Baked NYC Brownies

I'm still missing New York City so I continue to live vicariously through recipes of New York bakeries and restaurants. This brownie recipe from Baked turned out to be one of my favorite brownies, dare I say...gasp...even better than Bouchon's.  They are everything I like in a brownie, a rich chocolaty flavor and a gooey fudgy texture. YUMMY! 

Baked Brownies
from brown eyed baker

1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder (Valhrona)
11 oz dark Chocolate, chopped (Scharffen Berger Bittersweet Chunks & Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chips)
8 oz unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 tsp instant espresso powder (Ghirardelli Mocha Hot Chocolate Mix)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
5 eggs room temperature (if you are in a hurry place eggs in warm water for 10-15 minutes)
2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter bottom and sides of a 13x9 baking pan, and line the bottom with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, salt and cocoa powder. Set aside.
Using a double boiler, melt the chocolate, butter and espresso powder, stirring occasionally, until melted and smooth. Turn off the heat and add the sugars, whisking until completely combined. Remove the top bowl from double boiler.
Add 3 of the eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Add the 2 remaining eggs and vanilla and stir just until incorporated. Be careful not over beat the batter.
Add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture, and fold until just a bit of the flour is visible.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
Bake for 30 minutes, rotating the pan half way through the baking. The brownies are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it.
Let brownies cool completely before cutting into squares.

The Start of the Christmas Baking

I have been back from Thanksgiving in Mexico and have been busy preparing for Christmas. While my kids have been writing their Christmas list's, I have been busy making my own list...my Christmas dessert list. There will be brownies, cookies, marshmallows, truffles and bark to name a few. So let the baking begin.
My first Christmas dessert was a Mint Kissed Brownie. I used a delicious brownie recipe from Thomas Keller, then added my 2010 Holiday Favorite, Hershey's Mint Truffle Kisses. These brownies were ridiculously good, they tasted exactly like the Bouchon's I get at Thomas Kellers Bouchon Bakery, but minty. Here it is, the best brownie recipe EVER. 

Mint Kissed Brownies
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened dutch cocoa
3 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 1 tablespoon pieces
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 large eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste
1 1/2 cups chocolate  (70% Lindt Excellence or Ghiradelli Bittersweet chips) chopped into pieces
1 package Hershey's Mint Truffle Kisses

Preheat oven to 350.
set aside 9-inch square silicone mold

Sift together 3/4 cup flour, 1 cup dutch processes cocoa, 1 tsp kosher salt and set aside.

Melt 1/2 the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Put the remaining butter in a medium bowl. Pour melted butter into the medium bowl with the rest of the butter. Stir until creamy, and few lumps.

In bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle, mix together 3 eggs and 1 3/4 cup sugar on medium for about 3 minutes, until thick and creamy. Mix in the vanilla. On low speed add about one-third of the dry ingredients, then add one-third of the butter, and continue alternating the remaining flour and butter. Add 1 1/2 cups chocolate and mix to combine. (I made my batter 3 days before, but it can be refrigerated up to 1 week)

Spread the batter evenly into silicone mold. (The batter will be very thick) Press Mint Hershey Kisses into batter and spread batter to cover.

Bake 40-45 minutes, until wood skewer poked into center comes out with only a few crumbs. Cool in pan.

Cut into small squares and dust with powdered sugar.

Don't worry about the the calories and fat in this recipe, it may seem high, but you will only need a morsel to curb your sweet tooth for the entire day. (That says something coming from me :)

Trick Or Treat Brownies

There is always an abundance of candy after Halloween, whether it's the leftovers that weren't handed out or the pillow cases the kids filled up. So what do you do with all that candy in the house? Do you eat the leftovers yourself or maybe share it with your coworkers. Do you let you kids eat their candy until they are sick or let them constantly ask you "can I have candy...can I have candy?" This is what I do.
When my kids were little, we watched the classic It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown where I realized how the story of the Great Pumpkin could make Halloween better for me as a parent.  After a night of trick-or-treating, the kids sort through their candy for the pieces they want to keep and the pieces they are going to give to the Great Pumpkin keeping in mind the more they give the better the gift the Great Pumpkin leaves. It's a great idea for limiting the amount of candy the kids eat,  but now what does the Great Pumpkin do with the kids candy plus the leftovers? She make brownies. Trick or Treat Brownies. Using your favorite brownie recipe, (a mix will work too) you put a little more than 1/2 the batter in the pan, then a layer of assorted chocolate candies, and then cover with the remaining batter. Bake as directed in your recipe. DELICIOUS. Each brownie square hides yummy candy goodness. The Butterfingers and Kit Kats don't work as good, while Twix is one of the best. (Year round I make Candy Bar Brownies using only 1 type of candy.)

The brownie recipe I use comes from one of my favorite radio programs, Melinda Lee KNX 1070 in Los Angeles.http://www.melindalee.com/index.php?option=com_garyscookbook&Itemid=6&func=detail&id=1044 , of coarse I do tweak it a little bit.

Brownies:

2 sticks of butter
8oz semi-sweet chocolate
4 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour

• Butter a 13 X 9 baking pan (I use a 7 1/2 X 12)
• Preheat oven to 350
• Melt together 2 sticks of butter and 8oz semi-sweet chocolates, set aside
• In a large bowl whisk 4 eggs. Whisk in 1/2 tsp salt, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup granulated sugar and 2 tsp vanilla. Whisk in melted chocolate mixture.
• Gently fold in 1 cup of flour until combine
• Pour into prepared pan bake for 35-40 minutes

I have another variation I use for Christmas, I will post it next month :)