Fudgy Chocolate Chunk Brownies

I love cookies, I really do. But if I see a tower of brownies sitting on a party plate I’m going to go check it out. If it looks fudgy and dense I’m going to be all over it! Don’t get me wrong, cookies are amazing, but sometimes they just give false hopes. I can’t tell you how many times I have bitten into a cookie, thinking the center was soft and gooey, and instead it just crumbles in my mouth. It’s a huge let down and anyone who says differently is a little liar.

 

So for the 7^th week of Christmas Treats, hosted by Brenda of Meal Planning Magic, I’m sharing these wonderfully fudgy, chocolatey, dense, and all around fabulous brownies.

I’m pretty sure these are the best brownies I have made so far, true story. I made these back in the summer for a night out with friends and I regret only eating one because all my friends ate the rest later that night. But then again I did eat a majority of these little darlings.

 

I used to not like chocolate chips in the brownie, thinking their sole purpose was to distract from a mediocre chocolate taste, but the chocolate chips added to these brownies was just an added chocolate bonus.

Oh and the fudginess of these brownies is serious! I thought about buying vanilla ice cream just so I could tone down the fudge factor. But alas I found myself ice cream-less and reaching for a second third helping of brownie.

Fudgy Chocolate Chunk Brownies

From Something Swanky

Makes one 8x8 inch pan

Ingredients

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

½ cup milk chocolate chunks/chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line an 8x8 inch pan with tin foil. Grease foil with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, only adding the second after the first has been fully incorporated. Stir in the vanilla extract. Scrape the bowl as necessary. Add the flour to the butter mixture. Mix until the flour has disappeared. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean when inserted into the center. Cool in the pan until room temperature. Cut brownie into squares and serve.

Brownie Waffles

 

You know what's delicious? Homemade waffles. You know what sucks about having homemade waffles? Cleaning the waffles maker. I swear that contraption was specifically designed so that no one could get between the grooves. I have small fingers and even I can't get those silly things cleaned!

This is why I hardly make waffles, which is sad because honestly, homemade waffles are soo soo much better! With my hate for waffles makers aside, I knew I had to make these brownie waffles at some point in my life. Why? Because it's made of chocolate and who doesn't like chocolate?!

                           

 

I love chocolate, especially dark and fudgey type chocolate treats. These waffles really taste like chocolate cake, only a little better I think. Chocolate cake usually has a dry texture and is unpleasant. These waffles are soft and perfectly chocolatey.

These can be used as a vehicle for any other sweet treat you desire, like vanilla bean ice cream, berries and whipped cream, chocolate syrup, really anything else you can think of. I personally liked tearing the waffles into triangles, warming them up, and dipping each one into chocolate syrup.

 

 

Brownie Waffles

Recipe from Domestic Fits

Makes about 10 4-inch round waffles

Ingredients

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/3 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder

½ tsp. salt

½ cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup milk, divided

¼ cup canola oil

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs, divided

¼ cup sugar

Directions

Preheat your waffle maker according to manufacturer’s specifications

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt. In a bowl set over simmering water (a double boiler) melt the chocolate chips and ½ cup of the milk. Stir to combine. Once melted, remove from heat and add the remaining milk, oil, vanilla, and both egg yolks. In a clean glass bowl, beat the egg whites and sugar until soft peaks form and the mixture becomes glossy.

Add the chocolate mixture to the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined. Fold in the egg whites until just incorporated.

Cook waffles according to manufacturer’s specifications. My waffle iron is about 4 inches in diameter and I used 1/3 cup of batter for each waffle.   

Peanut Butter Filled Brownies

 

I am probably one of the clumsiest person in the world. I once told one of my teachers all the accidents I had involving me going to the hospital and getting stitches before I was even six years old and she was shocked. She joked to the class that if the B Team (the emergency team at school) was ever called look around to see if I was there, because if not, it’s probably me.

