TWD: Honey Nut Brownies & Citrus Currant Sunshine Muffins

Ruh roh! Somehow two Tuesdays have gone by without me posting my Tuesdays with Dorie treats. I baked them... just didn't post them!

Anyway, this week, Suzy of Suzy Homemaker chose Honey Nut Brownies and last week, Lauryn of Bella Baker chose Citrus Currant Sunshine Muffins.


First up, the brownies... from the discussion forum I heard that these "brownies" tasted more of honey than chocolate. Those that baked early advised using a honey you really like because the honey flavor was front and center. Sadly, I'm not in love with the honey I have on hand, so I used Lyle's Golden Syrup instead. Lyle's is, I believe, a British product and tastes of caramel and has a consistency much like honey. I figured it would be a perfect match. I also increased the chocolate by half again, and used cashews to add another level of tastiness.


I must say... boy, were these ever good! Wow! I couldn't stop myself from cutting off a hunk every time I walked by. I'm glad I only made 1/2 batch! Now I need to find a good honey and try them as intended.

Moving on to the Citrus Currant Sunshine Muffins, they were aptly named because the day I made them the sun came out after what has seemed like forever! I get so tired of these grey, gloomy, Ohio winter skies, I just crave sunshine so badly this time of year.

Enter the muffins...


I even took them outside, risking a too-bright picture because it was so nice to see some sun.

These tasted lightly of orange and lemon and were nice and soft.


Next time I let the clouds get to me, I'm going to bake another batch of these and see if they will work their magic again on those nasty clouds.

OK, that's all folks. If you'd like to see the recipes, please check out Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking, from My Home to Yours", or click on the links in the second paragraph for Suzy and Lauryn's web sites.

TWD: Brrrr-ownies

Hey folks! More chocolate on the menu this week... Karen of Welcome to Our Crazy Blessed Life chose Brrrr-ownies for this week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe.

Brrrr-ownies are a moist, fudgey, peppermint patty filled brownie, named after Dorie's son's affinity for frozen peppermint patties.

I know, I know, you can't see any peppermint patties, can you? Well, they're there, I promise! You can't see them, but you can sure taste them. Mmmm, nice minty chocolate... these would be perfect at Christmas time.


The only downside? They majorly stuck to the buttered foil. I had to patiently scrape each and every brownie off the foil using my trusty plastic knife. I'm not sure if there's a fix for the sticking or not. If so, this recipe is definitely a keeper.

OK, signing off for now! If you'd like to find the recipe, please check out Karen's blog or find a copy of Dorie Greenspan's book, "Baking, From my Home to Yours".

TWD: White Chocolate Brownies

This week for Tuesday's with Dorie, Marthe of Culinary Delights selected White Chocolate Brownies.

I think everyone went into this with high hopes... the picture of these brownies is one of the more appealing ones in the book. A white chocolate brownie is studded with raspberries and topped with golden meringue. YUM!


Unfortunately, the question and answer forum (on the TWD site) for this recipe was filled with cries of woe as reports of undercooked brownies became the norm. Apparently, it was difficult to test the done-ness of the brownies with the meringue layer on top.

I opted to bake the brownies "naked" until done and then top them with meringue, finally finishing them off with just a minute (actually less) under the broiler. Worked great!

How did they taste? Interestingly, I thought the orange zest in the recipe was the predominant flavor, with a burst of raspberry every now and then. (OK, I just figured out that I mistakenly added probably double the orange zest required... duh! No wonder!) Altogether they were quite tasty, once I got used to the orange flavor (I guess I was expecting more, well, white chocolate flavor, which I couldn't really detect).

If you'd like to see the recipe, please visit Marthe's blog (she is such a sweet and dedicated blogger) or check out Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking, From my Home to Yours".

P.S. Oh, I forgot to add that I baked 1/4 of the recipe in a 6" springform pan.

TWD: Rick Katz’s Brownies for Julia, Day #1 of "8 Days with Dorie"

This week at Tuesday's with Dorie, Tanya of Chocolatechic chose Rick Katz’s Brownies for Julia. (Yes, that Julia.)

