Tag: Brownies

Mexican Hot Chocolate Brownies

 Note: I was sent ingredients from Plugra Premium Butter in order to make this post. Opinions are mine alone. Ingredients included: 1 bar unsalted Plugra Premium Butter,1 container of the Spice House’s Vietnamese Saigon Cinnamon, Valrhona Manjari 64% Dark Chocolate, and Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract.

Do I have a tasty recipe for you today! I was contacted recently by Plugrá Kitchens with a delicious sounding brownie recipe (these Mexican Hot Chocolate Brownies) using some of my favorite ingredients, so I knew I had to share it. This brownie recipe is based off the flavors of Mexican Hot Chocolate, which is a hot chocolate that is spiced with cinnamon and sometimes a little bit of chili to bring additional warmth and heat. 

Plugra Kitchens was nice enough to send me a package with the best goodies to make these brownies, including (of course) Plugrá Premium Unsalted Butter, Spice House Ground Saigon Cinnamon, Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract, and Balrhona Manjari 64% Dark Chocolate.

Plugrá Butter is an awesome ingredient to use for baking. Made by Dairy Farmers of America, its slow-churn and extra creaminess has the perfect balance of moisture and fat for use in baking. The Spice House‘s Vietnamese “Saigon” Cassia cinnamon is the strongest and sweetest cinnamon in their collection. The Vietnamese cinnamon bark is ground in house to produce a dark, rich texture that is fiery and fragrant, making it perfect for these brownies. My love of Nielsen-Massey‘s Madagascar Bourbon is well known to those that frequent this blog. Their Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla extract is made from premium, hand-selected vanilla beans cultivated in Madagascar, the world’s leading supplier of high-quality vanilla. It then utilizes a slow, cold extraction process to gently draw out and preserve all 300 natural vanilla flavor notes to create the richest tasting vanilla. Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla has a flavor profile that is full, sweet, creamy, and mellow with velvety after-tones. Valrhona Chocolate has been a partner of artisans of taste since 1922 and is a pioneer and reference in the world of chocolate.

With ingredients like that, you know this recipe is going to taste good! I adapted the recipe a bit, but the overall gist is still there. These Mexican Hot Chocolate Brownies are soft and chewy, with a subtle warmth and heat that pairs really well with the richness of the chocolate.

Ingredients (makes 18 servings):

  • 1 (8 oz) bar unsalted butter, like Plugrá® European Style Butter
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, like Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, like Saigon cinnamon from the Spice House
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
  • 1 cup dark chocolate, like Valrhona Manjari 64% Dark Chocolate, chopped

Continue reading Mexican Hot Chocolate Brownies

Frosted Pumpkin Brownies

For those that follow me on Instagram or Twitter, it comes as no surprise that I am a huge fan of pumpkin recipes. In fact, I have over 30 recipes that use pumpkin on this blog!

So hopefully you’ll allow me to add another one to the list: Frosted Pumpkin Brownies!

So when I had a nagging sweet tooth recently, I figured it was time to also feed my pumpkin need. This recipe for Frosted Pumpkin Brownies is comprised of a chewy, chocolatey brownie topped with a nice thick layer of pumpkin buttercream frosting, resulting in a decadent treat for the chocolate and pumpkin lovers in your life.

Ingredients:

Brownies:

Pumpkin Buttercream Frosting:

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (note: can also just use 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice instead of the individual spices, if preferred)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2-3 cups powdered sugar

Continue reading Frosted Pumpkin Brownies

Valentine’s Day Almond Flour Brownies

I’m so excited to be a part of the 2021 Good Cookie Food Blogger’s Valentine’s event this year! The event brings a bunch of food bloggers together to post a Valentine’s Day themed recipe as a way to bring awareness and hopefully raise some money for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, so I decided to make these Valentine’s Day Almond Flour Brownies.

