Hershey's Frosted Chocolate Brownies

Hershey's Frosted Chocolate Brownies

Sometimes I open my cupboard for inspiration. I knew we would need something special for a meeting and couldn't decide what to make. Then I looked on the shelf and saw my big tin of Hershey's cocoa and knew what I was going to use.

A quick scroll of the Hershey's website and I found their "Ultimate Chocolate Brownies."

Hershey's covers theirs with a few chocolate chips, but I have these great dark chocolate Belgium sprinkles. So delicious!

Honestly, I'm not a fan of frosting and usually not a fan of the frosted brownie. But I am growing fond of the Hershey's One Bowl Chocolate Frosting. It provided a nice balance to the brownie.

The brownie has natural cocoa and 1 cup of chocolate chips (I used Dark Chocolate chips). You can make it in one 9x13 pan, or two 8x8 pans (that's good for those who like brownie edges). When cooled, you top with chocolate frosting...and sprinkles or more chocolate chips. If I were to skip the sprinkles, I would garnish with mini chocolate chips because everything is better in mini form.

Can you see the chocolate chips in the brownie? Always a winner.

Hershey's Frosted Chocolate Brownies
Adapted from the Hershey's website

Brownies
3/4 cup Hershey's cocoa (or a natural cocoa)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup butter, melted (This is such a weird amount of butter. Since it is really 10 Tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons of butter, I just used 11 Tablespoons of butter or between 1 1/4 and 1 1/2 sticks of butter)
1/2 cup boiling water
2 cups sugar
2  eggs (at room temperature)
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour (I used King Arthur All-Purpose)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup Dark Chocolate Chips or Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (I used Hershey's Dark)

Frosting (see below)

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan or two 8-inch square baking pans. (I used a 13 x 9 pan, and I lined the pan with parchment paper.)

2. In a large bowl, stir the cocoa and baking soda together with a whisk, and then stir in 1/3 cup butter (that's half the melted butter). Add boiling water and stir until mixture thickens. Stir in sugar, eggs and remaining 1/3 cup butter. Stir in the vanilla and salt. Fold in the flour, then fold in the chocolate chips. Don't overmix. Pour into prepared pan.

3. Bake 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan, 30 to 35 minutes for square pans or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

4. When cool, frost cupcakes. Garnish with chocolate sprinkles, other fun sprinkles or chocolate chips. Cut and enjoy!

Hershey's One-Bowl Buttercream Frosting
6 tablespoons butter, softened
2-2/3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup natural cocoa
1/3 cup milk (I used 1% milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sift the powdered sugar and cocoa (Hershey's instructions don't have this, but I find it is very helpful to sift all powdered sugar and cocoa).

Beat butter in medium bowl until soft and fluffy. Add powdered sugar and cocoa alternately with milk, beating to spreading consistency (additional milk may be needed). Stir in vanilla.

Spread over cooled brownies. 

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Biscoff Swirl Brownies

Biscoff Swirl Brownies

One morning, I woke up and this happened.
Brownies and Biscoff.
Awesome.

I've made Martha Stewart's Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies in the past and wanted to make them with Biscoff cookie spread. I googled a bunch of recipes for biscoff brownies and many of them included a biscoff-cream cheese dollop. That sounded good, but I didn't have any cream cheese in the frig. I saw Oh Lady Cakes' Speculoos Swirl Brownies and saw that she just melted some Biscoff spread and swirled it. Score.

The layer of Biscoff isn't very deep. I only used 1/2 cup. Next time, I might use a cup or try a cream cheese-Biscoff recipe.

Biscoff Swirl Brownies
Based on Martha Stewart's Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies and Oh Lady Cakes' Speculoos Swirl Brownies

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup Biscoff spread or Trader Joe's Cookie Spread, melted

1.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter or spray an 8-inch square baking pan and line with parchment.
2.  Put butter and chocolates in a heatproof medium bowl set over a pan of simmering water; stir until melted. Let cool slightly.
3.  Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
4.  Whisk granulated sugar into chocolate mixture. Add eggs, and whisk until mixture is smooth. Stir in vanilla. Add flour mixture; fold until incorporated.
5.  Pour batter into pan. Pour melted Biscoff spread (microwave in 15 second increments) onto batter, and swirl with a butter knife.
6.  Bake until a cake tester inserted comes out with a few crumbs, between 25-35 minutes depending on your oven. Let cool.

