.brownies to die for.

Last night my husband wanted brownies. I usually make these cakey brownies that are a lot like Texas sheet cake. Okay.. it is Texas sheet cake, but we don't call it that. He wanted rich, gooey, chewy brownies that lull you into sweet chocolate dreams. It sounded pretty good to me!

I remember I have a specialty cookbook called Chocolate. That's it. Chocolate. There are recipes for brownies, cookies, cupcakes, cakes... all devoted to my obsession. :) So I peeked in there for the perfect brownie recipe and found it.

The nice thing about this recipe too is that you dirty one dish -- a large saucepan.. minus the brownie pan you actually bake these guys in.


First you need to take 3/4 cups butter (1 1/2 sticks) and put in a saucepan over medium heat and melt completely. Turn off the burner and remove the pan from the heat.

When it's melted, add 2/3 cup cocoa powder. Mix well.

Next, measure out 1 2/3 c. sugar and add that, and 1/2 tsp salt to the pan and whisk in. It'll get really thick, but that's okay.

Whisk in 2 eggs and 1 1/2 tsp vanilla just until it's all mixed in. Don't over beat.

Sprinkle in 1 cup flour. Use a spatula to mix it all together and not the whisk. I tried it with the whisk and it was so thick it took forever to knock it all out from the middle. So learn from me... use a spatula.

Add 3/4 chocolate chips. You can use semi sweet, milk, or white chocolate chips. I'm not fussy... but I used plain ol semi sweet.

Chop 1 to 1 1/2 cups walnuts or pecans.

Spray an 8x8 baking pan with Pam and dump in the brownie batter. Spread out evenly.

Sprinkle enough chopped nuts on top to cover the surface. Pop in a 350* oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. When you insert a toothpick in the center, it should come out a little gooey on the stick. You don't want to overbake because then it won't be a moist, chewy brownie.

Remove from the oven and let it cool completely. Again.. trust me when I say let it cool. I didn't and when I cut into it, it was too gooey and wouldn't hold it's shape.

These were sinful and decadent. I could hardly eat even one of these they were so rich. So sit down and enjoy these with a tall cold glass of milk.

Printable version:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AZ-Z_fQXybIkZGcydmZqcW1fMTYwZGRzNWg0Y2c&hl=en

.white chocolate blackberry brownie bites.

Hello Fay. Yes.. *that* Fay. Tropical Storm Fay. She decided to come for a visit and it looks like she has finally calmed down some. It has been raining and blowing like crazy outside. Our house backs up to a wetland and it's normally dry dry dry, but the water has crept up to our grass!

Paige has been out of school the past two days so I've been thinking of things to do with her while she's home. One thing we did was make dessert to go with our dinner. These little yummies were ooooh so good.

My sister, Marcia, used to sell Pampered Chef and one of the recipes she made quite often, are their little tuxedo bites. I kind of got the idea based off of those, but changed the filling from their cream cheese/whipped cream mixture, to a white chocolate macadamia mousse. And instead of the cherry on top, I used a fresh blackberry. Very delicious!

These would be great for a party since their bite-sized. You could probably make these in regular muffin sized pans, but it wouldn't look as pretty, in my opinion. :)



Begin by making one brownie mix as directed on the package.


Pour into a mini muffin pan about half way up. (it is tough getting a picture while you're trying to pour. LOL)

Put in a 350* and bake until the tops are domed and baked all the way through.

Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes.


Using this handy tool from Pampered Chef, press the centers down to make them into little cups.

Let's make the mousse now.

Put 2 eggs and 1/3 cup sugar.

Put the bowl on top of a saucepan that has about 1" of water in the pot. You don't want the bowl sitting in water so you don't need that much.

Whisk vigorously as the water comes to boil. The steam will cook the eggs and we want this nice and fluffy. Keep whisking until a thermometer reads 140*.


Remove the bowl from the double boiler and add a bag of Mauna Loa white chocolate chips w/ chopped macadamia nuts. If you don't want nuts, add 6 oz white chocolate. Mix until the chocolate melts completely.


Stir in 1/2 tsp vanilla.

Put in the fridge and allow to cool completely.


Once the chocolate has cooled, put 1 cup cream in an ice cold mixing bowl.


Whip on high until firm peaks form. My pictures are light or dark! Fay gave me very poor lighting all day. Sorry about that.


Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate/egg mix. Don't overbeat. Put this back in the fridge and let chill for 3 hours.


Carefully pull all the brownie bites out of the muffin pan. Now I remember why I hate this stupid pan. LOL... they stuck SO BAD!


Transfer the mousse into a piping bag and squeeze some into each cup.


Place blackberries (or strawberry, or raspberry, or cherry!) on the center. Chill for about an hour before serving.


Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_100gs4zvftw

.chocolate raspberry celebration.

Chocolate lovers unite!!!! This was a quick dessert I made tonight. So yummy!! Nothing homemade on it, which makes it even better, right?

I bought a box of Ghiradelli brownie mix (the chocolate syrup mix) and made them according to the directions on the box. Then I got this yummy little tub of Amazon Valley Chocolate ice cream by Haagen Daaz. Drizzle some chocolate ganache on the plate, put the brownie, then a scoop of ice cream. Sprinkle with fresh raspberries and garnish with a mint sprig. Easy easy!!

If I could have changed anything on this, I would have made (or bought) raspberry coulis (pronounced cool-ee) and drizzle on the plate with the ganache. Oh heaven.. *weak*