A few weeks ago I was straightening my hair, and I told control of the flatiron. My reflexes kicked in and I grabbed the hot metal plates, which caused me to drop the thing onto my foot. Then the next day I was on my way inside the airport (I was still in the parking lot area) and I did a total face plant onto the scratchiest rug ever. I skinned both hands so I couldn’t use them, I skinned my elbow so bad I couldn’t bend it, and I skinned my knee so bad I couldn’t walk properly. My dad said I looked like I had a wooden leg.

 

Not only was I just a mess, I couldn’t find Neosporin or bandaids ANYWHERE in the freaking airport, so I went for about four or five hours without anything to protect my new wounds. Then, when my dad and I finally found bandaids, we couldn’t find anything to disinfect them except for some hand sanitizer. Let me tell you this now, never ever in a million years put hand sanitizer on a wound larger than a nickel. You will buckle down and cry.

Anyways, I made these brownies the day before my little airport fiasco. And I’m so sad I did because that meant I only got to eat one of these marvelous creations. I know for a fact that as soon as I get back from my little vacation I will be making these ASAP.

Erin, over at Texanerin Baking, makes unhealthy treats a little more healthy, but you can’t taste the health. I have made quite a few of her recipes, and each one was a success. These are by far my absolute favorite though!

The brownie part is sooooo fudgy and chocolatey. It really is amazing. Although I don’t think it would be nearly as amazing without the peanut butter middle. The recipe calls for homemade peanut butter (just pulverizing peanuts in a food processor until it reaches peanut butter consistency) but I didn’t have that. Instead I bought some natural peanut butter at the store. The only brand I could find that had peanuts as the only ingredient was Krema. Dear god this stuff was so good and it even smelled like regular peanut butter. The only thing about it was its loose consistency, which probably caused the filling to be more of a batter than a thick filling. The brownies still baked up perfectly though. The peanut butter filling was not nearly as thick as Erin’s was, but since when does appearance affect awesome flavor?

 

Peanut Butter Filled Brownies

Slightly adapted from Texanerin Baking
Makes one 8x8 inch pan

Ingredients
Peanut Butter Filling
1 cup natural peanut butter (I used Krema)
1/3 cup honey
¼ cup coconut oil

Brownies
¾ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line an 8x8 inch baking pan with foil. Grease foil with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, honey, and oil. If your coconut oil isn’t soft, let it sit out at room temperature before mixing with the peanut butter and honey. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator while you make the brownie batter.

Sift together the cocoa powder, flour, and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk to combine. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding one as soon as the previous has disappeared into the mixture. Stir in the vanilla. Add all of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Fold to combine (the mixture will be thick and dark).

Spread half of the brownie batter into the prepared pan. Pour the peanut butter filling over the brownie batter. Spread the peanut butter filling towards the edges. A bit of brownie batter may get swirled in, that is totally fine, they will just become peanut butter swirl brownies! Cover the filling with the remaining brownie batter.

 

 

Place pan on the center rack and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out mostly clean with the exception of a few moist crumbs and a bit of peanut butter filling. Allow the brownies to cool in the pan for at least 30-45 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely. Once cool, slice and serve.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

I have been posting a lot of cake recipes lately. Lets change that.

Today I bring you two delicious desserts combined into one! I saw this recipe on Foodgawker and saved it because it really is an ingenious idea. Cookie dough is soft and brown sugary and make people happy. Brownies (the good ones) are dense, fudgy, and full of chocolate! Combining these two things really does make an awesome dessert.

I was actually kind of nervous when making these because I didn’t read the comments for tips on how to improve until I was getting all the ingredients together. Then I started to get nervous when I kept reading all these comments about how the cookie dough topping was crumbly and how the brownie bottom was dry. Despite this, I decided to make them anyways and hope for the best.

Michelle, from Brown Eyed Baker, used the creaming method for her brownie base, but I decided to switch it up a bit and use the original recipe of melting the butter and whisking it with the brown sugar. The cookie dough part was hardly changed at all (just the addition of salt) and it was not crumbly at all! This eggless cookie dough has the perfect regular chocolate chip cookie dough consistency, and this is coming from a girl who is back to baking in the dry, high-altitude of Colorado. I don’t know what those crazy people where doing.