And with this post, I'm kicking off eight straight days of TWD recipes. I have slowly but surely been whittling away at the recipes that were baked before I started TWD nearly two years ago (only two left, yeah!). These eight posts will be short and sweet and to the point. Think "quantity over quality".


So, anyway, these very-long-named brownies (want the story? get the book!) were reported to bake up gooey, soupy, and all sorts of other adjectives that I don't like attributed to my brownies. Consequently, I added more flour, as in 1/2 cup added to the required 1 cup. (Well, except that I quartered the recipe, so whatever that works out to.) Quarter of a recipe fit perfectly in a mini-muffin pan. As you can see, I *didn't* grease the pan and so had to pry my brownies out. And if this weren't enough changes, I used semi-sweet chocolate instead of unsweetened and bittersweet.

And how were they? Good! Very good! They were chewy and moist and delish. Now, I'm not sure how they compare to the original version, but this improvised version was dang tasty.

Thanks, Tanya, for a great pick. You can find the recipe on Tanya's blog or Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking: From my Home to Yours".

TWD: Cherry-Fudge Brownie Torte

For the final Tuesday's with Dorie recipe for October, April of Short + Rose chose the Cherry-Fudge Brownie Torte.

I gather from Dorie's write-up that this is a brownie-ized version of Black Forest cake, complete with dried cherries and cherry preserves in the brownie itself (with a little Kirsch thrown in here and there). The brownie was to be topped with a cream cheese-slash-mascarpone cheese-slash-whipped cream layer.

I simplified the recipe because I thought it might be a little too "fancy" for my family's tastes. I made half of a batch and divided the batter evenly in 11 cups of a muffin pan. Next time I'll stretch it to 12 cups because a little goes a long way with this rich little treat



For the topping, I forgot to get mascarpone at the store and I didn't feel like making another grocery store run so I improvised. I used the cream cheese called for (1/2 of it anyway), I added a few table spoons of sugar, a little glug of vanilla, a couple of serving spoons of honey Greek yogurt, and finally a couple of dollops of Cool Whip (I admit it, Cool Whip is my Achilles heel). It was darned tasty and just the right amount of tang to balance the sweet brownies.


I'll definitely make these again... maybe even the way they're supposed to be, LOL. OK, if you want the recipe, please check out April's blog or go straight to the source and find Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking, from My Home to Yours".

TWD: Espresso Cheesecake Brownies

For this week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe, Melissa of Life in a Peanut Shell chose Espresso Cheesecake Brownies.

Sounds good, huh? It was a brownie base topped by an espresso cheesecake with a portion of the brownie batter swirled in. (I left out the espresso and the sour cream topping.)

I have a feeling this is a recipe that would be perfect if you baked it for exactly the right amount of time. Unfortunately, I don't think I baked it for exactly the right amount of time.

Boo...

So much potential there...

I halved the recipe and baked it in a 7" spring-form pan. I think I over-baked because my cheesecake was a little dry and my brownie was dry and gummy. (Update: I tried them again and I've decided they're actually OK. Maybe I still had a case of the morning grouchies when I first tried them... always a possibility before 9 a.m.)

Chalk it up as "one of those weeks". (Sorry, Melissa, please don't take it personal.)

As always, you can find this recipe in Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking, From my Home to Yours" or, check out Melissa's blog. Hers looks wonderful.

TWD: Brownie Buttons (& Orange Berry Muffins)

Jayma of Two Scientists Experimenting in the Kitchen chose Brownie Buttons for this week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe. I gotta say, Jayma, your pick ROCKED! This was the best brownie recipe we've done with TWD so far, if you ask me.


These brownies were devoured in about 30 minutes flat at my house. I'd say about half didn't even make it to the white chocolate dippin' part.


I dressed them up with some sanding sugar and sprinkles. My photos of chocolate treats usually end up so dull and boring, I figured I had to give these little guys a fighting chance at looking as good as they tasted.

I took mine out of the oven a few minutes before the lower baking time. They seemed almost done and I like them a little under done anyway. I think I got about 16 bites (can't remember exactly). Oh, and I left out the orange zest... why mess with chocolate when it's perfect already?

