Spicy Brownies

Brownies are special. They are special because they can modified in a million different ways and none of them are disappointing. In fact they put a rumbly in the tumbly just looking at them. There are brownies with cheesecake, caramel, oreo cookies, nuts, marshmallow...the list goes on and on. The most important thing for me, or I should say, one of the things I like the most on any kind of brownie is a crackly top! And...I love crunchy tops with chewy soft centers. This brownie had both.

This recipe from the Baked boys attracted me because it said 'spicy' which means some form of chile powder. My interest was piqued and I just had to try it out.

I thought these were delicious. The heat, provided by some ancho chile, kicks in some time after you have eaten the first bite. It is indeed subtle and perfectly balanced. The chocolate and spice are complete complements to one another. My roommate couldn't sense the heat (defective palate) but it was clear to me and I loved it. It's not the first time I have baked a chocolate and spice recipe. I did a Mexican Hot Chocolate cookie recipe in 2012 for a Humane Society event, that I just loved as well.

For whatever reason, these brownies, which keep well, tasted better to me a few days later than on the day I made them.

RECIPE

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder (like Valrhona)

1 tablespoon ancho chile powder

2 teaspoons freshly grated cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

9 ounces good-quality dark chocolate (60 -72%), coarsely chopped

2 ounces good-quality mile chocolate, coarsely chopped

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

5 large eggs, at room temperature

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch glass or light-colored metal baking pan. Line the pan with parchment paper and butter the parchment.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, chile powder, cinnamon, salt, and ginger, and set aside.

Place the chopped chocolates and the butter in the bowl of a double boiler over medium heat and stir occasionally until they are completely melted and combined. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water of the double boiler. Add both sugars and whisk until completely combined. Remove the bowl from the water and let the mixture come to room temperature.

Add 3 eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until just combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk until just combined. Do not overbeat the batter at this stage or your brownies will be cakey.

Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate. Using a spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until there is just a trace amount of the flour mixture visible.

Bake the brownies for 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the pan comes out with a few moist crumbs. Remove the brownies from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before cutting and serving.

The brownies can be stored at room temperature, tightly covered, for up to 4 days.

Enjoy!


Source: Baked Elements

Sticky Gingerbread

Every year I am on the search for my perfect molasses, gingery, kind of cookie or sweet bread.  Every year I feel disappointed and recipes miss the mark. Some come close and I fall in love occasionally but they aren't quite 'it'.  I thought maybe my expectations were too high. What exactly was I looking for? A certain smell, a certain taste ...there was something I have had in my past that I wanted to have again, only I didn't know what it was. My search ended when I made this bread for the first time.

This recipe is from a British baking book and has very English ingredients that can be found at specialty stores like Whole Foods or Fresh & Easy (west coast). I bought this recipe book because my nearest and dearest friend and roommate, Andy, is British and I wanted to make him his favorite treats from home, such as Bakewell Tarts. Andy has been here in the US for about 16 years and while he does go back to the U.K. from time to time, it's not the same having an occassional treat. I wanted to make him happy and do something special for him on a more frequent basis, bringing home to him.

This recipe calls for Black Treacle and Golden Syrup which were things I had never heard of. This happens often when I make recipes from this book and I have to go to him for translation from English to American. Their references for granulated sugar, fine sugar, and confectioners' sugar are different, not surprisingly, so I need to keep in mind to be careful when I read the ingredients to check if it's just a name difference or truly a different product.

On our trip to Fresh & Easy, when we found what I will call, the English section, he was like a kid reliving fond food memories. There were all kinds of things that reminded him of home, like clotted cream (used with jam on scones), the treacle and golden syrup, of course, and several other things I had no knowledge of. I stood there just listening to him as his eyes excitedly made their way around to all the goodies and he openly, and quite enthusiastically, shared memories of these things. It was fun!

Black Treacle is similar to molasses yet different. Molasses is much sweeter than black treacle. The Golden Syrup is sweet but lighter, maybe similar to a corn syrup, but better - tastier.

This cake was a surprise to my taste buds, so moist and flavorful, that I couldn't stop eating it. I wanted to taste it again and again. It was the first time I had really baked with both of these new ingredients in the same recipe and it was magical...it was different! It was a nice change and a very successful sweet bread that had all the markings of a wintery holiday cake. It was the kind of experience that when we both ate our first piece, said " That's Ridiculous"!

