Fudge Brownies #Choctoberfest

#Choctoberfest continues with these fudge brownies. I am a cookie girl at heart but sometimes a girl needs a brownie.  As I was thinking about what kind of chocolate recipes I wanted to share with you, brownies kept coming to mind. 

These brownies are super dense and fudge like.  If I am going to have a brownie it better be fudgy and decadent.  

Trying to be a bit health conscience I swapped out the butter with coconut oil.  This oil from Barlean's is flavored like butter so you cannot tell that these brownies were made with anything different.  You get all of the benefits of using coconut oil and the great taste of butter.

Barlean's has all sorts of healthful products to amp up your nutrients by incorporating them in your everyday eats. Even Mr. J was using some to "butter" his toast. 

Now I am just dreaming about taking one of these brownies and adding some of that hot fudge sauce from yesterday. 

Fudge Brownies

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Keywords: bake dessert chocolate brownies

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Ingredients (24 brownies)

• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups Dutch-process cocoa
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon espresso powder
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup Barlean's Butter Flavored Coconut Oil
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan.

Crack the 4 eggs into a bowl, and beat them at medium speed with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla for about 4 minutes.

As the egg mixture is mixing melt the coconut oil. In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl melt the coconut oil until it becomes liquid, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Continue to heat (or microwave) briefly, just until the mixture is hot (about 110°F to 120°F), but not boiling; it'll become shiny looking as you stir it. (Heating the mixture to this point will dissolve more of the sugar, which will help produce a shiny top crust on your brownies.)

Add the hot coconut oil/sugar mixture to the egg/cocoa mixture, stirring until smooth.

Add the flour and chips, stirring until smooth. Again, adding the chips helps produce a shiny top crust.

Spoon the batter into a lightly greased 9" x 13" pan.

Bake the brownies for about 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and the center should look very moist, but not uncooked.

Remove them from the oven and cool thoroughly on a rack before cutting and serving.

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S'mores Brownies

Happy Friday! This week was weird. It never felt like it got started but then Friday seemed so far off. I am glad it is finally here. 

The humidity finally dropped too. Thank goodness. I felt like I was melting the past few days. Feeding the baby was miserable. She is like an oven. We both sweat buckets. 

To celebrate I am offering you these delicious brownies. Quintessential summer treats. I can never get enough S'mores in the summer time. Our new charcoal grill makes it so much more tempting to have one every night. But for those nights when we are not firing up the grill these brownies come in handy. They are super easy to make and are the next best thing to a true S'mores.

S'mores Brownies

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Keywords: bake dessert chocolate marshmallow brownies

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Ingredients (serves 24)

• 1 box brownie mix, or your favorite brownie recipe
• ingredients for your brownie recipe or box (mine used 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, and 1 egg)
• 12 graham cracker sheets, crushed
• 1/4 c butter, melted
• 10 large marshmallows, cut into 1/2 pieces
• 1 regular sized Hershey bar, broken into rectangular pieces

Instructions

In a medium mixing bowl mix crushed graham crackers with melted butter. Place in a 9X13 pan and push into the bottom.

Bake in the oven at 350 degree for 10 minutes.

While the graham crackers are cooking prepare brownie batter.

Remove pan from oven and fill with brownie batter. Spread evenly over the graham cracker layer. Top with marshmallows. Bake brownies according directions, about 20 minutes.

When the brownies are almost done remove from oven and add the Hershey pieces on top. Bake for 3-5 more minutes.

When the brownies are done and the marshmallows are browned remove from oven. Cool completely before cutting.

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Fudgy Irish Cream Brownies

I am not Irish and St. Patrick's Day has never really thrilled me. It seems like it is a time for people to drink a ton, watch parades and dye things green.  I just don't understand.  

However, I am not opposed to making some boozed up desserts. My parents and brother all enjoy Irish Cream. Somehow a bottle ended up in my fridge. It seems fitting to crack it up in honor of St. Patrick's Day and fit it into some wonderful fudge brownies. 

These brownies are intense. They are incredibly rich and chocolaty.  The Irish Cream not only adds the unique Irish Cream flavor but also adds moisture to the brownies making them dense and fudgy. 

I used an 8x8 pan and they ended up being about an 1 inch thick. I cut them into 16 squares. Mr. J could eat a whole one but I ended up cutting them in half again. If you wanted more reasonable brownies you could try a 9x13 pan.  (Sometimes brownies are meant to be unreasonable!!)  I also drizzled about 1 tablespoon of Irish Cream on top of the warm brownies for some extra flavor. 