Cookies for Kids’ Cancer is a national non-profit organization committed to funding new therapies used in the fight against pediatric cancer. This is an organization that I try to bring awareness to whenever I can. This is actually my 12th post highlighting them!

Cancer is the #1 cause of death of children by disease in the U.S. There are 40,000 U.S. children actively battling cancer right now. The National Cancer Institute’s budget for childhood cancer is less than 4%. It’s such a small number and that’s why I got involved. And with the ongoing pandemic, children are still being diagnosed with cancer. It’s imperative that we raise awareness and continue to raise funds to fund the ongoing pediatric cancer research!

Help us make a difference by donating to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer! Our goal is to raise at least $3000. Because  OXO,  Mediavine  and Dixie Crystals have each pledged to match our donations raised through this campaign up to $3000! That means when we raise $1, it turns into $4!

Thank you to so many of you who have already donated, please help us reach our goal so we can get the full matching donations and help us make an even huge difference! So if you’re in a position to do so please consider donating today.

Now for the recipe. This recipe was inspired by my husband, who I’m pretty sure has never met a dessert he didn’t like. He is particularly fond of anything chocolatey and covered in sprinkles. So I decided to bake him chocolate almond flour brownies topped with heart sprinkles.

Ingredients:

  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 3/4 cups sugar
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 3 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 cups almond flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • sprinkles, if desired

Continue reading Valentine’s Day Almond Flour Brownies

Dulce De Leche Brownies

Note: I was sent a case of Imperial Sugar for #Choctoberfest in order to write this post. Opinions are mine alone.

When I first signed up for this year’s #Choctoberfest, I knew I wanted to share this recipe! (for more information on #Choctoberfest, plus the chance to enter our giveaway, check out my post here.)

I haven’t made a brownie recipe in a while, but wanted to make something special for this event. If you aren’t familiar with dulce de leche, its a caramel-like sauce that is made by slowly heating sweetened condensed milk until is is light brown and wonderfully sweet.

I used Imperial Sugar, one of the sponsors of #Choctoberfest, in the brownie batter part of this recipe. I wanted to remind you that they are currently hosting their annual Scary Scramble, featuring delicious fall-inspired recipes using Imperial Sugar’s high-quality sweeteners. Imperial Sugar has been a kitchen staple for over 175 years!

Ok. Back to the recipe. Dulce de leche and chocolate are a match made in heaven. These brownies are sure to become a favorite of yours!

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more to grease the pan
  • 1 cup sugar (I used sugar from our sponsor Imperial Sugar)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 cup store-bought dulce de leche

Continue reading Dulce De Leche Brownies

Vegan and Gluten Free Peanut Crunch Brownies

A lot of people are pretty wary of vegan and gluten free baking. It seems like it would be difficult, but it’s surprisingly easy! Vegan baking can also be rich and decadent, like these oh so fudgy Peanut Crunch Brownies.

This recipe for Peanut Crunch Brownies is adapted from Heather Saffer’s well-named cookbook Crazy Easy Vegan Desserts. Heather Saffer, founder and CEO of Dollop Gourmet, has been featured on Shark Tank and Cupcake Wars for her delicious vegan desserts that can be enjoyed by anyone. I was sent a review copy and have loved paging through the recipes, they really are crazy easy!

The cookbook begins with a review of some dairy free and gluten free alternatives that can be used in baking.

 

So let’s dig into this recipe for Peanut Crunch Brownies, because, well, it’s delicious!

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup gluten free flour (I used almond flour)
  • 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 4 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
  • 2/3 cups vegan chocolate chips
  • 2 ( ~3 oz) dark chocolate bars, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup chopped roasted salted peanuts

Continue reading Vegan and Gluten Free Peanut Crunch Brownies

Cocoa Almond Pretzel Crust Brownies

Salty-sweet combinations are just. The best. My favorite involve chocolate; the saltiness really enhances the chocolate flavor!

