I notice that the more kids I have had, the bigger house I have had, the more projects I have going, the more I am unorganized. My family, as you know, has a combined sweet tooth the size of Vermont. Maybe bigger. Therefore, if I want there to be peace , joy, and happiness then something sweet, besides yours truly, had better be available round the clock. Yesterday when I got home from church I was struck by two important facts. One, it was later than usual, and two, I had failed to create dessert for our planned meal. Ack!

With visions of predatory, prowling, wild things dancing through my head, and hoping that my family would be distracted by a football game or something, I began the mental quest for dessert. Bars. Quick, easy, great. But I have done brownies alot lately…hmmm.

Well this is what I came up with. They were really good, moist and chocolaty with the rich marshmallow and cherry topping, and cherry fondant type swirl through the brownie it’s self.. A casual dessert or a great snack.

Brownies:

3/4 c unsalted butter- melted

2 c sugar

4 eggs – beaten

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 c flour

3/4 c dark cocoa

pinch of salt

Mix sugar and melted butter. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat well. Beat in cocoa until smooth and then flour mixed with salt.

Spread in a greased 13″ x 9″ pan.

Fondant Swirl

Mix:

1/2 c sweetened condensed milk

1/4 c marachino cherry juice

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 egg

4 Tbs cream cheese

until smooth. Make channels in the brownie batter with a spoon and pour the mixture into the channels. Swirl through the batter.

Bake at 350 about 20-25 minutes. Do not over bake.

Remove Brownies from oven. Sprinkle 2 c mini marshmallows and 1/2 c chopped marachino cherries over top. Put back in over for 5 minutes, or until marshmallows are melted.

Let cool and cut. Makes 2 dozen.

Reminders!

I hope you are playing B5’s Fall Scavenger Hunt

Don’ t forget about the First Annual Boobie Bake-off here and on Apron Strings & Simmering Things. It is for a good cause and you can enter on either of the blogs, and be featured on both at the end. Check the link for instructions and more information! All proceeds will go to Breast cancer research in the name of the winner! There have been several entries all ready, and I am telling you, this is going ot be an fantastic event!!!!!

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What kind of thing? You will have to check back. You should be out of your chocolate coma by then.

O.k. These are from Epicurious. They are…incredible. This is definitly a case for saving the best for last.

For hazelnut base
Unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting
1 cup hazelnuts, toasted, loose skins rubbed off with a kitchen towel, and cooled
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick ( 1/4 cup) unsalted butter
6 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), finely chopped
2 large whole eggs

For ganache
2 large egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon salt
12 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), finely chopped

Make hazelnut base:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter bottom and sides of an 8-inch square metal baking pan, then dust with cocoa powder, knocking out excess. Finely grind nuts in a food processor with flour, sugar, and salt.

Melt butter in a 2-quart saucepan, then remove from heat. Add chocolate and whisk until smooth. Add eggs 1 at a time, whisking until smooth. Stir in nut flour until just combined.

Spread batter evenly in baking pan and bake in middle of oven until top is firm and dry and a tester inserted into center comes out with crumbs adhering, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool completely in pan on a rack, at least 2 hours.

Make ganache:
Lightly beat yolks in a bowl. Bring cream with salt just to a boil in a small heavy saucepan, then add half of it to yolks in a slow stream, whisking constantly. Whisk yolk mixture into remaining cream and cook over low heat, whisking, until slightly thickened and an instant-read thermometer registers 170°F (do not let boil).

Remove from heat and add chocolate, whisking until smooth. Pour ganache over hazelnut base in pan, smoothing top with offset spatula, and chill, covered, until firm, at least 5 hours.

Cut into squares with a warmed thin knife, wiping off knife after each cut, and remove from pan while still cold.

Serve truffles cold or at room temperature.

Epicurious.com © CondéNet, Inc. All rights reserved.

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I have a son who loves rocky road ice cream. When I make ice cream he is in the pantry pulling out marshmallows, walnuts, chocolate chips, and anything else he thinks he can get away with trying to get me to throw in there. When I heard that we were going ot have a picnic after church last Sunday I was trying to decide what type of chocolate to supply our pastor with ( he loves chocolate almost as much as I do) and I thought about these rocky road brownies. Perfect!

They must have hit the spot they disappeared before I got to them.

These are sweetly intense little chocolate explosions in your mouth. I use cocoa rather than melted chocolate for brownies because I like the texture better and I do think you get a deeper chocolate flavor that way. This is for a 9″ square pan…I doubled everything but the glaze and used a 9×13. The glaze recipe, by the way, is something I use alot.

Speaking of sweetly intense…. the Home and Dining Channel at B5 is rockin’ this Autumn with some cool contests and just general fun stuff. Be sure to check back so you don’t miss out.There will be The Home & Dining channel’s AMAZING scavenger hunt in October. The prize is …well ….AWESOME so be sure you land here every day next month.