The other special addition to the ingredients was dark brown muscavado, which is an unrefined, strong brown sugar that has a molasses kind of taste, and is stickier than normal brown sugar you find at local stores. Muscavado has a very distinct smell and flavor and is used sometimes in the making of rum (yum!). I happened to have some on hand already when I had spied it at Whole Foods one time, and curious, I bought it, not knowing what to do with it. Traditional recipes I work from do not ever mention muscavado.

Here is the recipe along with some fun background on it straight from the book.  Enjoy!

" A deliciously spicy, sticky dark ginger cake from Scotland and northern England, quickly made by melting and mixing. Nowadays the cake is usually left plain and un-iced, but in early medieval days it was a solid mixture of flour, honey and spices, baked until hard, then heavily decorated with cloves covered in gilt, gilded leaves and as much ornamentation as possible. The recipe has gradually evolved from a work of art to an edible delight. You can still add a decoration of edible gold leaf or white glace icing after baking, though, if you would like something a little fancier. It is excellent eaten with butter or a wedge of  Lancashire cheese. The flavour gets better as it matures, so plan to make this at least a day before cutting."

 

RECIPE

225 g self-rising flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground mixed spice

115 g unsalted butter, chilled & diced

115 g black treacle

115g golden syrup

115g dark brown muscavado sugar

275 ml whole milk

1 medium free range egg, beaten

A 900 g loaf tin, about 26 x 13 x 7cm, greased with butter and lined with greaseproof paper.

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger, cinnamon, and mixed spice into a large mixing bowl. Add the diced butter and run into the flour mix, using the tips of your fingers, until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.

Spoon the treacle and golden syrup into a small pan and warm gently until melted and runny but not hot. Set aside until lukewarm. Put the sugar and milk into another pan and heat gently, stirring well to dissolve the sugar. Leave to cool until lukewarm, then whisk the milk into the flour mixture, quickly followed by the treacle mixture and the egg, to make a smooth thick batter, the consistency of double cream.

Put the mixture into the prepared tin. Bake the gingerbread in the heated oven for about 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean. Run a round-bladed knife around the inside of the tin to loosen the loaf, then set the tin on a wire rack and leave the ginger-bread to cool completely before turning out. Wrap the loaf in foil and leave for at least a day before cutting; it will get stickier the longer it is kept. Store in an air tight container.

CRYSTAL'S NOTES

• You could easily add whole ginger/chopped pieces to this recipe for an even more gingery taste. I am sure it would taste great, however, this bread is fantastic on its own.

• Be Careful! when wrapping this bread to set. It is SO MOIST that foil or anything directly touching the top may peel off the breading of the top because it is 'sticky' gingerbread! Then you really will need a glace of sorts to cover up the damage. So you almost need to wrap it with the top tented up. I learned the hard way.

Cookies * Bars * Sweet Breads

Operation Baking Gals : November

This is my first post and baking effort in supporting the troops as a member of Operation Baking Gals! And my shipment comes the day after Veteran's Day which seems appropriate somehow.

What a pleasure and honor it is to give a little something back to those folks who are away from their family and friends in a career that serves and supports our country. This decision to be in the military can at any unknown time cost them dearly their own lives or that of their comrades. It's not the easy life they have, and during times of war, tougher than any one of us can even imagine. Based on this, I am happy to support them in any way possible.The achey feet and exhaustion from a day of baking is nothing compared to what they go through and the thought of any measure of happiness a home baked cookie can give them, goes the distance for me in imagining a smile on their faces or the excitement to receive something from "Home".

I learned recently in my genealogy work on my own family tree that a many times great grandfather on my Dad's side is a 'Son of the American Revolution' and served proudly in the Revolutionary War in the Essex County - New Jersey Militia. It was a very proud moment for me to know that my family has played a role in serving our country and in looking at the actual documents, I was able to connect to that place in my family's history from here in 2012. Some of my family, on my sister Kim's side, still serve our country and I am grateful for their dedication and bravery.

For this month of November, I have baked for our U.S. soldiers: Zucchini Bread, Pfeffernusse Cookies, Chocolate Gingerbread Bars, and Pumpkin Harvest Dunking Cookies

Sound good? They were...and once again, I ate way too many samples but such is life!

Pfeffernusse Cookies

Zucchini Bread

Chocolate Gingerbread Bars

and....

Pumpkin Harvest Dunking Cookies

Recipes and notes are as follows:

Chocolate Gingerbread Bars / Recipe from Martha Stewart

Click on the hyperlinked name to go to recipe page online.