These Brownies are an absolutely delicious salty-sweet combo. The super chocolately, fudgy brownie is made with Endangered Species Chocolate Almond Spread with Cocoa (and 3 other different kinds of chocolate!)  while the crust is make of a deliciously salty pretzel/graham cracker combination.

 

The Almond Spread adds a different lay of flavor to the brownies. To keep the almond flavor noticeable in the brownies, I also used some almond extract. If you don’t have almond extract, or don’t want as much almond flavor, you can use vanilla extract.

What makes these brownies even more tasty is that the chocolate spread used in the brownies also helps give back: Endangered Species Chocolate donates 10% of net profits annually to 10% GiveBack Partners. In the past three years, Endangered Species Chocolate’s (ESC) 10% GiveBack program has donated more than $1.2 million for its carefully chosen beneficiaries!

 

ESC recently announced its 2016-2018 partners: Rainforest Trust and Wildlife Conservation Network (WCN). The organizations will receive 10% of ESC’s annual net profits (or a minimum annual donation of $10,000, whichever is greater) to fund projects they deem most important to achieving their conservation goals.

Rainforest Trust has saved more than 11 million acres of tropical forests to-date, but ESC’s 10% GiveBack program will be vital in expediting the organization’s goal of preserving 20 million acres by the year 2020. WCN funds projects in 24 different countries where the 10% GiveBack program will contribute to helping a myriad of at-risk species.

Past 10% GiveBack partners include SEE Turtles, SEEtheWild, Chimp Haven and, most recently, the Xerces Society and African Wildlife Foundation (AWF).

 

Endangered Species Chocolate was also kind enough to send me some extra jars of their delicious spreads to give away to one I Can Cook That reader! Details after the recipe.

 

Ingredients:
For crust:

  • 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1.5 cups crushed pretzels (about 2 cups mini pretzels before crushed)
  • 1/2 cup ground graham crackers
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar

For brownies:

  • 2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter
  • 1.5 cups (~9 oz) semisweet chocolate chips
  • 4 ounces (1 baking bar) unsweetened chocolate, chopped
  • 1 (9.7 oz) jar Endangered Species Chocolate Almond Spread with Cocoa
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/2 tablespoon almond extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Continue reading Cocoa Almond Pretzel Crust Brownies

Black Bean Brownies

So, I’ve avoided making this recipe for months. Seriously, MONTHS. Black bean brownies always sounded really um… not tasty… to me.

This recipe is from a cookbook I received ages ago called Vegan Beans from Around the World: Adventurous Recipes for the Most Delicious, Nutritious and Flavorful Bean Dishes Ever. There are some seriously awesome recipes in here, from African Peanut Soup to Curried Dal with Cauliflower. But I was really curious about the Black Bean Brownies and wanted to make them. So after months of putting it off I finally tried it. And this recipe really changed my mind about black bean brownies! The consistency is spot on, and the chocolate flavor comes through really well. Who knew?

I adapted this recipe slightly from the original: I doubled the recipe to make a thicker brownie and used a different baking dish so the cooking time is different as well. I also limited the cinnamon because when I originally made these, I felt like the cinnamon flavor was too strong.

 

Ingredients:

  • 2 (15.5 ounce) cans of black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon freshly ground flax seeds
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons lukewarm coffee (I just used what was left from my morning coffee)
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup – 1/2 cup walnuts

Continue reading Black Bean Brownies

Brownie Petit Fours

Here’s another delicious dessert I made for New Years Eve – Brownie Petit Fours. (You can read about my New Years Eve party and get a recipe for Honey Citrus Champange Cupcakes here) The original BHG recipe included bourbon, but I already had Bourbon Truffles on the menu so I decided to go without it in this recipe.

I was a little wary of making these little guys, petit fours seem pretty difficult to make. But I was surprised with how simple it was to make these!

