Posts tagged ‘brownies’

Jul 13

Paleo Gluten Free Frosted Cake Brownies

I really want to expand my horizons, I have always been a butter and sugar kind of gal and use it when I bake just about everything. On July 4th I went to a BBQ at a friends house and one of the guests practices a paleo lifestyle and has really done amazingly well. While we all enjoyed the cheesecake for dessert I watched her sit there with nothing and felt kind of bad. On Instagram I noticed a post for paleo brownies with a peanut butter frosting that looked amazing and I decided to give them a try. If you follow strict paleo, the brownies in the recipe are not 100% paleo as they have a peanut butter frosting and peanuts are not permitted. I chose to follow in that same line of thinking and the frosting I made is also not 100% paleo but it’s close. It really is delicious, I paleo-ized (don’t think thats a word) Merrill Stubbs buttercream recipe on food52, the same one I used for the dacquoise that I made a few months ago. Since the recipe calls for powdered sugar (not paleo) and coconut palm sugar is allowed, I thought I would make my own powdered sugar using the coconut palm sugar and a little coconut flour. It worked well, if I had a vitamix it probably would have been a little better but my Ninja did a pretty good job. There are a few pieces of the coconut sugar that didn’t break down but IMHO that gives it character. The coconut sugar gives the buttercream a caramel flavor.

The brownies which are really more like a cake are so easy to make, you put all the ingredients in a blender, process until smooth and pour into a prepared pan. Got to love that! NOTE: Be careful not to over bake, I think I did and they got a little dry. Whenever I make a recipe for the first time I follow it to the letter but if I make these again I will make a few changes. I am not going to embrace a paleo lifestyle although in theory it sounds good and I know people that have lost an incredible amount of weight and feel great but I find it too restrictive, but rather choose to try to eat healthfully with portion control and limit sugar. I also could not eat as much meat as you are supposed to eat on paleo, not my thing.

Add chocolate chips or chunks or shaved chocolate (if going paleo find paleo friendly chocolate)
The recipe said to use a 7 inch square pan, I have never seen a 7 inch pan and used my 8 inch pan which made them a little thinner than the ones pictured in the original recipe. It would be even better to use a 6 inch square if you can find one.
Might increase the coconut oil a bit adding an additional tablespoon or 2.

Paleo/GF Brownies

Recipe from paleo gluten free eats

1 cup coconut sugar

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 cup melted coconut oil

1/4 cup coconut milk (full fat is best)

6 large eggs

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Heat oven to 350 degree’s.

Line 8 inch square pan with parchment paper so there is an overhand on 2 sides. Grease the sides and bottom with a little coconut oil.

Add all the ingredients to your blender and process until smooth, you may need to scrape the sides once or twice. Scrape into prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes (test after 20 minutes). Cake tester should come out fairly clean (a few crumbs are fine). Better to be a little under done than over done, it continues to bake a little after removed from the oven.

Powdered coconut sugar

1 cup coconut sugar

1 tbs coconut flour.

Place in high powered blender like vitamix and process until it’s powdery. It took about 10 minutes. If you have a vitamix use the dry container for this if not it’s ok, I used my to go cup on my ninja and it worked great. Place in a covered container. You might want to double the recipe if making the frosting because you need 1 1/2 cups.

Frosting

1 egg yolk from farm fresh egg or pasteurized egg

1 1/2 cup powdered coconut sugar

4 1/2 oz earth balance vegan butter or you could use coconut butter or even pure cocoa butter (earth balance is not paleo because it contains soy)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Place everything in a bowl and beat with your electric mixer until smooth and creamy.

Frost the brownies when cooled and cut into pieces after frosting. Refrigerate until ready to use. NOTE: the egg can be eliminated but it gives a silky smooth texture that I love. The egg is not cooked or heated so make sure you use eggs from a trusted source, fresh or pasteurized.

Feb 27

43 Comments

Alice Medrich Cocoa Brownies- Food52 Genius Recipe

Brownies

I talk about Food52 a lot, it’s a site I love, am active on and have met some really great people through. I previously posted the genius recipe for caramelized white chocolate, I really love that recipe. Today, Kristin Miglore one of the editors from Food52 posted a recipe for Cocoa Brownies by the great Alice Medrich. I immediately set out to make these brownies, you see I have been wanting to find a brownie recipe for quite a while that just uses cocoa powder, well here it is, and I am very excited.

The recipe is simple to make and yields a moist, rich brownie, I thought that a glaze would be nice, I didn’t want a thick icing, just a hint is all thats needed, so I mixed some Kahlua with butter and confectioners sugar, chocolate and coffee are a very happy match in my opinion, Well these brownies are tremendous and if you are a fan of chocolate and brownies you will love this recipe and I wanted to share this you. I am including the headnote with the recipe. Enjoy!!

