Seriously Chocolate Brownies

 

That's no lie--these were the chocolate-iest  (no, it's not a word, but I'm a copy editor--we get to make them up) ever.

Little did I know that these brownies would be the kick-off to my six-day baking marathon. Seriously, I baked six days in a row. These brownies were to be for poker night. We have a group of friends we play poker with every week or so. There is usually food involved, and I insisted on bringing dessert. I really wanted to make something with lots of cinnamon and butter, so I settled on apple cobbler, but our one very good friend Scott is a bit of a picky eater and I wasn't too sure he'd do cobbler. But I knew he'd go for brownies. To say Scott loves brownies would be an understatement.

So, I went in search of another good recipe. I made some for work a few weeks ago, and they were really good. But I like this whole experimenting thing right now, so I decided to try a new recipe. After searching my Google Reader full of WC girls' blogs, I settled on these from Baking Blonde's Weblog Seriously, the perfect brownie.

Best Brownies
(adapted from Hershey's Best Brownies)

Ingredients:
1/2 c (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 tbsp. Hershey's Chocolate Syrup*
2 eggs
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)
1/2 c. mini Semi-sweet Chocolate chips*
1/4 c. mini Milk Chocolate chips*

*Baking Blonde's variations.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 8 x 8 inch pan with foil and lightly spray with cooking spray.

2. In large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, stir together butter and sugar. Add and stir in vanilla and syrup. Add eggs one at a time and mix well. Gently fold in flour mixture until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread batter evenly into prepared pan.

4. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan.

5. Cool brownies on counter for 5 minutes. Place brownies, still in pan, in refrigerator for 30 minutes (this was a tip from Baking Blonde to bring out the chocolate flavor--it worked) to cool.

6. Remove from fridge and finish cooling on counter. Once completely set and cooled, lift foil and brownies from pan. Peel back foil and using a sharp plastic knife, cut brownies. Store covered at room temperature.

Sissy's Variations:
I loved the idea of the chocolate syrup, so I used that.

I changed up the addition of the chocolate chips just a little, using 1/4 c. each of milk chocolate and dark chocolate chips and semi-sweet chocolate chunks.

 

I used my stand mixer instead of mixing my hand, and it worked  great. I did use the refrigerator trick, but then mine sat for another 24 hours before eaten.

They seemed to be a hit--super rich and very chocolate-y.

A blonde and brunette walk into a bar . . .

Every time I say or type blondies and brownies, I feel like I'm starting a joke. Yeah, I know, I'm weird.

So, for week two of my "I'm back in the baking game" thing, I wanted to try something new and something I've made so many times before. I've never made blondies and since I wanted to make something my manager could eat (she can't eat chocolate), they sounded perfect. I also wanted to make a different brownie from my old Betty Crocker brownies that I've made a million times before. The girls on What's Cooking message board (from The Nest) came through with some awesome recipes.


Blondies
(Basic Blondie Recipe, from Bakingblonde's Weblog)




6-7 TBS butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder (optional, creates lighter blondie texture)

Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8×8 pan with foil and lightly spray with PAM. In a large microwave safe mixing bowl melt the butter. Allow to cool for 5 mintues. Mix the brown sugar with the melted butter and beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla. Add salt, stir in flour and baking powder (if using). Mix in any additions (some ideas below).


Pour into prepared pan and use a greased spatula to evenly spread mixture in pan and level the top. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until set in the middle. Cool on rack before cutting.



Add in ideas:
1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, white chocolate or butterscotch chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans, walnuts, almonds
1/2 cup M&M candies
1/2 chopped Reese’s PB cups
1/4 cup toffee pieces
1/2 tsp mint extract in addition to, or in the place of vanilla extract

Sissy's Variations:
For my add ins, I used little caramel pieces (about 1/2 c.) in one batch and chocolate chunks (about 1/2 c.) in the other.
I used right at 6 1/2 tbsp. butter.
I used the baking powder in the caramel blondies, and I think I liked the texture better on those.
Mine were done right at 20 minutes.



Brownies
(Deep-Dish Brownies, from Lauren's Kitchen)





3/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8 inch square pan.

In a large bowl, blend melted butter, sugar and vanilla. Beat in eggs one at a time. Combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt in a separate bowl. Gradually blend dry mixture into the egg mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.


Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Let brownies cool, then cut into squares. Enjoy!


Sissy's Variations:
I used chocolate chunks in one batch and the caramel pieces in the other (about 1/2 c. each).
Mine cooked in about 30 minutes. That may have been because the the oven was already hot.