Even if you aren't Irish these brownies should be a must in your future plans. 

Fudgy Irish Cream Brownies

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Keywords: bake dessert chocolate brownies

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Ingredients (serves 16)

• 2½ cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup Irish cream liqueur

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350. Line an 8x8 baking pan with foil or parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

In a microwave-proof bowl, combine the chocolate chips and butter. Microwave in 30-second intervals until melted and thoroughly combined, stirring after each one. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, eggs, and ½ cup Irish Cream liqueur. Stir in the melted chocolate-butter mix until combined.

Stir in the flour mix until just combined. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until cracked on top and a toothpick inserted comes out almost clean.

Remove brownies from the oven. Allow to cool completely before cutting and serving.

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Best Ever Brownie #secretrecipeclub

Super gooey chocolate brownies make for a decadent treat. Best when served warm with a scoop of ice cream and a glass of milk.

Although this pregnancy feels like it is going so slow, my days and months are flying by. It seems like just yesterday I was posting my September Secret Recipe Club post.  As the norm, I got my assigned secret blog at the beginning of the month.  I spent the last few weeks perusing potential recipes all for today's reveal post.

This month I had food.baby.life.  I had fun reading her blog and learning about her life with baby.  I am keeping a pretty open mind about what my expectations will be once our baby comes but I love sneaking a peak at others' experiences.  

Susan loves baking, having the occasional indulgence of sweet treats and has a hobby of collecting cookbooks and kitchen gadgets. 

As was looking for a recipe I was so close to making this cinnamon raisin bread but at the last minute I decided I wanted needed some chocolate.  These brownies were jumping out of the computer screen with their rick, gooey center. Plus it is pretty hard to resist something called the best ever brownies.

I didn't have a mini loaf pan so I multiplied the original recipe to fit a 9x9 inch brownie pan. This may not have been the best idea as that basically quadrupled the amount of available brownies. These were so yummy and it was hard not to eat the whole pan at once.  They heat up really nicely though so it was like a fresh brownie each time if I popped it into the microwave for about 30 seconds.

Best Ever Brownie

by Emily Morris, adapted from food.baby.life

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Keywords: bake dessert chocolate brownies

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Ingredients (serves 9)

• 1 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter
• 6 ounces dark chocolate
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs

Instructions

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Sift the flour and salt together and set aside.

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring until the chocolate is almost smooth. Remove from heat and continue stirring until the chocolate is completely melted into the butter.

Add 1 cup of the sugar to the mixture and stir for half a minute, then remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Pour the mixture into a large bowl.

Put the remaining 1 cup sugar and the eggs into the bowl of a mixer and whisk by hand just to combine. Little by little, pour half the sugar and eggs into the chocolate mixture, stirring gently but constantly with a rubber spatula so that the eggs don't set from the heat.

Fit the whisk attachment to the mixer and whip the remaining sugar and eggs until they are pale, thick, and doubled in volume, about 3 minutes. Using the rubber spatula, delicately fold the whipped eggs into the chocolate mixture.

When the eggs are almost completely incorporated, gently fold in the dry ingredients.

Pour and scrape the batter into an unbuttered 9-inch square glass or ceramic pan. Bake the brownies for 25-28 minutes, during which time they will rise a little and the top will turn dark and dry. The top should be just barely set and center still gooey. Cool the brownies in the pan on a rack. Cut into bars and serve.

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Butterfinger Brownies

My Reese Peanut Butter Cup brownies went over well last week.  You guys loved them and well Mr. J ate them us so quickly our weekly dessert lasted about two days. 

It got me thinking about other candy/brownie combinations I could use to make a decadent dessert.  Butterfingers popped into my mind. I don't tend to eat candy bars and to tell you the truth Butterfinger would not be my first pick.  Funny though that when it comes to ice cream toppings Butterfingers are my favorite.  A Butterfinger Blizzard. Check.  Butterfingers on frozen yogurt. Yes, please.

When I think of Butterfingers I think of Bart Simpson. My brother was a huge fan of The Simpsons growing up. It was a nightly tradition.  The Halloween episode brought the whole family together. Do you remember the commercials with Bart Simpson?

"Nobody better lay a finger on my Butterfinger."

Remember?

Yep, that is all I can think about. I think the same goes for these brownies. I made them Saturday afternoon and then had to leave last night for a work trip.  I am coming home later tonight. I am pretty sure that brownies might be gone when I come home.