The brownie is soft, and sort of cake like, which isn’t too bad since it pairs well with the soft cookie dough on top. I feel if the brownie base was like a regular fudge brownie this dessert would be way to rich. The cookie dough is so perfectly textured, I was almost tempted to not put the dough on top of the brownie base and just eat it out of the bowl with a spoon, it really is that good!  

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

Slightly adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

Makes one 8-inch square pan

Ingredients

Brownie Base

2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

1 stick unsalted butter, melted and still warm

¾ cup dark brown sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/8 tsp. salt

Cookie Dough Topping

6 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

¼ cup + 2 tbsp. dark brown sugar

¼ cup + 2 tbsp. sugar

1 ½ tbsp. milk

¾ tsp. pure vanilla extract

¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/8 tsp. salt

¼ - 1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions

To make the brownie base: preheat the oven to 350 F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with tin foil. Grease foil with cooking spray and set aside.

In a heat-proof bowl set over simmering water, add the chopped semi sweet chocolate. Stir occasionally until completely melted. Turn off the heat and set the bowl of melted chocolate aside to cool.

In a medium bowl whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until combined and the mixture looks creamy. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, adding the second once the first has been incorporated. Stir in the vanilla extract and the melted chocolate. Fold in the flour and salt until just combined. The mixture will be very liquidy.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out almost clean when inserted in the center. Do not remove the brownie from the pan; allow it to cool while you make the cookie dough topping.

To make the cookie dough topping: in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Gradually add both sugars to the beaten butter. Cream the ingredients until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl as necessary. Add the milk and vanilla and beat on medium until combined. Turn the mixer speed down to low and gradually add the flour and salt. Mix until flour is just incorporated. Turn the mixer off and fold in the chocolate chips.

To assemble: Spread the cookie dough over the just warm brownie (still in the pan). Make sure to spread the dough evenly to the corners of the pan. Place plastic wrap over the dough and freeze until the dough has become firm. Remove cookie dough brownie from the pan and cut into desired portions. Allow the brownie to come to room temperature before serving.

Fudgy Brownies

So for those of you who have been living under a rock, or have just lost track of time, today is Valentine’s Day. For some this means snuggling up to your cuddle-bunny, pudding-cup, sweetie-pie, etc., feeding each other romantic meals by candlelight and sharing fancy desserts. For others, like myself, it means well… nothing. I don’t mind, really. I have brownies to keep me company.

In case you didn’t know, I only have three brownie recipes on here. I have no idea why I have so little; I love chocolate, and fudginess, so why do I only have three recipes? Probably because I love a certain kind of brownie: the kind of brownie made from a box. Those brownies have everything I’m looking for: deep dark chocolate color, rich chocolate taste, crinkly paper-thin tops, and chewy fudgy texture. I may be wrong, but I think a lot of bloggers have trouble finding that perfect balance in a scratch recipe.

When I decided to make brownies, it was 6 in the morning on a Saturday. I looked through my “To Bake” list and found like one brownie recipe: s’mores brownie. When I looked through the saved recipes on Foodgawker, none of the brownies caught my eye. Then I looked on Pintrest, and the same thing happened. I looked on foodgawker again and these Fudgy Brownies looked promising. They have the crinkly top and the deep dark color along with the look of pure chewy fudginess going on in the center.

This recipe calls for a technique I have never seen in brownies. Instead of adding leavening, you whip up egg whites and sugar. For some reason I could not get my egg whites and sugar to whip to the soft peaks I wanted, but I somehow made it work. The rend result was a semi-crinkle crust, and a dense fudgy interior.

The flavor of this brownie is the thing that really shines through, though. The flavor rivals all scratch brownies I have ever had. Even my roommate, who has only ever eaten one kind of brownie her entire life: Pillsbury boxed mix, said these were really good. So there may be hope for made-from-scratch brownies yet.

