Sunday, February 21, 2010

Chocolate Month


It’s February – Chocolate Month; I was in Chicago for Valentine’s Day (I will muse about that later) so I missed having chocolate for Valentine’s Day. I have been craving chocolate for days so I decided to do something about it. Now in all honesty I have cravings for chocolate and may other things all of the time, I just thought the post Valentine’s Day craving was a nice lead into this blog.

Last night watching Bobby Flay Throw Down on HGTV the challenge was brownies, after watching that show I decided to make brownies would full fill my chocolate fix. Checking the pantry I found that I had almost all of the ingredients and what I didn’t have I could pick up from the store. Gooey fudgy brownies are the only ones for me. This brownie recipe started off as someone else but I have made so many adjustments to the recipe that it is truly mine. Remember the better the ingredients the better the brownie; enjoy this recipe and make your own adjustments if you like!

Johnnie’s Brownies

1 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
8 ounces unsalted butter
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips (optional)
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (the good stuff, it makes a difference)
4 large eggs
I cup macadamia nuts (or whatever you like)
1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Sift the flour, 1 cup of sugar and salt together in food processor bowl (you can do this by hand if you want & if so you would put these dry ingredients into a bowl.).
3. Melt the butter and chocolate (not the chocolate chips) in a medium saucepan over very low heat, stirring frequently and keeping a watchful eye on the pot to make certain the chocolate doesn’t scorch. Add 1 cup of the sugar to the mixture and stir for 30 seconds or so, then remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
4. Little by little, pour chocolate mixture into the food processor bowl alternating adding the eggs, pulse constantly scraping the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
5. Pour and scrape the batter in to a buttered 12-inch glass pan (I prefer a glass pan when baking brownies, I like the chewy bottom) and fold in the nuts & chocolate chips. (I rough chopped some of the nuts and sprinkled them over the top)
6. Bake the brownies for approximately 30 minutes (remember it depends on your oven so use your judgment), during which time they will rise a little and the top will turn dark and dry.
7. Cool the brownies in the pan on a rack.
I made a simple ganache with some of the chocolate chips and a little whipping cream to drizzle over the top of the brownies.

2 comments:

Hungry Dog said...

I can report that these are among the best brownies I have ever had! Thanks for posting the recipe!

Hungry Broad said...

I have glad that you enjoyed it, thanks for encouraging me with my blog!