Baked Sunday Mornings: Spicy Brownies

A SLAB OF SPICY BROWNIES

 What size would you like? 

Look at that nice, clean cut...these are perfect brownies!

Growing up in the West, I’ve always loved Mexican foods with flavorful spices and lots of color, but their pastries and baked goodies are lacking.  They have less sugar and, in general, less spice.  They are beautiful, but are often dry and always lack “something,” in my opinion.  For example: I purchased some beautiful cinnamon rolls not to long ago at the Mexican market.  The cinnamon part was great, however, there was no sugar and no butter in that wound up dough bun.  Not what I expected.  And the frosting was something like powdered sugar, shortening, with a little water.  Bleahhhhh!

But the marriage of good  American brownies and a Southwestern flare in the spices department is a wonderful combination.  I’ve always loved spicy brownies, however, I’ve not tried ancho chile powder, only regular chile powder in the past.  And, I’ve not added ginger to my brownies, so this is a new flavor combination for me.

Not too long ago, my daughter, Emmie Lou Who, spent 18 months in Taiwan and while there she introduced her new friends to American baking; specifically brownies which were her specialty.  The Taiwan cuisine uses stovetop cooking and no ovens.  Thus, no baked goods.  They have steamed buns, but few sweets.  There are bakeries, but no brownies.  Emmie was asked to bring brownies wherever she went...the church kitchen had an oven that she was allowed to use.  For fun, she held brownie and cookie baking classes often. Emmie made lots of friends!

Another daughter, Frolicking Night Owl, is our family brownie specialist.  I quit baking brownies as hers are always so much better...and the last  two times I’ve baked them, I’ve not liked them...to crusty on top and too gooey in the middle.  I like to try new recipes, but my past two trials have failed miserably.  My owl bakes them in so many ways and so often that I have taken brownie baking out of my repertoire.  

But for today, I was excited to bake this recipe, as these spicy brownies have a huge appeal to me, and I need a treat for later when my family all comes for Sunday dinner.  The Owl’s family will be here, and I need to be competitive...not winning, but at least have edible brownies that they will enjoy.

When I pulled the brownies from the oven, #2 Son was in the kitchen and said, “What’s that?”  Everyone here knows I don’t do brownies.  I told him about the spices within, and he was quite delighted.  Hard to let them cool before cutting in!  They did look beautiful.  A lovely shiny top, but not that crusty top so loved by many bakers who seem to love anything that says “brownie” in the recipe title.  I did not want cakey brownies, but also did not want them to be too gooey.

The verdict: These are great brownies!  Everyone loves them.  The spicy is not really very spicy, but contributes subtly to the whole flavor of this brownie, creating a phenomenal overall taste.

I’m back in the brownie baking business at my house...well I could be.  The Baked Boys have really good brownie recipes...I should quit trying out new recipes and stick with theirs.  But, I won’t tell the Owl I baked these great brownies or she might quit baking them for me so often.

These spicy brownies are good enough to go on my Christmas cookie platters.  I’m fussy about what gets on these platters.  These brownies are winners!

I love this December time of year.  I’m sure that with these brownies you are all staying on the “Nice List!”  Have a wonderful week!!!

French Friday with Dorie: Cocoa Sables

DELICIOUS PARISIAN CHOCOLATE BUTTER COOKIES

In 1 more hour it won't be Friday...I'm trying to hurry.  Just made these cookies and doing this quick post.  Tomorrow we celebrate Hubby's and No. 2 Son's birthdays...party day at my house.  I'm busy baking birthday cakes and other foods, cleaning, doing the yard, getting my hair done, shopping...........so, sorry I'm late with getting my blog up to date.

For these cookies I chopped 72% dark chocolate and added twice the amount...it's my favorite part.  Just for fun I rolled the pre-cut longs in sugars or chopped nuts.  I doubled this recipe and will use these cookies for our party.  Hubby did taste them and agrees with me that they are chocolaty goodness.