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Brownie Cookies - Everyday Food

Brownie Cookies - Everyday Food

Did you hear the news? Everyday Food, one of my favorite magazines, is on the chopping block! The Kitchn reports that Martha Stewart's company is laying off staff and the magazine "will be cut from 10 issues a year to five, and will now be delivered as a supplement to subscribers of Martha Stewart Living rather than as a stand-alone publication." NOOOOOOoooooo! I love the magazine - it's simply easy recipes. I don't need to know how to make a 100,000 piece tablescape (with glue gun and upholstery nails) nor the best hair conditioners - stuff you find in other magazines. This was just food. And now I'm sad.

So, to honor Everyday Food, I made some Brownie Cookies. You can find the recipe online or in the great compilation book, Everyday Food Light.

These are round, flat brownies. They are very, very chocolaty. I made half the recipe, and the ratio between chocolate and flour shows that the flour just binds the chocolate and sugar together. :)

These are perfect with a glass of milk (or almond milk) in a UCLA glass. Go Bruins!

Recipe:
From Everyday Food, June 2009

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep baking sheets with parchment paper.
Place chocolate in a double boiler or pan over simmering water. Stir until melted, then let cool.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a mixer with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until lightened in color.
Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.
With mixer on low, alternately beat in chocolate and flour mixture; mix just until combined. Do not overmix.
Dish dough onto baking sheets. Bake 14-16 minute, rotating trays half-way though. Cool cookies on wire racks.

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Chocolate Mochi Brownie Squares

Chocolate Mochi Brownie Squares

Recently, I transferred to a new position at work. Still working for the same library system, but a new position at our headquarters. I'm tardy in posting photos of my going away party at my former library - they hosted a lovely dessert buffet...it was so sweet. Those are coming soon!

At my new workplace, one of my co-workers is on a gluten-free diet (darn you Celiac). I keep bringing in desserts she can't eat so I wanted to make something gluten-free. I love, love, love all things mochi (my family's history with mochi is well documented in my New Year's Mochi Making posts) so this recipe on my friend's blog JustJenn Recipes was a perfect fit.

Since these brownies are made with rice flour (I only use Koda Farms Mochiko rice flour), they have a distinctive "mochi" chew. They aren't too sweet and are a nice morning or afternoon treat.

I cut all my work treats "petite" size...I usually cut a 8 x8 pan into 16 or 25 pieces.

This is a great gluten-free recipe...and enjoyed by all! It's super easy to make...no electric mixer needed. I hope you make a pan full of yum soon!

P.S. Thanks for all the comments about my last post mourning the loss of Picnik. Picnik certainly had many fans!!! I used PicMonkey to add the text to the first photo. It is easy to use and the fonts are stylin' - I jumped for joy seeing Lobster Two! They say collages are coming soon! Some Picnik folks went to PicMonkey and you can see it. It is web based, but you need to pull your photos in from your computer, and can edit one photo at a time.  I hope they are able to add direct integration with Flickr at some point and make the whole process online, but it a great start!

Recipe:
Find the recipe on my friend's justJENN Recipes blog for Chocolate Mochi Brownies

My changes and notes:
- 1 cup mochiko (Koda Farms brand) was 4 7/8 ounces by weight
- I used 1/2 cup Nestle semi-sweet morsels for the melting
- I mixed 1/4 cup of mini chocolate chips into the batter then put the pan into the oven. After 15 minutes of baking, I sprinkled the remaining 1/4 cup of mini chocolate chips on top. I think this helped prevent the chips from falling to the bottom of the pan.
- I used an 8 x 8 pan and baked it for 52 minutes.

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Fat Witch Brownies

Fat Witch Brownies

One of Oprah's favorite things are treats from Fat Witch Bakery (their website opens with music). They published a cookbook in 2010 and it is filled with many yummy bars and brownies. I started with their signature item: The Fat Witch Brownie.

And just let me say...November 30th?! What? It's December 2011 tomorrow? How in the world did that happen?!

The recipe is very simple! Melt chocolate and butter. Mix up some eggs and sugar...and bake away!

When my official testers (my library co-workers) tried a brownie, one of them said, "Oh, a cocoa brownie." But this brownie doesn't have any cocoa in it. It's definitely more cakey than fudgy.