Ingredients:

  • BROWNIES
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 2 tablespoons  coffee grounds (I measured them out from a k cup)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • MILK CHOCOLATE FROSTING & SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE GLAZE
  • 1 cup whipping cream
  • 11.25 ounce milk chocolate pieces
  • 16 ounce package semisweet chocolate pieces

Continue reading Brownie Petit Fours

Dark Chocolate Brownies with Ice Cream and Grilled Fruit

Whenever I visit my friends who live on the Chesapeake, I try to bring some food. I found a recipe for a Tart with Grilled Fruit in a cookbook called Crazy About Pies that I bookmarked for my next trip to Maryland because we always end up grilling and I thought it would make a great complement to a barbecued dinner. I decided to instead make a dark chocolate brownie to go with the grilled fruit instead of the tart. (I will have a post about Crazy About Pies in the near future, there are some amazing sounding recipes in this cookbook!) The brownie recipe is adapted from an Alton Brown recipe.

Ingredients (makes 16 servings):

  • 2 pints of ice cream, preferably fruit based (I used a strawberry almond milk ice cream)

Brownies

  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 8 ounces melted butter (2 sticks) plus more for greasing
  • 1 cup dark chocolate cocoa
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Fruit

  • Fruit of your choice (about 1 cup): I used pineapple, kiwi, and watermelon
  • the juice of 2 oranges
  • 2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons butter, melted

Continue reading Dark Chocolate Brownies with Ice Cream and Grilled Fruit

Tiramisu Brownies

I am a huge fan of coffee and coffee-related foods, so tiramisu is obviously a favorite of mine. When the concept of Tiramisu Brownies was mentioned, I was immediately excited. What a fantastic combination of desserts!

Barista Prima Coffeehouse® K-Cup® (paid link) packs are four dark, rich coffee blends that really deliver an intense flavor that are more bold and robust than other K-Cup offerings. The four flavors offered are: Colombia, House Blend, Italian Roast, and French Roast. I’ve had a Keurig for years now (I just had to retire my original Keurig and buy a replacement, sniffle) and am always really pleased with the coffee choices that can be found in K-Cup form. I tend to use coffee grounds in a bunch of recipes, especially ones that use chocolate, to really up the flavor.

Barista Prima was nice enough to send me a box of their House Blend K-Cups so I naturally wanted to make a dish that used these delicious grounds as well as a dessert that would be perfect paired with a cup of House Blend coffee. Many thanks to Barista Prima for also sending me this mouthwatering recipe!

Ingredients:

  • 12 oz. chocolate chips
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 whole eggs
  • 4 egg whites
  • 1 cup cake flour (or normal flour if you can’t find it)
  • Brewed House Blend coffee grounds, to taste
  • 8 oz. Mascarpone cheese, room temperature
  • 8 oz. Cream Cheese, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 4 egg whites
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 Pkg. Soft Ladyfingers
  • 1 cup of Barista Prima House Blend Coffee

Continue reading Tiramisu Brownies

Black and Tan Brownies

I mentioned these delicious brownies in my “A Taste of Ireland” post over the weekend. They were so yummy that I thought they deserved their own post. Also, because it’s technically two brownie recipes together, I thought step-by-step photos might prove helpful. Enjoy!
Ingredients:

   Tan Brownies:

  • 6 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 4 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  • Cooking spray

Black Brownies:

  • 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup Guinness Stout
  • 4 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
Continue reading Black and Tan Brownies