Crystal's Notes

• Martha's photo online is misleading in that the bars appear much thicker and larger than what they are for the 8" pan she recommends in her instructions. In doing a 'close up' shot, I can make it look that way too.
• Her instructions yield 16 bars...if you look at your 8' pan, you will realize they are tiny bars. If you want bigger, double the recipe and use a larger pan.
• Recipe did not taste as 'gingerbready' as I had expected. You could easily make modifications to this recipe to give it some extra ginger zing. 
• The chocolate chips makes this a very yummy bar and the powdered sugar does make it a perfect holiday treat in one. 

While I don't think it really lived up to its name, it's still a yummy bar!

German Pfeffernusse ("Pepper Nuts") Cookies / Recipe from La Fuji Mama Food Blog

click on the hyperlinked name to go to recipe page online.

Crystal's Notes

• People will differ on their interpretation of Pfeffernusse cookies based on their experience. I particularly like this recipe and have not ever tried the small bite size crunchy ones.
• I use excess powdered sugar cause that is my thing and that is why they look exceptionally white :) ...recommended to not eat outside on a windy day or near a breezy window!
• I cannot stand star anise (anise extract) which tastes like black licorice for those who need a reference. It is subtle in this recipe and I LOVE these cookies so if you have a 'hater' out there, these cookies may get a pass. They are on my favorites list for sure.
• Slight crunch on the outside, chewy on the inside

Zucchini Bread /Recipe from Mom

This recipe has been made since I was a kid and has always been a holiday favorite of mine. Several years ago, my Mom lost it (Aye!). We tried some online recipes but they weren't "it" and while some were close it just didn't fill that missing piece inside our hearts (or bellies). It was very very very disappointing. Since that time my Mom has moved house like 3 times or something. So you would think not a chance in H** we would ever see it again. About a month ago, I asked her if she had ever found that recipe. I don't know why I even bothered given the time that had passed and what has gone on between now and then with garage sales and getting rid of old stuff... and now that I think about it, not sure why she never told me that she had indeed FOUND IT!  OMG! What a great day it was.

In making this for our troops, I made an extra one for at home and it was the reunion I had hoped for. It was everything I remembered it to be. Simple but GOOD.

Ingredients

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

2 cups granulated sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

3 cups flour

1 cup chopped nuts ( I always use walnuts)

2 cups grated Zucchini

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp nutmeg

Optional:

1/2 cup raisins

1 can crushed pineapple, drain juice

( I do not add the optional items)

Instructions 

•  Mix dry ingredients
• Add oil/ eggs/ vanilla
• Add zucchini and nuts

Butter and flour loaf pans

Preheat to 350F   /  Bake for 1 hour- or until tops are browned and toothpick comes clean

Enough for 2 small loaf pans

Crystal's Notes

• Top of loafs are crunchy and inside is soft and yummy. Perfect!
• Taste great with a smear of butter.
• Great anytime!

Pumpkin Harvest Dunking Cookies / Recipe from Baked Elements

These were better than I expected them to be. The 'Baked' boys offer a suggestion in the book that these are indeed made for dunking and that you can and should let them bake up a little longer than you feel comfortable with since they are good for it. I did no such thing and baked for the suggested time. I hate a dry cookie and seeing as these have a journey ahead of them, I didn't want to risk them getting too dry, made for dunking or not! 

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups rolled oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

5 ounces dried cranberry (1 cup)

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (about 1 cup) (Optional)

Instructions

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and add the egg, pumpkin, and vanilla, until incorporated.

Add half of the dry ingredients and mix for  seconds. Add the remaining dry ingredients and beat  until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, and beat for 5 more seconds. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the cranberries and chocolate chips. Cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate the dough for at least 4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Use a small ice cream scoop with release mechanism to scoop out the dough in 2 tablespoon-size balls (or use a tablespoon measure) and place the balls onto the prepared baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Bake for 14 - 18 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time, until the cookies begin to brown. 

Remove the pan from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Use a spatula to transfer the individual cookies to the rack to cook completely.

These cookies can be stored, in an airtight container, for up to 3 days.

Yield: 36 cookies

Best wishes to all our military folks and their families.

God Bless America!

SPECULAAS

Going into this new recipe as part of the ongoing Club Baked adventure I had no clue what Speculaas were and fairly sure I hadn't heard of them before either. I have probably eaten one :) and just didn't know it. As we are seeing in our Baked Explorations book, we travel across the country and within our own United States experiencing foods born from various cultures and in some cases out of economic challenges. It really is quite interesting for me to know the history behind our food.

