Brownie Pudding

My friend, Wanda, is a paper fanatic! She sells Stampin' Up and is always willing to share her skills with those of us less talented in the paper department. I am working on a project, but needed some advice (and to use some tools that I don't have) so I solicited Wanda's help. Yesterday afternoon, I went to her house and brought along an afternoon snack for us to enjoy. Wanda doesn't like fruit, so I thought something gooey and chocolaty would be more her style!
Brownie Pudding (Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics)
1/2 lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus extra for buttering the dish
4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature (I'm not sure why Ina Garten's recipes always call for extra-large eggs...I use large eggs and add an extra)
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup good cocoa powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
1 Tbls framboise liqueur (optional)
vanilla ice cream or whipped topping, for serving

Preaheat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly butter a 2-quart oval baking dish. Melt the butter and set aside to cool. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed for 5-10 minutes, until very thick and light yellow. Meanwhile, sift the cocoa powder and flour together and set aside. When the egg and sugar mixture is ready, lower the speed to low and add the vanilla seeds, framboise (if using), and the cocoa powder and flour mixture. Mix only until combined. With the mixer still on low, slowly pour in the cooled butter and mix again just until combined. Pour the brownie mixture into the prepared dish and place in a larger baking pan. Add enough of the hottest tap water to the pan to come halfway up the side of the dish and bake for exactly 1 hour. A cake tester inserted 2 inches from the side will come out three-quarters clean. The center will appear very under-baked; this dessert is between a brownie and a pudding. Allow to cool and serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped topping. Serves 6.

Barefoot Bloggers: Outrageous Brownies

Oh my goodness! I don't know why I have been putting off trying this recipe for so long! Although a bit time consuming and expensive, these brownies are AMAZING! I typically make brownies from a box...triple chunk has been my "go to" for a while, however I'm not sure I can go back to a box mix after Ina's brownies! These brownies are so intense, that my house smelled like chocolate for two days after baking them.


Outrageous Brownies (Barefoot Contessa)
1 pound unsalted butter
1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, divided
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
6 extra-large eggs
3 tablespoons instant coffee powder
2 tablespoons real vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided (1 cup for batter and 1/4 cup in the chips and nuts)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups diced walnut pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 13 by 18 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.
Melt together the butter, 1 pound chocolate chips, and unsweetened chocolate on top of a double boiler. Cool slightly. Stir together the eggs, instant coffee, vanilla and sugar. Stir in the warm chocolate mixture and cool to room temperature. Stir together 1 cup of the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips with 1/4 cup flour to coat. Then add to the chocolate batter. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until tester just comes out clean. Halfway through the baking, rap the pan against the oven shelf to allow air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Do not over-bake! Cool thoroughly, refrigerate well and cut into squares.

My gratitude goes out to Eva for choosing this recipe for the BB group this month! I'm sure I would have eventually gotten around to trying these, but I'm so glad it was now rather than later.

"Hawaiian" Brownie Bites

Tonight is the first Bunko game for this year and the theme is 'Hawaiian'. We are asked to bring a snack to share so I came up with Hawaiian Brownie Bites. I used a boxed brownie mix, dropped the prepared mix by scoopful into a mini muffin pan and baked. Once they came out of the oven, I used the back of my scoop to make a small indentation on the tops to form a cup. I then filled it with whipped topping sprinkled with toasted coconut and chopped macadamia nuts. Easy, quick, and delicious!

Chocolate Quintuplet Brownies

The recipe comes from Dorie Greenspan's, "Baking from my home to yours" cookbook. The Tuesdays with Dorie group made this particular recipe back in January, way before I joined. As I was looking through the book, this recipe caught my attention -- it looked so good and super chocolaty! Luckily, I had everything on hand as I was called to see if I could make a last minute dessert to take to a friend's house. I didn't have time to make the "icing" per the given directions, so I improvised and sprinkled some white chocolate chips on the top right after the brownies came out of the oven. Once they melted, I spread them with a spatula and that was the icing. I used hazelnuts for the nut and really liked the flavor it gave the brownies. I would definitely make these again! Click here for the recipe, it's worth it!