Then, for the the kiddies, I baked a double recipe of Vanilla Sable cookies which were rolled in sugars or sprinkles and then topped with ganache and "Easter eggs."  These are also wonderful butter cookies.  Found Dorie's recipe and write up in the current issues of Fine Cooking, the magazine that has "The Secrets to Lemon Meringue Pie" on the front cover.  The flour to butter ratio makes them a little less dense, I like the way the chocolate variety baked better.  But they are all tasty and I"m sure the family will enjoy munching on them tomorrow at our party.

DORIE'S VANILLA SABLES FROM the APR/MAY FINE COOKING MAGAZINE

I did take a few minutes to look through many of your posts.  I will go back and comment on your wonderful baking, but probably not until Monday.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Baked Sunday Mornings: Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars

 

I CUT THESE PICTURED COOKIES INTO 2 X 3 INCH SIZE AND FOUND THEM TO BE VERY RICH, MAKING THIS SIZE TOO LARGE FOR A COOKIE SIZE... SO WE CUT THESE ALL IN HALF FOR EATING.    A  2 X 1 1/2 INCH SIZE IS JUST RIGHT

I'm going in so many different directions these days that I lost track of the date, thought I'd missed a week somewhere on my calendar, and couldn't believe that I'd missed this experience.  I went to the Baked Sunday Mornings site to see what you all had done, and found the recipe posted, but no one had baked the Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars.  It was such a let down that no one had participated.  But I could not complain, because I had also forgotten this project.  I was delighted to figure out my error, to have a week restored to my life, and to be on time to participate in this group.  Whew!  I can't tell you how badly I felt when I thought I had missed out.  All this cooking and blogging has become a hobby and I really miss you all when I can't help missing an assignment.

I USED A LARGER STONEWARE BAKING PAN...MORE LIKE COOKIE SHEET SIZE--THESE COOKIES ARE RICH SO I WANTED TO MAKE THEM THINNER...I'LL GET ABOUT 40 BARS FROM 1 BATCH

I have one son who was a picky eater as a child.  All my other kids loved everything, but this particular son politely asked what was being served and then proceeded to make his own meal...peanut butter and jelly sandwiches...every day.  I think they kept him alive.  Even though his tastes have matured and he is now a healthy eater of a variety of foods, this recipe reminded me of him and it was fun to think about him as I baked these bars. ( I miss him and his wife as they are away at school.)

HAND HELD APPLE PIES

These bar cookies had lots of parts.  Prepare the baking pan, mix the crust, refrigerate, roll the crust, par-bake with weights, let cool, make the filling,  make the crumb topping, can't remember, did we chill again, bake...cool, slice, taste...

MAKING APPLE PIES ALONG WITH THE BAR COOKIES ADDED VERY LITTLE EXTRA CLEANUP

I decided not to make a big mess by rolling out the crust between layers of parchment paper,   HA!  I thought foods don't stick to parchment paper.  What a mess!  The dough rolled out beautifully in the paper, but when I went to peel off the paper, the dough totally stuck to both sides and took effort to get it cleaned off.  So, back to my countertop method of rolling out with flour and without paper.  That actually worked great...should have done it in the first place.  But now I had made a mess and I was dreaming about pie while scooping out peanut butter.  Why not, I already had the rolling out mess and could use the same dirty dishes.  In honor of my "Baked" baking, I decided to use their crust recipe, which we have used previously.  (These all butter crusts don't hold their shape as well as those with at least a quarter shortening, but they taste sooooo much better...just love all that butter!  And I also love NOT eating shortening.)

