, which is saying a lot given how much i love this combo!

fleur de sel caramel brownies

yields 20 servings
adapted from cooking light

preheat oven to 350°

2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
1/4 cup hot water
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/4 cup worth of caramel pieces

1. coat the bottom of a 9x9 baking pan with cooking spray.

2. combine coffee granules and 1/4 cup of hot water, stir until the granules dissolve.

3. combine butter and chocolate chips in a small heatproof bowl on the defrost setting until the butter melts, stir until the chocolate is smooth.

4. combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk.

5. combine coffee mixture, butter/chocolate mixture, vanilla, and eggs until combined.

6. add wet mixture to dry until just combined and spread evenly into prepared pan, then place caramel quarters on top.

7. bake for 22-25 minutes until the middle is set. let cool in pan until warm and then turn out and complete cooling on a wire rack.

nutritional information:


calories: 182, fat: 4g, cholesterol: 27mg, sodium: 90mg, carbs: 24g, fiber: 1.1g, sugars: 15g, protein: 2.14g. 


thanks for reading & happy baking!

amanda