Boozy Brownies

Gojee.com - this site has me forgetting about anything diet-resolution like and wishing I had a bigger pantry. The coolest thing about this site is that they have a function where you can plug in items you have in your pantry and then the site curates recipes that include the ingredients you have - it's not an exact science, but it's pretty impressive all the same.

Thanks to the fact that I always have chocolate and booze on hand (because all bakers need to have chocolate and booze in their pantry), I plugged in the "ingredients" into the Gojee recipe finder thingamajig and came across a boozy brownie recipe.

Of course, I decided to alter it a little to make it more chocolatey and I substituted brandy for whiskey, as that's what I had on hand at the moment.

Boozy Brownies (modified recipe)

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
4 oz of 60% Callebaut chocolate, chopped up
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup of stout (I used Murphy's here - but any stout beer will do)
3 tablespoons of brandy
3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degs F. If you're using a regular brownie pan, butter it and dust it with cocoa powder. I used a non-stick pan here and just buttered it for good measure. I also used a standard brownie pan, 9x12 inches.

Melt the butter over low heat and add the chopped chocolate, stirring until completely melted and incorporated with the butter. Remove from heat and add the sugar - granulated and dark brown - mixing well. Set aside to cool a bit until it reaches lukewarm or room temperature.

In a larger mixing bowl, beat together egg yolks, eggs, vanilla stout and brandy until smooth. Sift into the mixture flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Stir to combine - try not to over mix it.

Add the chocolate + sugar mixture to the flour/egg/booze mixture, folding to combine until all is incorporated. Add the chocolate chips, fold into the final mixture.

Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted. Cool, cut and enjoy! I like it with cold milk.

Gimme a little sugar...brown sugar brownies that is.

A good friend of mine makes these amazing muscovado sugar brownies that are rich, fudgey and droolworthingly delicious.

They are wonderful and now I am thinking I need to get him to make me some soon. I did not have muscovado sugar in my pantry, but I did have some lovely regular brown sugar so I decided to make a version of his brownies.



I also wanted to reassure myself that my baking prowess did not desert me - my last two baking attempts were less than satisfactory. I've since confirmed that the organic flour I used was the culprit. Thank god for regular all-purpose! Not to mention, for this particular recipe, I was able to use my wonderful new food scale. Yes, I did not have a food scale until recently. I love it.


Brown Sugar Brownie (adapted from All Recipes UK)

Ingredients
25g unsweetened chocolate
60g semi-sweet chocolate pieces
100g unsalted butter
1/2 cup white sugar
100g dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs + 1 egg yolk, beaten
100g all-purpose flour
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 8 x 8 baking pan. In a double boiler (or a bowl over a pot of simmering water), melt the chocolate and the butter together. Once melted, set aside to cool. Add the white and dark brown sugar to the cooled chocolate mixture and mix well. Stir in vanilla and then add the eggs and mix until fully incorporated. Sift together the flour, cocoa and baking powder, and fold into the chocolate egg mixture. Do not over mix. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the brownie.

 Let cool slightly and then cut into your serving size. I got 16 pieces out of this recipe - they only lasted a day. These are fudge-y chocolate-y goodness.

Pumpkins Are a Girls Best Friend!

Well, they are when said girl needs a break from writing her god-awful thesis. Tis the season for all things orange-y, so when I was doing my food shopping the other day, I decided to pick up a can of pureed pumpkin. I know I could have bought one fresh, roasted it and made some homemade puree, but pumpkin from a can is easier. And if my favorite cooking blogger smittenkitchen uses it, then why the heck can't I?

That being said, I remember seeing on her blog a lovely marbled pumpkin and chocolate brownie recipe. So, off I went in between writing bibliographies and found the recipe (which was incidentally modified from Martha Stewart's - don't you love baking? It's all about the mods).

I decided to go with my own modifications and ended up with these.



They taste as good as they look.

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies (adapted from smittenkitchen.com adapted from Martha Stewart Living)

Ingredients

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups sugar (the original recipe calls for the larger amount; I think it could be dialed down a bit)
3 extra large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups solid-pack pumpkin
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
dash of allspice
dash of mace

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 x 8" brownie pan.

Melt butter and chocolate over a double boiler. Let cool.

Mix together flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar. Add vanilla and beat until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture and mix well.

Separate the batter into two halves (approx 1.5 cups of batter each). Add chocolate mixture to one half and mix well. To the remaining batter, add vegetable oil, pumpkin puree, and spices and beat well.

Into your greased brownie pan, pour the majority of the chocolate mixture and spread evenly with a spatula. Top that with the pumpkin mixture and spread evenly. Add the last bit of chocolate batter and swirl the mixtures together to create that lovely marbled effect.

Bake for 45-50 mins (I know!) until toothpick comes clean when inserted into the brownies.

Let cool before cutting and serving. And let me tell ya, they taste as good as they look!