Recipe:
Printable recipe here
Fat Witch Brownies
Adapted from "Fat Witch Brownies" book by Patricia Helding & Bryna Levin, 2010, page 26-27. Find the book in your library (WorldCat) or on Amazon

14 Tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp bittersweet chocolate chips (I used 120 grams of 72% Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate - see my notes)
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar (I used 250 grams sugar)
4 large eggs, room temp
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp unbleached flour (I used 88 g flour)
Pinch of salt

Oven Temp: 350 F. Be sure to preheat.
Pan: 9 x 9 square baking pan

1. Grease and flour the baking pan. I lined it with parchment paper and sprayed it with a bit of Pam with Flour.
2. Chocolate measuring: I did not have bittersweet chips, but I did have a Trader Joe's bar of 72% chocolate. I ended up weighing semi-sweet chips and then cutting enough of the 72% chocolate to match the weight. Oh, how I wish all cookbooks just gave us the weight (especially since the measurement 1/2 cup + 2 T signifies that this was originally a weight measure and they had to convert it to measuring cups). You don't need to have chips because you are melting the chocolate so weights would have been great to have. Hint, Hint to all cookbook publishers!)
3. Melt butter and chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently. Set aside to cool. (I melted the butter and chocolate in a double boiler (large bowl over low simmering water that doesn't touch the bowl)).
4. Cream sugar, eggs and vanilla together. Add cooled chocolate mixture and mix until well-blended.
5. Measure flour and salt and then sift together directly into the chocolate mixture. Mix batter gently until well combined and no trace of the dry ingredients remains. (I used a spatula and folded in the flour mixture).
6. At this point, if desired, stir in any extras like walnuts. (I did not include nuts)
7. Spread batter evenly in the prepared baking pan and bake 33 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean or with only crumbs, not batter, on it. (I baked mine for 33 minutes...probably could have taken them out at 31 or 32 minutes).
8. Remove from oven and cool on rack for at least 1 hour.

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Classic Brownies - Tuesdays with Dorie

Classic Brownies

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, Anne of Anne Strawberry chose Classic Brownies on page 88 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

Hope you are all doing well! I've been pretty busy lately and am trying to get back on the baking bandwagon! Today, it's one of Dorie Greenspan's brownie recipes! If you don't have Dorie's book yet, you really need to...she has a whole section on brownies!

Chocolate, a little flour and California walnuts.
Yum!
These brownies are moist and rich. I'm more of a cakey brownie person, but these were good with the walnuts.

Check out the other TWD baker's creations here!

Recipe:
Anne of Anne Strawberry blog,
or, Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours (page 88)

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Flour Bakery Brownies

Flour Bakery Brownies

It has been super hot in Los Angeles.
And the library's air conditioning is out.
And I sit in an office with 1970's carpet-like material on the walls (noise reduction) that turns our little place into a greenhouse or oven.

I think I should make ice cream, but I made brownies instead. Hey, brownies may not cool you down, but they are just cool.

I love the Flour Bakery cookbook...and am so excited to hear smart-pants Joanne Chang is working on book two already!

These are definitely bakery brownies. Those ones you point at in the glass case and sneak into the movie theater or share with a friend. Or secretly eat them and don't tell your friend. I always love a thin crispy top and rich, moist brownie.

Of course, these would totally cool you down with a big scoop of ice cream. Hum, next time...

Recipe:
Flour: spectacular recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe by Joanne Chang: Available on Amazon, your local bookstore, or in your library

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Brrr-ownies - Tuesdays with Dorie

Brrr-ownies with York Peppermint Patty Pieces

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, Karen of Welcome to our Crazy Blessed Life selected Brrr-ownies of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

I misread the instructions and picked up Peppermint Pattie Pieces instead of bites or the full-size patties. How did the Peppermint Patty grow into such an empire of products? Anyway, the pieces are like little M&Ms and are blue and white (or, in my World Cup speak, Argentina...Yes, I'm suffering from withdrawals from the Cup).

Chopping these suckers up can only be described as "Shooting candies all over the kitchen." People, they move, they move on their own. Eventually, I had to grab them individually and chop them, then threw them into the batter.

The verdict? I really wish I had the bites because that would have much more minty flavor. I love mint and the pieces don't have much. I mean, the insides aren't even "mint" color - it is brown and chocolately. As if.

So, I'll try these again with the proper ingredients.

Thanks for picking this one Karen! Be sure to check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers!

P.S. Don't forget to enter my Amazon gift card giveaway...as I head to my 40th birthday. Tuesday, July 13th is the last day to enter!

Recipe:
Find it on Karen's blog
or page 103 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

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White Chocolate Brownies (with Blueberries) - Tuesdays with Dorie

For this week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection, Marthe of Culinary Delights selected White Chocolate Brownies on pages 110 and 111 of Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.

Although Marthe picked this, all the TWD bakers know that Clara is cheering this pick as she was involved in heavy lobbying for this one. So I think this week is hosted by both Marthe and Clara! :)

I had to work this weekend so I didn't get a chance to visit the Farmer's Market, and the raspberries at the supermarket looked weak. I substituted blueberries instead.