And don’t forget to check Baking Delights daily this week for the Brownie Extravaganza! LOL! OH! Speaking of all the awesomeness that IS B5’s H&D Channel experience..Check out Heather’s new blog about pets, The Food Bowl, 

Rocky Road Brownies

Glaze

Glaze

1/2 c unsalted butter melted

1/2 c Hersheys Special Dark cocoa

1/2 c confectioners sugar, give or take.

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We are kicking it off today with a chocolate brownie that would be comfortable in any gourmet gift basket or amazing at a church picnic. I think they are my new favorite..today anyway. Who doesn’t like chocolate chip cookie dough better than the actual cookie? C’mon, be honest. Mmmmhmm..thought so. Well this amazing brownie has a bottom layer of chewy, intense, chocolate goodness, followed by a layer of, yes!, cookie dough, followed by a rich chocolate glaze. Cut them small because they are very, very rich.

I saw the recipe for the first time a couple of days ago on Barbara’ s site, Bless Us O Lord and I was intrigued. I was all ready planning a rocky road brownie that I have been working on to take to a church picnic on Sunday so I didn’t get to try it until Monday. Wow.
For the first time ever I have made a pan of brownies that have lasted more than an hour. Not because they are not good but because they are so rich even the kids were quite happy with a small piece. I did change it up a bit, the original glaze was melted chocolate chip, however I prefer a glaze made with cocoa and melted butter and confectioners as I feel I get a more intense chocolate taste.

Cookie Dough Brownies

2 c sugar

1 1/2 c flour

1/2 c Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa

1/2 tsp salt

1 c vegetable oil

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

Combine the flour, cocoa, and salt. Combine the oil, eggs, sugar and vanilla and mix for 3 minutes on medium speed. Spread n a greased 9×13 pan and bake at 350f for 25-30 minutes. Do not overbake. I took mine out slightly underdone because I like chewy brownies. Cool completely.

Cookie Dough Layer

1 c unsalted butter

1 c brown sugar

1/2 c sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 T milk

2 c flour

mix in mixer until smooth. Spread over cooled brownies. Refrigerate.

Glaze

1/2 c unsalted butter melted

1/2 c Hersheys Special Dark cocoa

1/2 c confectioners sugar, give or take.

mix together until you get a smooth, glossy glaze the texture of melted chocolate. Spread over chilled cookie dough layer. Chill.

Makes 1 9×13 pan.

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Chocolate Pixie Cookies with a Twist.
2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
12 Tbs (3/4 c) Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa
1/2 c unsalted butter
2 c sugar
4 eggs
confectioners sugar

Cream butter and sugar, add eggs and cocoa and mix until smooth. Mix dry ingredients except confectioners and add to butter mixture. Chill for 30 minutes.
Roll 1 tsp of the dough into balls and roll in confectioners to coat. Set 2 ” apart of silpat covered baking sheet.
Bake at 300 for 18-20 minutes. Cool. Makes 48

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  Just want to mention really quick that Marc is in the hospital with severe knee pain..the doctors have him on morophine…We are unsure what is happening next but have great faith that all will be well. Good wishes, prayers and  positive thoughts all appreciated!  I am dividing my time between the library (to blog) the house, and the hospital and I am feeling a bit ragged lately!

2 c flour

1 3/4 c sugar

1/2 c cocoa

1 Tbs soda

1/3 c butter

1 c sour milk or butter milk

1 c strong coffee

  Cream the butter and the sugar.  mix flour and soda into sugar mixture and then milk and coffee. Mix well. Mixture will be very liquid. Pour into greased and floured 13 x 9 inch pan and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. Frost as desired.

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  These brownies are getting closer to what I am looking for, altho I would like them to be a bit more moist and chewy. The flavor is right though…What happens is that there is some kind of magic that happens in the oven  between the cinnamon, the dark chocolate and the smokey chipotle and when they come out…yum.  I was sitting here trying to think how to describe it and I just can’t…very sophisticated and complex, not too sweet, the dark chocolate convinces your mouth that you have just bitten into a delicious, but predictible brownie and then the cinnamon sort of pulls you in to the chipotle and all of a sudden you are doing the macarena…

  Well not really..but you need to try these.

 The chocolate chipotle brownies have a spicy heat that can sneak up on you..make a plain batch for the kids…

2 squares unsweetened baking chocolate

6 tbs Hershey’s Special dark cocoa

1 c unsalted butter

2 c sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp mexican vanilla

1 c flour

1 tsp cinnamon

2-4 tbs finely chopped dried chipotle

1 c chocolate chips

Preheat oven:325

Grease 13×9 pan

microwave chocolate and butter in a microwave safe bowl until butter is melted..stir to mix and make smooth..add cocoa and mix until smooth

stir in sugar until well blended and not grainy. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour, cinnamon and chocolate chips. Spread in pan.

 Bake 30 -35 minutes or until set, toothpick inserted in center will come out with a few moist crumbs. 

let cool and cut into squares.   Makes 24

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