Here is what Wikipediahad to say about this cookie:

"Speculoos (Dutch Dutch: SpeculaasDutch pronunciation: [spekyˈlaːs], Flemish Dutch: Speculoos, French: spéculoos) is a type of shortcrustbiscuit, traditionally baked for consumption on or just before St Nicholas' feast in the Netherlands (December 5), Belgium (December 6),^[1] and Northern France. In recent decades it has become available all year round...Speculoos are thin, very crunchy, slightly browned and, most significantly, have some image or figure (often from the traditional stories about St. Nicholas) stamped on the front side before baking; the back is flat.For the dough the butter, sugar and spices are mixed. The flour and leavening agent are mixed separately and then added. Bakers take care that the dough doesn't get warm too fast. The dough is stored in a cool place overnight to give the spices time to permeate the dough, and add extra flavor."

In doing some further review online I found that the Dutch Windmill is a popular mold for the Speculaas cookie and people tend to be quite particular about the correct 'Speculaas' cookie recipe. It seems that some recipes boast to be a Speculaas recipe but natives would weigh in that they don't measure up...no pun intended. I happened to find some molds I liked (boat/windmill) online that once I gain some needed practice with these cookies, would love to use as they add a measure of whimsy and they are just downright cute!

I learned too late that the recipe in our book had a misprint in the directions (add cardamom) that was not listed in the ingredients (rightfully so). Usually I leave stuff out - on accident - and this time I added in what I was supposed to leave out thinking it should be there.  Oops and Oh well! I am happy I did because not only is cardamom my new favorite spice but they tasted delicious. Not very pretty (at all really) but very yummy! The spices in this recipe are among my most beloved.

This is exactly the kind of 'more-ish' crunchy cookie that perfectly accompanies my nightly reading. It's like a proper treat that pairs well with tea and satisfies my cravings.

The recipe itself was simple and easy enough to make. The cookies (round cutters) also seemed easy enough...until I baked them and they spread out, got real thin, and kinda ugly. I had an image in my mind of my end result and this was not it. I had tried some more hand made varieties but in the end I was disappointed...and to the degree that I actually dreamt that night that the baking soda was off and that I went to the store in the middle of the night, in pouring rain, to buy new baking soda so I could make them again. As if work stress isn't enough, I am dreaming about cookie issues. Ha! In reality, I stuck with my original result (did not get new baking soda) and am posting my first official Speculaas effort.

I highly recommend these cookies. My BFF, Gingersnap Girl, wasn't so in love with the flavor and hers were sans cardamom. I haven't read the other posts yet but can't wait to see what everyone thought and experienced.  

If you would like the recipe, check out our Baked Sunday Mornings co-host page: SPECULAAS

If you want the recipe like mine, add 1/2 teaspoon Cardamom when you are adding the other spices.

CLUB BAKED - COMING UP:

Feb  15 - Soft Candy Caramel

New York-Style Crumb Cake

 

This recipe for crumb cake has been made so many times in my efforts to share goodness and make people happy, that I have lost count. It is a recipe that I refer people to on a regular basis and every time people have reported to love it! My roommate shares this with people at work who now know it by name and get thrilled whenever they see him walk in with a plastic container... " Is that the crumb cake"? ...Oh yes it is!

RECIPE

Crumb Topping

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and warm
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Cake

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups sour cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and position the rack in the center. Butter the sides and bottom of a glass 9 -by-13-inch pan. You can use a metal, but the edges of the cake may turn crispy.

Crumb Topping

In a medium bowl, stir together both sugars, the salt, and the cinnamon. Add the melted butter and whisk until combined. Fold in the flour until it is absorbed and set the mixture aside.

Cake

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter until it is completely smooth and ribbon-like. Scrape down the bowl and add the sugar. Beat the mixture until it starts to look fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again for 30 seconds. Add the sour cream and vanilla and beat just until incorporated. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, scraping down the bowl before each addition, beating only until it is just incorporated.

Assemble the cake

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Use your hands to scoop up a handful of the topping and make a fist. The topping should hold together. Break off in chunks and and drop them over the cake. Repeat to use all of the topping. Remember, the topping layer will look outrageously thick.

Bake the cake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Rotate the pan two times during the baking process. Cool the entire pan on a wire rack for about 30 minutes before serving.

The cake will last for 3 days, tightly covered, at room temperature.


Enjoy!

 

Source: Baked Explorations.