 I went to the patio fridge where I keep extra fruits and veges, and just about blew up.  The same peculiar fridge problem happens to me a couple of times a year.  Someone decided to adjust the fridge temperature...make it a little colder...and I found a fridge full of frozen produce.  Actually no one did it...must be those leprechauns. There is also extra milk, butter, bacon, etc...that are not bothered by a little ice, but my pie apples were hard as rocks. (Actually they peeled easily and made perfect pies.) I knew that when they thawed they would be mush and would rot and be unusable...so my pie turned to pies, four,...had to use all those apples.  And then I made lots of hand pies just with some of  my filling (4 pies was enough) and used all my dough scraps for these small crusts.  Anyway, those wanting to come for Sunday dinner will be required to eat their fair share of pie as well as peanut butter and jelly bars.

PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY BARS JUST OUT OF THE OVEN (NOTE:  I USED HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY JAM)

And in the "Baked" tradition, I used half brown sugar in my pie filling.  The pies are delicious, but the best ones are the smaller, rustic hand pies.  Their egg washed, sugar sprinkled crusts are crispy, top and bottom, and with a little filling oozing out and caramelizing on their edges, well, they are extra good.  Anyway, just thought I'd let you all know that our crust recipe works well for mini, uncontained pies.  I'm thinking about making berry pie-pops tomorrow...I also found raspberries and blueberries out in that fridge.  They too need to be used. 

LARGE BAR COOKIES--SEE ALL THE LAYERS?

The Peanut Butter and Jelly bars came together well, even though the process was drawn out with so many steps and dirty dishes...except for my crumb topping which was not as crumby as I'd hoped.  With all the fat in the pound of butter used through this recipe plus the other pound of butter, well, almost, in the peanut butter, my crumb topping kinda melted into all that fat during baking.

My son would like these cookies.  I will make them again when he visits home...but I plan to reduce some of the filling fat so that those oils will not be absorbed by the topping and make it less crumby.

I'm interested to see what you all think about these.  And, I'm very happy I did not miss this experience!

Happy St. Paddy's day to you all!!!

DELISH WITH BROWN SUGAR AND LOTS OF SAIGON CINNAMON

Baked Sunday Mornings: Grasshopper Bars

CREAMY, MELT-IN-YOUR-MOUTH CHOCOLATE, MINTY BARS OF DREAMY GOODNESS

HONEY AND BABY M GO SHOPPING FOR INGREDIENTS--NEED LOTS OF BUTTER AND CHOCOLATE

Because I was out of town I am behind on my baking/posting.  In a effort to catch-up I have baked the Grasshopper Bars (and so did my Frolicking Night Owl daughter, so we compared a few notes) and in the process, I've taken care of a couple of other tasks.

I think I have mentioned that I teach adult Sunday School where we study the New Testament this year.  To keep everyone awake and lively through the sometimes heavy-duty topics, I take a sugar goodie to my 70 member class which I share at the beginning of each lesson...it takes about 15 minutes for the full sugar effect to kick in, which becomes noticeable  with more thoughtful comments and answers, and the men especially love my class.  I'd like to think I am a great teacher (I prepare well, make handouts, maps, etc.), but I really think it is their way of saying they love my treats.  I am positive that 2 or 3 folks attend just for my treats, and I feel it is worth all my efforts to get them there where we discuss good things.  As I pondered what to bake for my class members, I decided to try the Grasshopper Bars recipe and let them be the judges on this recipe.

While out of town, I needed a few more pie plates (I made 28 varieties  totaling 50 pies and pie-size tarts for my nephew's wedding reception), so I made a trip to hit the local thrift stores.  I came across a few other fun finds like this baking dish, which was made in France, and unlike my other Pyrex type dishes, it has unusual handles and a green tint.  So, I thought I would try out my new find, and I also decided to experiment with a few other baking dishes to see which I like most for this type of recipe.

MY NEW THRIFT STORE BAKING DISH

I also used my favorite brownie pan which is from Pampered Chef...from one of those neighborhood parties that I get invited to almost weekly but rarely attend...but this particular item was well worth the party and I recommend it highly for baking any bar cookie or bar cake.

