Peanut Butter Brownies

Peanut Butter is one of my favorite things. I don't like to eat it straight from the jar, but I love it in pies, brownies, cakes...anything baked. These little babies made me very happy, they are moist and chewy.

Are you familiar of the food event Cooking with Alicia and Annie? I have known about it for a few months now, but this is my first time participating. If you don't know about it, check it out. You just choose a recipe from Alicia or Annie, make it, post about it, comment on the blog that you made it, and you are in the drawing for a monthly prize. Not too bad, huh?

I found these brownies on Annie's blog. There are so many things that I want to make from her blog and Alicia's as well!! So many recipes, not enough time!

Peanut Butter Brownies
From: Annie's Recipes
3 eggs
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips--I left these out

Instructions
Cream together shortening and sugar. Add peanut butter, eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add dry ingredients then fold in chocolate chips. Pour into a 9x13 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes or until done.

Cookie Carnival-Black Bottom Coconut Bars

Kate from The Clean Plate is back, and is kicking off the Cookie Carnival after a short break. She chose these bars by Martha. I am not a huge coconut fan, but I had some coconut in the cabinet that needed to be used. This was a great way to do that. This recipe is simple enough and doesn't take much time putting it together. What you can expect from these bars is, a moist chocolate brownie base, with a chewy coconut topping, kind of like a Mounds candy bar in brownie form. It was a good choice!

Black Bottom Coconut Bars
By: Martha Stewart

FOR CHOCOLATE BASE
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

FOR COCONUT TOPPING
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 package sweetened shredded coconut (7 ounces), 1/2 cup reserved for sprinkling

Directions
For chocolate base: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving a slight overhang; butter bottom and sides of foil (not overhang).

Place butter in a large microwave-safe bowl; melt in microwave. Add sugar and salt; whisk to combine. Whisk in egg, then cocoa and flour until smooth. Spread batter in prepared pan.

Bake just until sides begin to pull away from edges of pan, 10 to 15 minutes (do not over bake). Let cool slightly while preparing coconut topping. Keep oven on for topping.

For coconut topping: In a medium bowl, whisk eggs with sugar and vanilla. Gently mix in flour and coconut (except 1/2 cup reserved for sprinkling).

Drop mounds of mixture over chocolate base; spread and pat in gently and evenly with moistened fingers. Sprinkle with reserved 1/2 cup coconut.

Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool completely in pan. Lift cake from pan, peel off foil, and cut into 24 bars. Store in an airtight container 3 to 4 days.

Snickerdoodle Blondies

School here starts next week, and I can honestly say that I am ready for it. I like the routine of everyday, just being structured. And that also means that I have more time in the kitchen. I have slacked this summer, but hey, you have "life" that has to be lived.

I have seen these blondies floating around the blogosphere. Ingrid made them, and then Donna made them, you see, they both twisted my arm to make these. I am really glad that they did! These are perfect for an after school snack, for the lunch boxes, or really just any time of the day!

Snickerdoodle Blondies
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

In large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.

Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Spread evenly in prepared pan.

Combine white sugar and cinnamon in a little bowl. Evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the batter.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool slightly. While still warm, cut into bars with a sharp knife.

Twd-Tribute to Katherine Hepburn Brownies

Better late than never, huh? Can we pretend that it is Tuesday? Ok then! These brownies are fantastic! Gooey in the middle with a paper thin crust on the top. Love them!!!! You can find the recipe on pages 96-97 in BFMHTY.

Beach Bound and Brownies

Tomorrow morning I will be up and on the road at 4 am. Heading to my favorite place south, Seagrove Beach, FL. I will be around and checking on my daily reads at night, I mean, when you are a blogger it is quite obsessive and you can't stay away for too long! So, I will leave you with these brownies. I saw them over at Valerie's and new that I had to make them, they are quick and easy to throw together and gooey in the middle. Just like I like my brownies! Have a great week!


Chewy Cocoa Brownies
From: Valerie
1 2/3 c. sugar
¾ c. butter, melted
2 T. water
2 large eggs
2 t. vanilla
1 1/3 c. flour
¾ c. cocoa
½ t. baking powder
¼ t. salt
¾ c. chopped nuts (optional)
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease 9x13-inch baking pan. Combine sugar, butter and water in large bowl. Stir in eggs and vanilla extract. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in medium bowl; stir into sugar mixture. Stir in nuts. Spread into prepared baking pan. Bake for 18 to 25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out slightly sticky. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or frost with frosting.

TWD-Chipster Topped Brownies

This weeks TWD recipe was chosen by Beth of Supplicious. I have made these before and they were a hit with the family, and this week was no different. I mean, how can you go wrong with brownies and chocolate chip cookies in one? I don't think that you can! Thanks for a fantastic recipe this week!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Brownies

You know those recipes that you think...there is probably one out there better than this, but these are good? This is one of those recipes. Again, I was looking through this stack of printed off recipes and came across this one. Hopefully, one of these days I will make it through that stack.

I would make these again, the kids loved them, and the hubby liked them too. They were moist, but probably could have used a little more peanut butter for my taste. Needless to say, they didn't make it through the day, until they were gone.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Brownies

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup margarine
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Butter a 9x13 baking dish and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together the margarine and sugars. Add the eggs and combine. Mix in the peanut butter and vanilla and mix until combined.

Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix this mixture to the wet mixture. Mix until well combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Spread batter in baking dish and bake for 25 minutes.

Tiramisu Brownie Squares

I make this dessert for any type of pot luck that I am attending. This always goes over well with the others. I made this last night for our small group Superbowl party, and again it was a favorite. This recipe originally came from Pampered Chef, I have found that these recipes are always simple and never disappoint, but end the end, I made a few changes. The original recipe called for chopped creme filled chocolate cookies. I left these out. It also calls to use a box brownie recipe, but I chose to make Dorie's Bittersweet Brownies. So, whether you want to go simple or if you boycott box mixes, either way, this recipe is a hit.

Tiramisu Brownie Squares
This is the original from Pampered Chef

1 pkg brownie mix, plus ingredients to make cake like brownies
1 cup milk
1/4 cup instant coffee granules
2 pgs (3.4 oz each) cheesecake instant pudding and pie filling
1 container (12 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed and divided
20 creme-filled chocolate sandwich cookies, coarsely chopped (2 cups)
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels, grated
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray 9x13 in baking pan with cooking spray. Prepare brownie mix according to package directions for cake-like brownies; pour into pan, spreading evenly. Bake -30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely.

In medium bowl, combine milk and instant coffee granules; stir until dissolved. Add pudding mix and half of the whipped topping; whisk until smooth. Coarsely chop cookies and fold into pudding mixture. Spread filling evenly over cooled brownie.

With remaining whipped topping, pipe diagonal rows, over entire surface of filling. Sprinkle grated chocolate and cinnamon over top of filling and whipped topping. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

The bittersweet brownie that I used is not a cake like brownie. It is very dense and moist. I actually prefer it over the cake like brownie in this dessert.

Bittersweet Brownies
By: Dorie Greenspan

2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces
9 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped--I used semi sweet
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp instant espresso powder, optional --I used this
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup all purpose flour

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Coat a 9x13 inch baking pan with cooking spray.

Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Put the butter in the bowl, top with the chopped chocolate and stir occasionally until the ingredients are just melted-you don't want them to get so hot that the butter separates. Remove the bowl from the pan of water.

With a whisk, stir in the sugar. The mixture might get grainy, but it will even out. Whisk in the eggs one by one, then add the vanilla and whisk enthusiastically to smooth the batter. Finally, gently whisk in the espresso powder, if you're using it, salt and flour, stirring only until incorporated. Scrape the better into the pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.

Bake the brownies for just 20-22 minutes, or until the top is dull and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool the brownies to room temperature.

Chocolate Chunk Celebrations!!

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Megan, sent me a great surprise in the mail. It was a copy of the book I'm Dreaming Of A Chocolate Christmas By Marcel DeSaulniers. I was super excited because Megan had one this book last year, and gave it nothing but great reviews. I mean, how could it be bad? It is full of chocolate! Thanks Megan!! I love it!!

With that being said, it was her turn to choose a recipe for our cookbook project, and she chose these Chocolate Chunk Celebrations. I almost want to introduce these as....Is it a cake, is a brownie? NO!! It's a chocolate chunk celebration...Celebration for you taste buds! :) Yes, I know. A little cheesy, but these are that good! I ate 2 at one time, and another for breakfast this morning.

The next cookbook project recipe is my choice. I have a couple of recipes that I am fighting between. Not sure which one will win! Until then, go and make some of these. They are really easy, and worth it!!


Chocolate Celebrations
by Marcel DeSaulniers

18 oz semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
8 TBS (I stick) butter
1 Cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 Cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 TBS Vanilla
1 Cup pecans
4 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped.

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Place eighteen foil muffin cup liners in a cupcake pan.

