Brownies (from scratch!)

I had to bake something at the last-minute for work recently and only had about an hour, so cupcakes were out.  Usually I just whip up brownies in this situation, but I didn’t have any brownie mix on hand.  Then I realized – I could make these from scratch!

I pulled out my trusty Joy of Cooking and found a recipe for Brownies Cockaigne.

First, I melted butter and chocolate in a sauce pan, then set aside to cool (I was crunched for time so I stuck it in the fridge).

Once they were cooled, I beat 4 eggs and salt with a wire whisk…

Until foamy:

I whisked in sugar and vanilla, then stirred in the chocolate mixture and flour until just combined.

I poured into a greased pan and baked for approx. 30 minutes.

Before it cooled, I dusted with powdered sugar – pretty!

This is a quick, easy recipe and only needs 7 ingredients – in my opinion, it was pretty comparable to the Ghirardelli boxed mix I usually use!

Brownies Cockaigne (from Joy of Cooking)

1 stick unsalted butter

4 oz unsweetened chocolate

4 large eggs

¼ tsp salt

2 cups sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour

·         Preheat oven to 350

·         Melt butter and chocolate together in small saucepan. Cool completely.

·         Beat eggs and salt until foaming.  Add the sugar and vanilla and mix well.

·         Add the cooled chocolate mixture and stir until just combined.

·         Add the flour and stir until just combined.

·         Pour into a greased 13”x9” pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

·         Place on wire rack to cool and dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

Bon appétit!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Bark

Martha Stewart Living is one of my favorite magazines.  While some of her projects can be a little over-the-top for the average human, there are a lot of great ideas and recipes in it.  I had a page saved from the 2010 holiday issue on several different types of ‘bark’ to make, and since I had some leftover candy from Easter, I decided to make the Chocolate Peanut Butter version – you can view the original recipe here.

This was really easy.  You just need some chocolate bars (bittersweet and milk chocolate) and peanut butter! 

The first step is to line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Next, melt the bittersweet chocolate. 

I don’t have a double boiler, so I just placed a small glass mixing bowl over a pot of simmering water.   I also didn’t get to take a ton of pictures – it was too hard to do that while constantly stirring the chocolate and holding the bowl steady!

Melt the bittersweet chocolate and then pour onto the baking sheet.  Spread evenly.

Melt the milk chocolate and peanut butter together. 

Mine wasn’t quite as pretty as Martha’s...

Then pop into the refrigerator for 1-2 hours to get firm, and break up the bark into little pieces!  I had to refrigerate mine closer to 2 hours, since I used all natural peanut butter and it didn’t firm up as quickly as I’d imagine ‘regular’ peanut butter would.

Told you it was easy.  I’d also suggest doing all the ‘prep’ work first – break up the bittersweet and milk chocolate in 2 separate piles, measure out the peanut butter and set out the baking sheet and bamboo skewer.  This is definitely not the type of recipe where you want to measure as you go!

This is super easy, and the active time is only about 15 minutes.  The cleanup is really quick too!  This would be a great treat to make to hand out over the holidays or set out at a party.  You can also press different types of candy or sprinkles into it to make it look more seasonal or add a little something extra – I foresee myself experimenting with this a lot more in the future, now that I know how simple it is!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Bark

12 oz bittersweet chocolate (I used 3 Ghirardelli 60% cacao bars)

4.4 oz milk chocolate (I used a Hershey’s milk chocolate bar)

¼ c creamy all-natural peanut butter

1 bamboo skewer - don’t eat this! ;)

·         Spray a baking sheet with vegetable oil and line with parchment paper.  Set aside.

·         Melt the bittersweet chocolate in a double boiler or a glass or metal mixing bowl set over a pot 1/3 full of simmering water

·         Once bittersweet chocolate is completely melted, pour onto baking sheet and spread evenly

·         Melt the milk chocolate and peanut butter together until completely melted

·         Pour milk chocolate peanut butter mixture over the bittersweet chocolate

·         Use the bamboo skewer to create a swirled effect

·         Refrigerate until firm (at least 1 hour)

·         Remove from refrigerator and break apart