THIS  PAMPERED CHEF STONE BAKER WAS THE BEST BAKER

First the brownie bottom was baked and cooled completely.  I love gooey and extra chocolaty brownies so I added lots of chopped semi-sweet chocolate to the batter...as if this recipe is not rich enough.  Actually turned out great.

MY 9 X 13 PYREX AS SUGGESTED

I tried a few other similar baking pans...had to bake 100 2" square bars...mostly for my class but we needed some at home too.

Then the buttercream filling was made and chilled (while I mowed the lawn...just the perfect amount of time, and it takes a real AZ woman to mow in 112^).   For flavoring I used Italian soda syrup, Creme de menthe, and peppermint extract in the same portions as the recipe called for in the "real" ingredient.  Worked perfectly.  There were, however, some problems with how the recipe was written. First, what is meant by "bring to boil and has thickened"?  Does that mean barely a boil (no amount of time given), and how thick?  My daughter removed the heat at the first sign of boiling, and her mixture had thickened some, but it was never thick enough, even after chilling, and remained runny on her bars...not good.  I boiled my mixture for a few minutes, hoping it would thicken to a more spreadable consistency, but decided that maybe it would whip up and thicken more, possibly  thicken during refrigeration???  The recipe write-up was not clear.

My kitchen is hotter than most...hot outside and baking inside makes things quite hot for our ingredients.  Butter melts just about instantly when removed from refrigeration...and chocolate is a bit soft right out of the cupboard.  So, I refrigerated my beaten mixture and then beat it more, but it did not really thicken to what I would normally use as frosting, for example.

All the baking pans except the Pampered Chef stoneware pan were lined with parchment which left ragged edges all around (those bars around the edges were the ones kept out for us).

THE STONEWARE CAME OUT NICELY WITHOUT PARCHMENT

It was fun to try my new baking pan, but my go-to pan will be the stoneware...much easier and came out well.

BUTTERCREAM SPREAD ON TOP OF BROWNIE

But the quite soft buttercream did spread onto the brownies (I had to use a soft touch), which I then chilled while I finished the yard...about an hour more.  But, before spreading, the instructions say to mix the buttercream again, after chilling, until it is the "proper consistency."  Whatever that means???  What is the proper consistency?  Frolicking Night Owl definitely did not achieve the proper consistency and she is a good baker.  I'm wondering if anyone has a "too firm" filing that needed to be placed over a pot of simmering water and re-mixed to "proper consistency?"  If so, I"m sure they do not live in AZ!

THE GANACHE...HEAVEN IN A BOWL

Then I melted the chocolate and butter mixture and it is, well, wonderful enough to make any day your best day ever, and, for sure, this had a "proper consistency."  How could it be anything else?  Butter and chocolate melted together and smooth as glass, well almost, when poured over the buttercream mixture.

Then back to refrigeration for another hour, then cut into squares and boxed up ready for my class.

Our tasting was a delight!!!  What is better that all this butter and chocolate and creamy goodness?  Hubby went to weight watchers right after I did this baking so he tried hard to refuse a taste, but he tried a tiny portion and then came, I suppose unfortunately, for more.  Number 1 son appeared with a friend and they ate a whole pan.  Probably a pound of butter apiece.  No complaints.  They tried to sneak more to take home, but my class has to be treated...maybe there will be a left over to bring home...NOT!

I hoarded away a few for our family Sunday dinner, but soon these delicious bars will be gone.  Since there are several time-taking steps for this dessert, I can't just whip them up every time I dream about them, but I will need to rearrange my life so that I can make them often.  Now that I know what I want for my personal "proper consistency" I'll be baking these again soon and often.  This recipe is a keeper!!!!!!!

OK, I'm giving in.  As asked, here I am...first pic of me on this blog, but I can do it with my grandkiddies!  My baking buddies are the best tasters and lick-the-beaters helpers anywhere.  So whatever vision cyperspace friends have had of me is now banished and here is the real me...

HONEY AND BABY M...SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS