Katherine-Hepburn Brownies

I made these today and they were very yummy. I put walnuts and toffee bits in there and it was very delish :) and i omitted coffee...

From Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorrie Greenspan

 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons finely ground instant coffee

2 large eggs, preferably at room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup broken or chopped walnuts or pecans

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

 

Directions:

• Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Butter an 8-inch square baking pan and line the bottom with parchment or wax paper. Butter the paper, dust the inside of the pan with flour and tap out the excess. Place the pan on a baking sheet.
• Whisk the flour, cinnamon, if you’re using it, and salt together.
• Put the butter in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and place the pan over low heat. When the butter starts to melt, sift the cocoa over it and add the instant coffee. Continue to cook, stirring, until the butter is melted and the cocoa and coffee are blended into it. Remove from the heat and cool for about 3 minutes.
• Using a whisk or a rubber spatula, beat the eggs into the saucepan one at a time. Next, stir in the sugar and vanilla (don’t beat anything too vigorously — you don’t want to add air to the batter), followed by the dry ingredients, nuts and chopped chocolate. Scrape the batter into the pan.
• Bake for 30 minutes, at which point the brownies will still be gooey but the top will have a dry papery crust. Transfer the pan to a rack and let the brownies cool for at least 30 minutes. (You can wait longer, if you’d like.) Turn the brownies out onto a rack, peel away the paper and invert onto a cutting board. Cool completely before cutting into 16 squares, each roughly 2 inches on a side.

Alton Brown's Brownies

We don't get Food Network channel here in these apartments. And i miss it so much. I got used to watching my favorite shows about food.

You probably know the program on Food Network with Alton Brown guy - Good Eats. It was one of my favorites. On Matt's Birthday i decided to make him brownies, cause he doesn't really eat cakes (i end up eating them by myself). And this recipe got lots of reviews, so i decided to try it out.

Brownies

Soft butter, for greasing the pan (or parchment paper greased with oil spray)
Flour, for dusting the buttered pan (if you're using parchment paper skip this step)
4 large eggs
1 cup sugar, sifted
1 cup brown sugar, sifted
8 ounces melted butter
1 1/4 cups cocoa, sifted (i used just 1 cup and i had Spacial Dark Hershey Cocoa)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup flour, sifted 
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt


1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8-inch square pan. 

2. In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs at medium speed until fluffy and light yellow. Add both sugars. Add remaining ingredients, and mix to combine. 

3. Pour the batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square pan and bake for 45 minutes. Check for doneness with the tried-and-true toothpick method: a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan should come out clean. When it's done, remove to a rack to cool. Resist the temptation to cut into it until it's mostly cool.

Notes: I had to adjust baking time. I baked it for 1 hour or a little more. But a toothpick method is gonna help you to decide when to take them out. Oh, i also used 9x13 cake pan instead of the square one, cause i don't like thick brownies.

I know that it's easier just to buy a mix and bake it, but i just wanted to try something special for Matt and they did turn out really good.

Peppermint Patty Brownies

Mom made these at Thanksgiving. They were so good!

1 1/2 C Butter
3 C Sugar
5 Eggs
1 T Vanilla
2 C flour
1 C Baking Cocoa
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1 package Peppermint Patties

In mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Beat in vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture, mix well. Spread 2/3 of the batter into a greased 13 by 9 inch pan. Arrange peppermint patties over top and carefully cover with remaining batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Cool completely before cutting.