A Taste of Ireland

With St. Patrick’s Day fast approaching I have been thinking back to my trip to Ireland quite a bit. I had such a great time that I wanted to relive a little piece of it, through food of course! I was chosen to be a part of Foodbuzz’s 24×24 for March so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to make some Irish treats. I invited my Dad, boyfriend and Aunt who all came on the trip with me to Ireland as well as my grandpa, who grew up in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland, and my mom, who didn’t get to do the trip with us. I honestly was a bit nervous about this undertaking, I didn’t want to disappoint my grandpa or mess up a traditional meal!
We began with a mini traditional Irish breakfast for an appetizer. An Irish breakfast consists of black and white pudding, bangers (sausage), rashers (bacon), a fried egg, baked beans, and a fried tomato. Because this was just an appetizer, I used quail eggs instead of traditional eggs. I found the black and white pudding, bangers and rashers on foodireland.com, a great website for Irish food products.
A traditional Irish breakfast is quite the meal. In my grandfather’s words “you should eat a good breakfast, because you don’t know when you’ll eat again.” My appetizer version still included all parts of an Irish breakfast in much smaller portions. I personally am not a fan of black pudding or bangers, but I love the rest of an Irish breakfast and was so happy to have this as an appetizer.
The main course was a beef stew. I used my Irish stew recipe I made last year, but substituted beef instead of lamb and omitted the peas.
The Guinness adds such a nice flavor to this stew. I suggest making this ahead of time and freezing it. Stew always tastes better when the broth has had time to thicken.
I also made some Brown Soda Bread to eat with the Irish breakfast and the stew. Soda bread contains flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, butter and buttermilk. My version also had raisins and caraway seeds for extra flavor.
Soda bread is traditionally served with Irish butter and/or jam (I’m a fan of black currant jam, yum!)
We were pretty darn full from the stew and Irish breakfast but there was still dessert to be had. I went off of the traditional for dessert, making a Black and Tan brownie based off of a Cooking Light recipe, but made them in a 9×9 pan and cooked them for 45 minutes. I also cut them into huge pieces, making 9 total.
They were served with a scoop of ice cream and some Irish coffee and tea. The phrase Black and Tan comes from the nickname given to English soldiers that came to Ireland to suppress the 1916 Easter Rising, which eventually became the name of a half Guinness and half Bass beer in America. Black and Tans really aren’t popular in Ireland, but they still make a cute idea for a brownie! (I decided these yummy brownies needed their own post. Check it out here)
My family seemed to really enjoy the meal. The Irish breakfast was a big hit but I think the Irish soda bread was the real star of the night. My grandpa even requested to take some home with him. I am glad we were given the chance to sit down, enjoy some Irish food, and talk about Ireland again. Now, to plan our next trip over there…
 

Day After Halloween Brownies

If you’re like every other American adult the day after Halloween, you have a whole lot of random candy sitting in your house. My guess is you either 1. want to get rid of it ASAP or 2. consume it all in one sitting. Well friends, I have a recipe to satisfy both ends of the spectrum.  Two Peas and Their Pod had a wonderful Peanut Butter Snickers Brownies recipe on their site that got me thinking. Any chocolately goodness could be thrown in these brownies to make a yummy dessert! So I used Dark Chocolate Reese’s and Peanut Butter M&M’s to make these Day After Halloween Brownies! Past that, the recipe is the same as Two Peas and Their Pod, so thank you very much for posting this great idea!
Feel free to use whatever chocolate you have lying around the house. Just be sure to end up with about 1 1/2 cups of candy to make the recipe consistent.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 4 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup dutch processed cocoa
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped candy (I used about a dozen Reese’s Cups and a bag of Peanut M&Ms)
  • 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

Continue reading Day After Halloween Brownies

Salted Caramel Brownies

Hurricane Irene has forced me to stay indoors for most of today, which means I’ve resorted to cooking/baking to keep me occupied. Today’s creation is another Cooking Light recipe for Salted Caramel Brownies.

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 6 tablespoons butter
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon bakery emulsion
  • Cooking spray

Topping:

  •  1/4 cup butter
  •  1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  •  3 1/2 tablespoons evaporated fat-free milk, divided
  •  1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  •  1/2 cup powdered sugar
  •  1 ounce dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
  •  1/4 teaspoon espresso powder
  •  1/8 teaspoon coarse sea salt
Continue reading Salted Caramel Brownies
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