Speaking of orange, I made Orange Berry Muffins a few weeks ago, in my never-ending quest to catch up. This recipe was chosen waaaaay back in week 5 of TWD by Michelle of Sugar and Spice.


I sprinkled them with some basic streusel topping before baking.


They were very good! I only used half the orange zest called for and the orange taste was barely noticeable.

Oh, and before I sign off, let me share with you a visitor to our yard this week. Say hello to Mr. Black Rat Snake. (EWWWwww!) Although not poisonous (dear hubby says he's actually beneficial... um, OK) he scared the bejeesus out of me.


I'm guessing he was at least 3 feet long.

OK, if you want to check out the recipes, please pick up a copy of Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking, From My Home to Yours" or stop by either Jayma or Michelle's blogs.

Sssssssee you next week (get it? snake humor! har, har).

TWD: Tribute to Katharine Hepburn Brownies (& Snickery Squares)

This week, we have a guest host at Tuesday's with Dorie, Lisa of Surviving Oz. Lisa was the winner of the recent TWD logo contest. You can see her creation, above.

Congrats, Lisa!

As her prize for winning, she got to pick this week's recipe. Lisa must be a girl after my own heart because she picked Tribute to Katharine Hepburn Brownies.


Apparently Katharine Hepburn once gave a young lady several pieces of advice, one of which was to never add too much flour to her brownies. In the never-ending debate between which are better, fudgey or cakey brownies, I think it's safe to say that Katherine liked her brownies fudgey.

These brownies were definitely fudgey. They were dense and moist and didn't rise to speak of.

I thought they were pretty good. I tend to be on the cakey end of the brownie debate, though, so I was happy to share them with family. My kids apparently don't care and they were happy to chow down. (P.S. I left out the cinnamon and only added a pinch of instant coffee.)

I also recently made Snickery Squares, which were chosen by Erin at Dinner and Dessert before I joined.


These yummy bar cookies had a shortbread type cookie base, a layer of dulce de leche, and a chocolate topping. Caramelized salted peanuts were mixed in with the dulce de leche and sprinkled on top.

These were a hit at our 4th of July get-together this weekend. If I made them again, I think I would try milk chocolate for the topping, since the bittersweet made the chocolate layer a tad overpowering.


Mmmm, don't they look delish?

OK, that's all for now, folks! If you'd like to see the recipes, please get yourself a copy of Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking, From my Home to Yours", or check out Lisa's site for the brownies and Erin's site for the Snickery Squares.

TWD: Chipster Topped Brownies

Every so often you run across a dessert that really knocks your socks off. Take this week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe, Chipster-Topped Brownies, for example. Talk about a stroke of genius... this brownie had a crunchy chocolate chip cookie crust. (Sigh)

Since brownies and chocolate chip cookies are my all time favorites, it isn't much of a surprise that I wanted these treats for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (OK, OK, snack time too). Thanks so much to Beth of Supplicious for picking these. They were da bomb!


In case you aren't drooling yet, let me share a few visuals.

The first task is to layer brownie batter in a pan. Then, dollop the chocolate chip cookie dough on top...


Smooth the cookie layer as best as you can. Some folks had problems with this. My kitchen was warm and I think that helped me get a smooth batter.


Next came the hard part; figuring out when they were done baking. There were comments on the TWD forum all over the board. Some folks baked for the recommended time and they were overdone... some for the recommended time and the brownies were goopy. I baked mine for 20 minutes longer than recommended, and the brownie layer was still leaning towards slightly underdone. This was OK, though (they are brownies, after all). After they sat, they were fine for eating.

On the down side, these won't win any awards for beauty. Mine puffed up in the oven and then cratered at the end of baking.


But all was forgiven after sampling. Forget looks! These babies rock out loud! Will definitely make these again.

FYI... I added the nuts to the chocolate chip cookie layer rather than the brownie layer since I'm a "no-nuts-in-my-brownies" type. I also added a couple of handfuls of Heath toffee bits to the cookie layer as well. They both added an extra scrumptious crunch to the topping.