Happy Valentine's Day! <3

Fudgy Brownies

Slightly adapted from Juanita’s Cocina

Makes a 9-inch square pan

Ingredients

8 tbsp. unsalted butter

½ cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder, sifted

¾ cup dark brown sugar

2 eggs, separated

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

½ tsp. salt

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, sifted

1 cup sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-inch square pan with tin foil. Grease tin foil with cooking spray; set the pan aside.

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Once completely melted, remove from heat and whisk in the sifted cocoa powder (sifting the cocoa powder helps remove those pesky clumps and makes for easier mixing). Stir until smooth. Beat in the brown sugar, egg yolks, vanilla and salt. The mixture will be granular. Mix in the flour until combined. The mixture will be very thick.

Beat egg whites in a large bowl until foamy. Gradually add the sugar. Beat on medium speed until soft peaks form. Fold the egg white and sugar mixture into the chocolate mixture, making sure not to over mix.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center. Allow brownies to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. Cool to room temperature before slicing.  

Truffle Brownies

Guess what?! I’m off to college! Ok I probably sound a little more excited than I actually am. Sure I’m excited, but I’m also scared. I’m going to be in a new town, I’m going to be completely surrounded by strangers, and just, everything is changing. I’m trying not to sound like a cliché, but I think I am.

I just hope I can handle it. I was used to elementary school; I was used to middle school (a.k.a. the worst three years of my life!); I was used to high school, but for some reason I can’t wrap my mind around getting used to college. I’m worried that during the summer my drive to succeed decreased or maybe I’m just not as smart as I thought I was; plus the new professors have me worried. I’ve asked round and it seems like I’ve got a pretty good lot of professors, except one. It turns out I’ve got the meanest, most harsh, most unforgiving wretch of a teacher for my advanced English class – a class I’ve always excelled in.

Gah, so anyways, this will probably be my last post for a couple days/weeks.

In other news: I made brownies! Ok, maybe brownies are really all that special so some people, but these are special brownies, and no not that kind of special.

These brownies come from the lovely Martha Stewart! Sure she can come off a little harsh on camera, but I don’t care, that’s what makes her so loveable. Plus she can craft like no other. I wish I had the gift of craft like she does, but I digress.

Instead of pouring the batter into a square or rectangular pan, the batter gets poured into a simple round cake tin and baked. Then, once the brownie has cooled completely, a layer of rich ganache is poured on top, which puts this brownie over the top! (Hardy-har-har)

Martha has come up with a soft, but not cake-like (which is a sin in the Brownieopolas) brownie that’s dark and dense, but not too rich. This really is one of the better brownies that I’ve had. Also, for the first time ever, I correctly made ganache! I’ve tried making ganache before, but it’s always too liquidy and the chocolate never melts completely. Then I’m left with liquidly-flaky chocolate soup. Boo. The ganache that goes on top is silky smooth and sets up just right. It never hardens all the way, so you’re not fighting it with your fork. It’s not good to fight desserts with your utensils.

Truffle Brownies
Slightly adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cookies
Makes one 9” round

Ingredients
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
½ cup (60 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
¾ cup (144 g) sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
¼ cup milk
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease a 9 inch round springform pan with cooking spray (make sure you really get the bottom). Set pan aside.

Put butter and semi-sweet chocolate into a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Stir until the butter and chocolate have melted together. Set aside to cool slightly.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl; set aside. Whisk together the sugar and eggs in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. Add chocolate mixture and stir until combined. Stir in the milk and vanilla. Add flour mixture and mix until well incorporated.

Pour batter into the prepared tin. Set on the middle rack and bake for 25-27 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean except for a few crumbs. Let the brownie cool on the counter while you make the ganache.

Place chocolate in a small bowl. Heat the cream in a saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Pour over chocolate and let sit for about 5 minutes. Gently stir until smooth. Allow ganache to cool, stirring every 10 minutes, until thickened.

Pour ganache over cooled brownies (still in the pan). Refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes. Once chilled, run a paring knife around the edge of the cake tin. Remove the bottom of the cake tin and cut brownies into wedges.