I skipped the meringue topping because it doesn't keep well, and I'm bringing these into work. I'm sure lots of bakers tried the meringue so you'll have to check their blogs for the meringue covering.

All by blueberries settled on the bottom of these mini-muffins so I will just serve them upside down! Be sure to check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers! Whew! Sorry it's a day late, baking has been a challenge because my house is getting new windows installed...in the kitchen!

Recipe:
Marthe of Culinary Delights's blog, or...
Dorie's book, Baking: From My Home to Yours, page 110

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SoNo Bakery Brownies - John Barricelli

SoNo Brownies

The nice guy on Everyday Food and Everyday Baking, John Barricelli has a new cookbook, The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook, named for his South Norwalk, Connecticut bakery.

My friend, Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet has even been to the bakery! Since it is a little far for me to drop in, I made the SoNo Brownies on page 86 of his book.

This is a really easy recipe. Quick and easy. You make it in a pot, not a KitchenAid. I love making stuff on the stove. It makes me feel like I'm actually cooking...since I do very little real cooking. :)

Made with cocoa and chocolate chips, this is a nice and rich brownie.

These were a big hit at work. I really liked them and will make them again for sure.

Recipe:
Click here for printable copy
Adapted from The Sono Baking Company Cookbook: Amazon or WorldCat (see if your library has it)

SoNo Brownies
1/2 c all purpose flour
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Penzy's Dutch cocoa)
1/2 t salt
1/4 t baking powder
Pinch of baking soda
1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 c sugar
1 T light corn syrup
2 large eggs, room temp (To bring them to room temp quickly, place in a bowl of warm water for 5-10 minutes)
1 T vanilla extract
1 C semisweet chocolate chips (I used Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chips)

1. Use an 8-inch square baking pan. Butter or spray. I lined mine with parchment paper.
2. Preheat over to 350 degrees.
3. Whisk together flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder and soda.
4. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the sugar and corn syrup, whisk to combine. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time. Whisk in vanilla.
5. Fold in the dry ingredients. Fold in the chocolate chips. Don't overmix.
6. Pour into pan, smooth the top. Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
7. Cool in pan and then eat!! Enjoy!

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Girl Scout Thin Mint Brownies

Girl Scout Thin Mint Brownies

NPR has a collection of "Driveway Moments" - those stories so compelling you find yourself sitting in the car to catch the end of the piece. I have often found myself in that situation, along with "Cry on the Freeway Moment" (damn you, Storycorp).

Today, I had a NPR Baking Moment.

All Things Considered had a story about Girl Scout cookies and how you can bake & cook with them. Samoas Fried Shrimp, anyone? See here for the story and taste test. By the way, I have new respect for host Michele Norris because she too hates coconut :)

The Girl Scout website has Thin Mint Brownies, but they use a boxed brownie mix. I made the brownies from scratch and added Girl Scout Thin Mints.

I think it is appropriate to make Brownies with Thin Mints because that was my maximum level of participation. I never made it Girl Scouts...so I'll be a Brownie forever. ;)

I took Everyday Food's (Martha Stewart empire) Chocolate Chip Brownies recipe, deleted the chocolate chips, and added a sleeve of Thin Mints. It is triple chocolate: melted bittersweet chocolate, cocoa powder and the Thin Mints!

I purchased these cookies from my college roommate's awesome girls, Lucia and Julia.

Last year, I made Girl Scout Thin Mint Chocolate Cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Post here.

Recipe:
Girl Scout Thin Mint Brownies
Adapted from Everyday Food's Chocolate Chip Brownies recipe

Printable recipe here

1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Scharffenberger Natural cocoa powder)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used bittersweet chocolate)
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 sleeve Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies, chopped. (Okay, Thin Mints keep shrinking to keep the price at $4 a box. So, it is 3 1/2 ounces of Thin Mints or 16 cookies)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 9 x 9 square pan with parchment paper and butter or spray with Pam with flour (that's my method). In a small bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

2. Place butter and semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate in a large heat-proof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of gently simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove bowl from heat. Add sugar; mix to combine. Add eggs one at a time, and mix to combine. Add flour mixture; mix just until moistened (do not overmix). Fold in chopped Girl Scout Thin Mints. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top.

3. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 40-50 minutes. (Be sure to check them early. The recipe says "50-60 minutes" but I checked mine at 50 minutes and they were way done). Cool in pan for 30 minutes. Using paper overhang, lift brownies out of pan; transfer to a rack to cool completely (still on paper). On a cutting board, using a dampened serrated knife, cut into squares.

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