All righty! That's it for now. If you'd like to see the recipe, please check out Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking, From my Home to Yours" or check out Beth's blog, above.

TWD: French Chocolate Brownies

Oh, please, please, don’t force me to bake another batch of brownies. The horror…

Um, yeah right, that might be me in a parallel universe. But here in this universe, I’m happy to try another brownie recipe. If I had to pick one dessert to take with me to the proverbial deserted island, it would be brownies.

This weeks Tuesday's With Dorie recipe is French Chocolate Brownies chosen by Di of Di's Kitchen Notebook. Thanks Di!

But what makes them French, you ask? In the blog, Serious Eats, Dorie says she was aiming for a different dessert (a fondant) while baking for a get-together in France. When the French folks saw the dessert they assumed it was brownies so she just went with it… Voila! French Brownies!

I changed up a few things. For my version, I left out the cinnamon since I was afraid my kids would turn up their nose and I didn’t want to be left alone in the house with an entire pan of brownies. In addition, I used dried cherries rather than raisins, and subbed semi-sweet for most of the bittersweet chocolate.


The verdict? they were… quite good. Better than the Quintuple Chocolate Brownies, if you ask me (but not quite as good as my favorite box mix combo. But hey, they're brownies so they were still scrumptious.). You don’t notice the cherries until you bite into one, and then it’s a little burst of cherry flavor, distinct and yummy. (I wasn't able to detect the rum.) I might have underbaked them... silly me, I forgot to set the timer and wasn't paying attention to the time (what else is new?).

My kids... they didn't like them because of the cherries (uh-oh! stuck in the house with a panful of brownies anyway). My mother-in-law, however, thought they were delicious.

Here’s a helpful hint for cutting brownies. You know how when you cut your brownies, the brownies get stuck to the knife and then your cuts are jaggedy and rough? I would have never guessed until some baking friends clued me in... the best implement for avoiding this is the humble plastic knife. Cuts like a dream and doesn’t get all globbed up with brownie.


Up next week: La Palette’s Strawberry Tart

FRENCH CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

Ingredients
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (optional) *I left this out
1/3 cup raisins, dark or golden *I used dried cherries
1 1/2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 tablespoons dark rum
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped *I used mostly semi-sweet
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.

Directions
1. Whisk together the flour, salt and cinnamon, if you're using it.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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-alongs 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: Quintuple Chocolate Brownies

This week I joined a weekly baking group called “Tuesdays with Dorie” (TWD for short). Members bake a weekly confection from the book “Baking: From My Home to Yours” by Dorie Greenspan and post about it on (surprise!) Tuesday.

This is a wonderful cookbook, with fantastic pictures and recipes alike. I highly recommend it! Believe it or not, I have a mammogram story to go with this book that I might share one of these days, lol.

This week’s recipe was Traditional Madeleines, chosen by Tara of Smells Like Home. You can find the recipe HERE.

Those bakers (like me) who don’t have a madeleine pan were given the option of baking a past TWD recipe instead. For me, it came down to choosing between The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart and the Quintuple Chocolate Brownies. I’m the only lemon fan in the house so brownies it was. Besides, how can I NOT bake a recipe with the words “quintuple” and “chocolate” in the title?

Mixing the flour, salt, and cocoa powder with the chocolate, butter, egg, and vanilla mixture:

The verdict? They had a rich, chocolate flavor and I liked the addition of the white chocolate glaze on top. They were a little more dense and fudgy than I like, though. My kids didn’t seem to mind, however, and took after them like they hadn’t eaten in two days. They were also a snap to make.

OK, confession time. My favorite brownies are from a (gasp!) mix. Actually, its two mixes, Betty Crocker Chocolate Chunk and Ghiradelli Double Chocolate, mixed together, prepared according to both package directions and baked in a 9x13-inch pan. They’re the perfect balance between fudgy and cakey and are nice and thick.

So, there you go… my first TWD post. Looking forward to next week’s recipe.

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 *(I left out the 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 an 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 out 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.