2. Melt the coarsely chopped chocolate with the better in the top of a double boiler and stir till smooth

3. In a sifter, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Sift onto a large piece of parchment or wax paper.

4.Place the sugar and eggs in the bowl of a stand electric mixer fitted with the paddle. Beat on medium for 2 minutes until light in color and slightly thick. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl and then add the melted chocolate and mix on low to combine, about 5 seconds. Gradually add the dry ingredients. Once all the dry ingredients have been incorporated about 10 seconds, stop and scrape down again. Add the vanilla and nix on low for 5 seconds. Remove the bowl and use a rubber spatula it fold in the pecans and the chocolate chunks and to finishing mixing until thoroughly combined.

5. Portion 2 slightly heaping tablespoons into each cup. Place in the center of the oven and bake till a tooth pick comes out clean but still slightly gooey, almost 18 minutes. Rotate baking pans 180 half way thru baking.6. Remove from oven and let come to room temperature, about 30 minutes.Keep the celebrations in a tightly sealed plastic container and they will stay fresh at room temp 4-5 days, or refrigerate for a week to 10 days, bring to room temp before eating.

Fixation Friday....er.....Saturday....

Ok blogland friends, can we just pretend that today is Friday?

So, now that we all have our mind set to Friday, let me go on....

Today is Fixation Friday and you know what that means, time for our chocolate fix chosen by Michelle from My Year to Get Skinny. I have to confess that I did cheat on this. You see, we were supposed to make our own Dulce De Leche, but, since I didn't really make these until Saturday, I used the PBDDL from Blake Makes. Worked out perfectly! The brownies came together fairly quickly, baked up in a short amount of time, and were perfect to munch on all afternoon!

If you are looking for a blog event that is not strict on the rules, and just a bi-weekly thing, oh, and you have to be a complete chocoholic...this would be for you!

Dulce de Leche Brownies
Pastry Chef David Lebovitz
12 brownies
8 tablespoons (115 g) salted or unsalted butter, cut into pieces
6 ounces (170 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup (25 g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
3 large eggs
1 cup (200 g) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (140 g) flour
optional: 1 cup (100 g) toasted pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup Dulce de Leche (or Cajeta) (recipe below)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (175 C).

Line a 8-inch (20 cm) square pan with a long sheet of aluminum foil that covers the bottom and reaches up the sides. If it doesn’t reach all the way up and over all four sides, cross another sheet of foil over it, making a large cross with edges that overhang the sides. Grease the bottom and sides of the foil with a bit of butter or non-stick spray.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the chocolate pieces and stir constantly over very low heat until the chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth. Add in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the sugar, vanilla, then the flour. Mix in the nuts, if using.

Scrape half of the batter into the prepared pan. Here comes the fun part.Drop one-third of the Dulce de Leche, evenly spaced, over the brownie batter, then drag a knife through to swirl it slightly. Spread the remaining brownie batter over, then drop spoonfuls of the remaining Dulce de Leche in dollops over the top of the brownie batter. Use a knife to swirl the Dulce de Leche slightly.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. The brownies are done when the center feels just-slightly firm. Remove from the oven and cool completely. After they are completely cooled I take the brownies out of the pan by lifting with the foil then I put them in the fridge. It helps the dulce de leche set up.



Dulce de Leche

Preheat the oven to 425° F (220° C).
Pour one can (400 gr/14 ounces) of sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk) into a glass pie plate or shallow baking dish. Stir in a few flecks of sea salt.

Set the pie plate within a larger pan, such as a roasting pan, and add hot water until it reaches halfway up the side of the pie plate.Cover the pie plate snugly with aluminum foil and bake for 1 to 1¼ hours. (Check a few times during baking and add more water to the roasting pan as necessary).

Once the Dulce De Leche is nicely browned and caramelized, remove from the oven and let cool. Once cool, whisk until smooth.

Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Warm gently in a warm water bath or microwave oven before using.

Chipster Topped Brownies

I am just going to go ahead and start this off as...this is probably the best brownie I have ever had!!! Oh my goodness, it is fantastic!! Of course, it comes from the baking queen and it does not disappoint. When you look at the recipe, you think...that is a ton of ingredients, but really, it doesn't take long to put together. First, you mix the brownie ingredients and pour into your pan, then you mix a chocolate chip cookie dough together and spread on top of the brownie and bake. Bake for about 50-55 minutes and these brownies come out thick, and super moist!! Definitely will be made over and over again in this household!!

I should go on the record to say that I only used semisweet chocolate in this.

