S'more Brownies

Talk about decadence. These little guys will leave your sweet tooth completely satisfied. This weekend I knew I wanted to make something s'more based - some kind of s'more deconstruction. I considered many possibilities. I struggled to find a medium in which to carry the s'more elements. I'm sure you're probably thinking that brownies are a pretty logical base, carrying out the chocolate flavor with a smooth consistency. Well, I knew I wanted to top with a graham cracker crumble, something that would imitate the crumble on a coffee cake. This brought my mind to muffins! I imagined a play on muffins with marshmallows like blueberries and graham cracker crumble like the sugar crumble. Finally, though, I decided to go with brownies. Gosh, it was a tough 10 minutes trying to figure out what to do.
Anyways, I made a quick sketch of the ideal s'more brownies. Brownie base with chocolate crumbles, and marshmallows, topped with graham cracker crumble. Beautiful.

Oven Temp: 350 F
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Bake Time: 35-40 minutes
Ready-In: 1 hour

1 cup butter, melted
3 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 eggs

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
3 chocolate bars (hershey's are great), chopped up
6 graham crackers, crumbled
3 tbls butter
1 tbls milk 

Of course, you can use any brownie recipe, but I just took the opportunity to try out a new one. You may notice there is no baking soda or powder here. And there are four eggs, where most recipes call for two or three. This maximizes fudginess and flavor. I'd also recommend my favorite one-bowl brownies to expedite the baking adventure.
 Also, it's wonderful to spend some quality time with Hershey.

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish. You really must use a 9x13, a 9x9 is too small for this batch.

An inspiring compilation of ingredients

Combine the melted butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. 

Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each, until thoroughly blended. 

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a bowl. Gradually stir flour mixture into the egg mixture until blended. 

Stir in about 2/3 of the chocolate crumbles and 1 cup of marshmallows. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate and marshmallows on top.

 Crumble up graham crackers, mix with 3 tablespoons melted butter and milk to make a crumble. Sprinkle liberally the crumble on top. 
Bake in preheated oven until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool before cutting into and devouring.

Brownie Roll-Out Cookies

These are my absolute favorite cookies ever. I don't think there is anything I could do to make these cookies better. I got the recipe, once again, from the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. This recipe was SO GOOD, that it is also on her website and can be found right here.
My sister made these for the first time last week, and I fell in love. I don't know if anything, be it a fulfilling career, a happy marriage or child proteges, could offer me more than these. I think I could make them every week and be happy. 
I'm not a heart girl either. I don't wear heart-shaped necklaces or earrings. I don't like heart cut-out dresses. I'd rather make food that looks anatomically correct than make heart cut-outs. But these cookies are deserving of all of that cheesy love. So hearts galore. I also made a robot, but that was for my beautiful sister Sammy.

 
1 cup butter
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa


First things first - we've got to brown the butter. I began by setting up a double boiler of sorts to ,melt it down then transferred the butter to a pan to begin the browning. The thing about browning is that it happens really quickly, so quickly in fact, that at can quickly go from brown to burnt in seconds. While some recipes call for blackened butter, buerre noir, it usually adds just an acidic flavor.

Heat the butter until it starts to boil, whisking constantly and turns a light tan color. Remove from heat immediately and let cool until luke warm.

Too crumbly! Need milk!

 Whisk dry flour, salt and baking powder in bowl and set aside. Mix butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and cocoa in mixer. Gradually add flour mixture, and mix until smooth. I knead mine a little at this stage because it always seems extremely crumbly. If you need, you may wish to add in a little milk to smooth it together (I use about 1/4 of a cup max.)



 Roll out cookie dough on well-floured counter. Cut into desired shapes, brushing extra deposits of flour off the top. (It does disappear once baked, though, so don’t overly fret if they go into the oven looking white.) Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 8 to 11 minutes, depending on thickness. I believe 1/4 in is recommended.

 Every time you re-roll the dough, I recommend lightly flouring your counter.

Bake on a sheet lined with parchment paper or a well greased pan.

Once baked, transfer unto a wire rack and cool.

These are perfect for milk. Another house favorite is warming them in the microwave for 15-20 seconds and eating with whipped cream on top.

I Can't Believe It's Not Gluten - Brownie Edition

This recipe is dedicated to all the beautiful girls on my cross country team! 

A few of the lasses live gluten-free so I thought it was beyond time that I make a gluten-free recipe of my own. I've heard rice flour is an almost perfect substitute for regular baking flour. If I do make these again, I'll probably try to be more creative (with Halloween around the corner I'll probably try baking something with candy cars thrown in).

You can see that, with the exception of the rice flour, this is a pretty normal looking brownie recipe. I found that the taste is right on, too. This is fairly extraordinary given that I love gluten products, and had I not known this was gluten free, I would never  have guessed. 
Another great thing about this recipe is it's incredibly simple. It's not hassle at all to make the adjustment and I promise you nothing will be lost in the flavor department!
Hopefully my sister (home on school break) will be attempting a rather incredible recipe tomorrow. I don't want to give anything away, but it's going to be really good. 
 In other news - still no camera! Grrrrrr I've been waiting patiently (or not so patiently) all week for the darn thing to come! Ebay tells me that expected arrival date is 10/12/12. Ebay....why you let me down? So, once again, sorry for the lack of original photography. Hopefully I'll have something nice to show you tomorrow!
And finally, it's my papa's birthday Wednesday! He's one brilliant man.

Bake Temp: 325

What? Gluten-Free Brownies that taste awesome? how?!

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 25 minutes
Ready In:  45 minutes

You will need:
3/4 brown rice flour
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
6 ounces butter, cut into small cubes (for easy melting!)
pinch o' salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vaniller
2 eggs


Begin by setting your oven to 325. Either grease an 8 x 8 pan or layer with parchment paper.
Melt the butter and chocolate in the microwave, being careful not to let the chocolate burn. Mix slowly until smooth. Add in a pinch of salt.

Mix in the vanilla and sugar. Crack eggs one at a time into the bowl. Now slowly pour the flour into the mixture, mixing slowly until well combined. Give it a few quick stirs before pouring into baking pan and baking at 325 for 20-25 minutes.

Real simple, real good.

Ooey Gooey One-Bowl Brownies

Every Easter my sister has baked these brownies. While the crowd changes and grows, these brownies have become a staple and my family is always known to be the family that will bring the brownies. In fact, although my sister can no longer make it to the Easter dinner, I still make these brownies and several guests have come to calling me by my sister's name because the brownies are simply more memorable than the baker!

Sorry, this is a misleading photo

 Here's the true product

4 squares unsweetened baking chocolate
3/4 cups butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
an optional cup of nuts (pecans are ideal)

Oven Temp is 350 degrees
Prep Time is 15 minutes
Bake Time is 35 minutes
Done and ready in 1 hour!

Microwave the chocolate and butter until the butter is melted.

You can cover the bowl up to prevent splashes by using a paper towel. The melting should take about two minutes. Stir until the  chocolate melts as well.
Mix in the vanilla and sugar. Crack eggs one by one. Stir in flour and mix well.

Take a 9 by 13 pan and line with tin foil. Grease the foil. Pour batter into the pan and bake for 30-35 minutes. When a toothpick is inserted, fudgy crumbs should come out too. This has been baked to perfection. These brownies are to die for.

BONUS RECIPE! Before baking, mix together 1 tablespoon butter and two tablespoons sugar. Melt the butter, mix in sugar and 2/3 cup of peanut butter (smooooooth pb). Spoon over the batter and swirl with a knife to make a marbled appearance. Bake normally