Butterfinger Brownies

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Keywords: bake brownies

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Ingredients (serves 9)

• 1 box store bought brownies or your favorite brownie recipe
• 1 cup Butterfinger bites, chopped and divided

Instructions

Preheat over to 325 degrees. Grease a 8x8 baking dish and set aside.

Make brownies according to box instructions. Fold in 1/2 cup of roughly chopped Butterfingers.

Put mixture in prepared pan.Sprinkle remaining Butterfinger pieces on top of batter.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until edges are set and the middle is not longer jiggly. Cool completely before slicing.

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies

The best of both worlds. Brownies with chocolate chip cookie dough pressed on top.

My sweet tooth hasn't completely gone away from the holidays. Pretty much after every meal I want something sweet. Preferably with chocolate.  My go to has been hot chocolate but this weekend things got taken up a notch.

Being home means Mr. J prowls the kitchen morning, noon and night. His most common question is what is there for dessert.  Normally, we have plenty to pick from but for some reason he continuously asks the question if there isn't something obvious sitting on the counter.

Let's just say listing out all of the possible dessert options doesn't help me cut back on the sweets.  What also doesn't help is all of the marvelous things I see on Pinterest. And the end of year recaps from all of the bloggers I follow. I know have a list to last me all year long of baking treats and dinner concoctions.

One of the fabulous baked goods that appeared on several of the lists were these chocolate chip cookie brownies.  Brownies and chocolate chip cookies in one. I couldn't think of a better way to keep Mr. J from asking me what was for dessert than sticking this little pan on the counter.  It has been two days with no questions. The only problem is the pan is almost gone.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

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Ingredients (serves 9)

• 1 stick salted butter (1/2 cup, very soft)
• ¾ cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
• 1 egg
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 18.9 ounce brownie mix (eggs, oil, and water for brownie mix)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare brownie batter as directed. Pour batter into a 8×8 baking dish lined with foil or parchment paper and greased.

With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugars in a small mixing bowl. Add vanilla and egg; cream again until smooth. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir gently until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips.

Scatter pieces of cookie dough over the top of the brownie batter. You will have extra dough. Press gently on the dough just until it starts to sink down into the batter a little bit.

Bake for 35-40 minutes. Check with 20 minutes left - covering with foil if you need to keep the cookies from getting too brown on top.

Let stand for 15-20 minutes and cut into pieces for serving.

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Fudge-Topped Brownies with Sprinkles

By now I am sure most people on the East Coast could use a brownie.  There has been rain, wind, and lots of gloominess. Luckily the weather seems to be clearing.  The clearing means cold.  It was 62 inside my apartment this morning.  I don't like it.

These pretty little things were easy to put together and a very nice treat to enjoy the last few days along with the cookies.

I think the sprinkles really add to the fun of these brownies.  Everyone deserves a few sprinkles once in a while.  The sprinkles gave me a bit of a smile.

Fudge-Topped Brownies

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Keywords: bake chocolate brownies

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Ingredients (2 dozen brownies)

For the Brownies:

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, plus 12 tablespoons (3/4 cup)
• 1 tablespoon flour, plus 3/4 cup, sifted
• 3 (1-ounce) squares unsweetened baking chocolate
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Fudge Topping:

• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 6 tablespoons buttermilk
• 1 pound confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 13-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon of the butter. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of flour into the pan to coat the sides and bottom, knocking out any excess. Set aside.

In the top of a double boiler or in a bowl set over simmering water, combine the remaining 12 tablespoons butter and the chocolate. Cook, stirring, until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the granulated sugar and whisk until smooth. Add 1/4 cup of the flour and whisk to combine. Alternate adding the remaining flour and eggs, whisking well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.

Pour into the prepared pan, shifting the pan to create an even layer. Bake until risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

For the Fudge Topping:

While the brownies are in the oven, in a medium saucepan, combine the butter, cocoa powder and buttermilk over medium heat. Cook until the butter melts and mixture just comes together. Remove from the heat and whisk until smooth. Sift the confectioners' sugar into a medium bowl. Add the chocolate mixture and vanilla and whisk until smooth.

Remove the brownies from the oven and, with the handle of a wooden spoon, poke holes into the brownies every 1 to 2 inches. Pour the Fudge Topping over the brownies and smooth with a rubber spatula. Let cool on a wire rack for at least 1 hour before cutting.

Cut into 2-inch brownies and serve.

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