Chipster-Topped Brownies
from: Dorie Greenspan

For the brownie layer:
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 oz unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1 2/3 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped (I didn't use nuts)

For the cookie layer:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks (12 Tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped or 1 cup of chocolate chips

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter 9x13 inch baking pan, line it with parchment paper and butter the paper. Put the pan on a baking sheet.

To make the brownie batter: Put both chocolates and the butter in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Stirring occasionally, heat just until the ingredients are melted, shiny and smooth. If the mixture gets too hot, the butter will separate from the chocolates. Remove the bowl from the heat.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the sugar and eggs on medium-high seed for about 2 minutes, until pale, thick and creamy. Beat in the salt and vanilla extract. Reduce the speed to low and mix int eh melted chocolate and butter, mixing only until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then, still on low speed, add the flour, mixing only until it disappears into the better. Using the spatula, old in the walnuts, and scrape the better into the prepared pan. Set aside.

To make the cookie dough: Whisk together the flour, baking sold and salt. Working with the stand mixer in the cleaned bowl or with the hand mixer in another large bowl, beat the butter and both sugars together on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. One at a time, add the egg and the yolk, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear into the dough. Still on low, mix in the chopped chocolate. Drop the cookie dough by spoonfuls over the brownie batter and, using a spatula and a light touch, spread it evenly over the batter.

Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until the cookie top is deep golden brown and firm and a thin knife inserted into the brownie layer comes out with only faint streaks of moist chocolate. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to room temperature.

When the brownies are completely cool, carefully run a knife between the sides of the pan and the brownies, then invert them onto another rack, remove the paper and turn right side up onto a cutting board. Cut into bars.

Baking with Shane

This is my 13 year old son Shane. When I asked him what he wanted to bake, he immediatly said brownies. This kid is a true chocoholic! Always has been, and I don't see any sign of that changing for a long time. So, we got searching the blogs and came across these Peanut Butter Marbled Brownie from What's Cooking in the Orange Kitchen, I love it when I come across a new blog that I haven't seen before!

Pay no attention to my messy table! :)

This is the only picture that I could get of him, actually making the brownies, although he did make them himself. First you mix the PB mixture, with cream cheese, PB, sugar and a couple of other ingredients, set them aside. Mix the brownie mixture, layer them in the baking dish, swirl with a knife and bake.

Here is the finished product. Delicious, if I do say so myself. We tried one warm, but I have to say that we liked them better once they were completely cooled to room temperature. If you like a gooey brownie, this is one to try!

PB Marbled Brownies:

6 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup Peanut butter

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

2 Tbsp milk

1 cup butter or margarine, melted

2 cups sugar

2 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (We used 1/2 cup mini chips)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease one 9x13 inch baking pan.

2. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar, egg, and milk until smooth. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, mix together melted butter, sugar and vanilla. Mix in the remaining eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; mix into the batter. Stir in chocolate chips.

4. Remove 1 cup of the batter. Spread the remaining batter into the prepared pan. Spread the peanut butter filling over the top. Drop the reserved chocolate better by teaspoonful over the filling. Using a knife, gently swirl throught the top layers for a marbled effect.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out almost clean. Cool completely, then cut into bars.

TWD-French Chocolate Brownies

A few weeks ago Blake Makes had a giveaway for Amano Chocolate, I was one of the lucky recipients of this sweet treat. I had never heard of them before, so I was excited to get to try it. The lucky ones received 3 bars of 3 different kinds, 2 oz each. (Sorry, I didn't get a picture of them) If you haven't checked out Blake yet, make sure you do! He has an awesome site, lots of giveaways and makes some wonderful PBDDL, also known as Peanut Butter Dulce De Leche. You won't be disappointed!



Now, what does this have to do with this weeks TWD recipe? These brownies needed 6 oz of chocolate...just the right recipe to use my Amano chocolate for! Di, from Di's Kitchen Notebook, was the lucky one to choose the recipe for this week. The original recipe called for rum infused raisins, but, I couldn't make myself put raisins in these brownies. Some other TWD chicks went on and added raisins and compared it to raisinettes in brownie form, others used other dried fruits and had great results. I still like my brownies just plain. I loved this brownie recipe. A few ingredients, quick to put together, and a short bake and you have fudgy brownies, with a thin crust on the top. I only had one problem, and that was when you completed mixing, the batter had the consistency of chocolate mousse! I almost ate all of the batter before I could get to the baking part!



Don't forget to check out the other TWD chicks and their take on this recipe. Next weeks recipe comes from Marie at A Year at Oak Cottage and we are using strawberries!