This recipe is one part of a master brownie recipe Medrich designed to use whatever chocolate you have in the house — but the best version happens to be the one that only requires cocoa powder. By taking out the chocolate, with its inevitable fat and almost-inevitable sugar, Medrich was able to control and fine-tune the proportions of both. When she added back in the fat (via butter), the middles stayed softer. When she added back in granulated sugar, the crusts were shinier and more candy-like. Any cocoa will work, but natural (not Dutch process) will taste more richly of chocolate. Recipe adapted slightly from <strong><a title=”Amazon: Bittersweet” href=”http://www.amazon.com/Bittersweet-Recipes-Tales-Life-Chocolate/dp/1579651607/?tag=food52-20“>Bittersweet</a></strong> (Artisan, 2003)

Makes 16 large or 25 smaller brownies

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cold large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (unsifted, measured by stirring briefly, spooning into the measuring cup until it’s heaped above the rim, then leveling it with a straight-edged knife or spatula — it should weigh nearly 5 ounces)
2/3 cups walnut or pecan pieces (optional)

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.
Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Stir from time to time until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test. Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot.
Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir in the nuts, if using. Spread evenly in the lined pan.
Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack.
Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 or 25 squares.

Glaze:

1 tbs softened unsalted butter

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1 tbs Kahlua

Mix the butter and sugar together, add the kahlua and mix to combine, spread on cooled brownies. You can add a little more Kahlua if you like, I did, just watch that the glaze doesn’t get too thin. You can play around with it, add a little less of one ingredient and more of another. It’s fun to play!

Dec 5

17 Comments

Triple Threat Chocolate Squares-Day 5 of 7 Days of Holiday Cookies And A Give Away!!

Triple Chocolate Threat

You will notice that so many of recipes contain chocolate, well, it’s because I am a shameless chocoholic. I always try to include cookies in my gift boxes that do not have any chocolate in them but I always come back to my true love. The photo above is right from Abby’s book, I made these a while back, they were eaten before I could take a picture, I will be making them again next week when I start assembling my gift boxes,

I first saw this recipe when I received my copy of Abby Dodge’s new cookbook Mini Treats And Hand Held Sweets. In case you don’t know who Abby Dodge is, check out her website, she is a published cookbook author, brilliant founder of “Bake Together” and one of nicest people I have ever met. One look at the photo and I knew this was a recipe I needed to make immediately (and I did) These bite size squares contain some of my favorite ingredients, chocolate, cream cheese, coffee liquor (Kahlua), butter and sugar. I was wowed with the results, they are moist and chocolatey, the filling has a slight tang from the cream cheese, I fell in love, instantly. Abby graciously gave me permission to post this recipe, thanks so much Abby!!

Because there is cream cheese in the filling I will not be able to send these through the mail to gift box recipients but everyone that I give to locally will have these luscious little bites in there boxes.

Now for the giveaway!!! This is my first ever and I have a copy of Abby’s fantastic cookbook that I will send to one lucky person. All you have to do is comment on this post and a name will be randomly picked using random.org. Believe me when I say you will LOVE this cookbook. I certainly do. I will announce the winner on December 14th. Residents of USA only. Shipping rates for a book were really expensive. I really wanted to include those outside the US.

Triple Threat Chocolate Squares

For the filling:

8 oz cream cheese softened

4 oz bitersweet chocolate melted

1 yolk from a large egg at room temperature

2 tbs brewed coffee, coffee liquor or water at room temperature

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Put cream cheese in medium bowl. Beat with electric mixer (hand held is fine for this job)until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the melted chocolate, yolk, coffee, vanilla and salt. Beat just until blended.

For the brownie layers:

1 1/2 cups (6 oz) unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 cup (1 1/2 oz) unsweetened natural cocoa powder, sifted if lumpy.

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp table salt

16 tbs (8 oz) unsalted butter, softened

1 3/4 cup (12 oz) granulated sugar

3 large eggs at room temperature

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Position an oven rack in the center of the oven, and heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9×13″ baking pan (I like the straight sided kind) with foil, leaving about a 1 inch overhang on two sides. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of the foil.

Whisk the flour,cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl until well blended and no lumps remain. Put the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer with a paddle attachment on medium speed until well blended and smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one a time beating until just blended between additions. Add the vanilla with the last egg. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and mix on low speed until a soft dough forms, about 1 minute. Divide the dough in half (each half weights 1 pound but eyeballing it is fine).

Scrape one half of the dough into the prepared pan and using an offset spatula spread evenly. Drop spoonfulls of the filling evenly over the batter and spread evenly. If the filling is still soft, pop the pan in the freezer for a few minutes until it’s firmer, this will make it easier to spread the top layer. Drop small chunks of the remaining dough evenly over the filling and carefully spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out almost clean (a few crumbs sticking is good) 27-29 minutes. Move the pan to wire rack and let cool completely.

For the glaze:

5 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

4 tbs (2 oz) unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces

1/2 cup (2 1/2 oz) pistachios lightly toasted and chopped (Optional)

Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave or in a small bowl over a pot of simmering water, stirring with a rubber spatula until smooth. Remove from the heat and set aside. Scrape the glaze on top of the brownie and using an offset spatula spread evenly. Sprinkle pistachios if using. Slide the baking pan into the refrigerator until the glaze is set, about 20 minutes.

Use the foil handles to lift the entire brownie from the pan onto a cutting board. Carefully peel or tear away the foil and toss it out. Using a ruler as a guide(or by eye) and a large knife, cut crosswise into 6 equal strips, then cut each strip into 9 peices. Cover and stow in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Serve slightly chilled.

NOTE: These bars can be prepared and baked then covered and frozen for up to 1 month before glazing and serving. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before proceeding with the recipe.