Showing posts with label dark chocolate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dark chocolate. Show all posts

Sunday, October 03, 2010

Smore Brownies! : )

Hey everyone! I woke up wanting to bake! I really wanted to make coffee cake, or pecan bars, but they both call for a ridiculous amount of brown sugar, and I have barley a 1/3 of a cup left! The bus doesn't run here on Sundays so I couldn't go to the store to pick and up so I looked at my baking shelf to she what I had. I had chocolate, graham crackers, marshmallows, which equaled one thing, smore's! : )

I hunted online for a great smore brownie recipe and here is what I found:
http://foodietwoshoes.com/wordpress/2009/09/11/a-last-summer-treat/

I changed it up a bit to go with what I like, so with further ado here are some amazing smore brownies!

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CRUST:

~ 6 whole graham crackers, broken into small pieces
~ 3 tablespoons sugar
~ 3 tablespoons butter, melted

BROWNIES:

~ 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
~ 1/ 3 cup dark chocolate chips (I used two dark chocolate bars)
~ 8 tablespoons butter, melted
~ 3 tablespoons cocoa powder (I used dark cocoa powder)
~ 3 large eggs
~ 1 ¼ cups sugar
~ 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
~ ½ teaspoon salt
~ 1 cup all-purpose flour

TOPPING:

~ Marshmallows (I used full sized ones)

1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line your pan with parchment paper (allowing edges to extend over sides). First, melt the butter in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Then remove the bowl and put your graham crackers in a bag and squish them into crumbs. Add the crumbs, and the sugar to the melted butter bowl and then mix together until moist crumbs form. Press crumbs evenly onto the parchment paper in the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake crust until light golden brown, about eight minutes.

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2) In a heatproof bowl melt the chocolates and butter in the microwave until smooth. Remove and stir in the cocoa powder until combined. Set aside to cool.

3) In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt, and strip until combined. Stir in the warm chocolate mixture until incorporated. Then stir in the flour until just combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread with a spatula to make an even layer. Bake until slightly puffed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a small amount of sticky crumbs clinging to it, about 40 minutes.

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(Ready to go in the oven!)


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(The messy dishes I washed while they were baking!)


While the brownies were baking, I washed up my dishes and looked over my new dorm kitchen. This one was bigger than my other one, and it had a lot of cute signs everywhere!

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(Ahhh they are all so cute!)


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(Before the marshmallows were toasted)

4) When they are finished baking, remove the pan from the oven, and preheat the oven to broil. Top the brownies with the marshmallows, making an even layer. Place the pan on the rack and make sure your are paying attention! I put them in for about 1 minute, and they caught on fire! I had to turn the oven off, fan them down, and blow on them to get the fire out! The whole time I was like plllllease fire alarm don't go off, PLEASE! x0 Haha so I'd say they only need about 30 seconds, perhaps, crack the door open and just watch them! As soon as the marshmallows have a nice brown crust, remove them from the oven. Let cool completely before attempting to remove from pan and cutting.

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Tada! The finished result! (after I scrapped off the burnt marshmallows and parchment paper! x0 )

They were pretty awesome in my opinion! The slight burntness in some of the bites really made me think of a real campfire! I had a lot of fun making these, but I lost a few years of my life in fear of burning down my dorm! Watch the marshmallows! Xp


Love you all!!


Lizzie!


PS: Marshmallows make everyone happy. While I was baking about 4 boys came in going oooh I smelled these all the way from the 5th floor! Ahhh the power of baking! ; )



Monday, September 13, 2010

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies... oh my! : )

Hey everyone! I FINALLY found dark chocolate cocoa powder! I was so excited I came right back to my dorm and whipped up these amazing dark chocolate peanut butter cookies! I literally ate ten of them by myself, they are that good!

(Recipe found at: http://jennymacslipsmack.blogspot.com/2009/07/marriage-made-in-heaven.html ) : )

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You'll need:

1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder)
2 tsps. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Chips
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 cup lightly salted peanuts

NOW!:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and get a cookie sheet that is non stick (or use parchment paper like I did!)

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Slowly add eggs and vanilla until well combined.

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3. In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Slowly add to wet ingredients then stir (with all your might!) in the two different chips, and the peanuts. Then form into desired scoops and place about two inches apart on the cookie sheet. (I did two batched with six large cookies, and one batch with 12 smaller cookies)

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4. Bake for 12-15 minutes (original said 9-11 but my oven must suck because it took about 12 to 15 minutes for mine!) , should still be soft in center (and gooey!). Let the cookies rest in the fridge for about five to seven minutes or else they will go everywhere! (I cleaned, and cleaned, and cleaned that kitchen. x0)

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Now ENJOY!! : )

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(Yummm sugar!) ^_^

Love you all!

Lizzie!