French Chocolate Brownies
- makes 16 brownies -Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours.


Ingredients
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

1/3 cup raisins, dark or golden

1 1/2 tablespoons water

1 1/2 tablespoons dark rum

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons; 6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into 12 pieces

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup sugar


Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 300°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, butter the foil, place the pan on a baking sheet, and set aside.
Whisk together the flour, salt and cinnamon, if you're using it.


Put the raisins in a small saucepan with the water, bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until the water almost evaporates. Add the rum, let it warm for about 30 seconds, turn off the heat, stand back and ignite the rum. Allow the flames to die down, and set the raisins aside until needed.


Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Slowly and gently melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the butter, stirring so that it melts. It's important that the chocolate and butter not get very hot. However, if the butter is not melting, you can put the bowl back over the still-hot water for a minute. If you've got a couple of little bits of unmelted butter, leave them—it's better to have a few bits than to overheat the whole. Set the chocolate aside for the moment.


Working with a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until they are thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Lower the mixer speed and pour in the chocolate-butter, mixing only until it is incorporated—you'll have a thick, creamy batter. Add the dry ingredients and mix at low speed for about 30 seconds—the dry ingredients won't be completely incorporated and that's fine. Finish folding in the dry ingredients by hand with a rubber spatula, then fold in the raisins along with any liquid remaining in the pan.
Scrape the batter into the pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top is dry and crackled and a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and allow the brownies to cool to warm or room temperature.


Carefully lift the brownies out of the pan, using the foil edges as handles, and transfer to a cutting board. With a long-bladed knife, cut the brownies into 16 squares, each roughly 2 inches on a side, taking care not to cut through the foil.


Serving: The brownies are good just warm or at room temperature; they're even fine cold. I like these with a little something on top or alongside—good go-along are whipped crème fraiche or whipped cream, ice cream or chocolate sauce or even all three!


Storing: Wrapped well, these can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.

TWD #2;aka..Tuesdays with Dorie

......ok, so I realize that I don't have #1 posted, but that is because I missed out on that one. Laurie from Quirky Cupcake received the book, Baking from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan for Christmas and vowed to "try" to make one recipe a week from the book and post on Tuesdays about it until she has tried every recipe. Once she posted about this, Michelle from Sugar and Spice joined in, and now I have decided to join in as well.

Michelle chose Quintuple Chocolate Brownies, and oh my word...these have got to be the best brownies ever! Warning, they are very rich, and you put you into a chocoholic shock, but it is well worth it. :)

This recipe calls for 3 types of chocolate and then topped with a 4th chocolate, white chocolate....I didn't add the nuts, because my kids and hubby aren't crazy about nuts, but it is perfect without them.

Week one was devoted to Brown Sugar Pecan Shortbread cookies, go and check out Laurie and Michelle's take on this one.

And, don't forget to check back next week for week #3!

Quintuple Chocolate Brownies
For the Brownies:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick (8 Tbsp) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
3 oz unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 oz bittersweet or semi sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp strong coffee
1 Cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
6 oz premium-quality milk chocolate, chopped into pieces, or chocolate chips
1 Cup chopped nuts

For the glaze:
6 oz premium quality white chocolate, finely chopped
1/3 cup heavy cream

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with foil, butter the foil and place the pan on a baking sheet.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, and salt.

Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and add, in the following order, the butter, the two chocolates and the coffee. Keeping the pan over low heat, warm just until the butter and chocolates are melted-you don't want the ingredients to get so hot they separate, so keep and eye on the bowl. Stir gently, and when the mixture is smooth, set it aside for 5 minutes.

Using a whisk or a rubber spatula, beat the sugar into the chocolate mixture. don't beat too vigorously-you don't want to add air to the batter-and don't be concerned about any graininess. Next, stir in the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla. You should have a smooth, glossy batter. If you're not already using a rubber spatula, switch to one now and gently stir in the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated. Finally, stir in the milk chocolate chops and the nuts. Scrape the batter into the pan.

Bake for about 35 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted into the center comes our streaked but not thickly coated. Let rest for at least 30 minutes.

Turn the brownies out onto a rack, peel away the foil and place it under another rack-it will be the drip catcher for the glaze. Invert the brownies onto the rack and let cool completely.

Make the glaze:
Put the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring the heavy cram to a boil and pour it over the chocolate. Wait 30 seconds, then gently stir until the chocolate is melted and the glaze is smooth. Pour evenly over the brownies and spread to cover the entire surface. Refrigerate brownies for at least 20 minutes for glaze to dry, and cut into squares.