Earl Grey Frosted Brownies

February 05, 2018 in Baking, Recipes

Hi and welcome to the first of many Valentine’s Day inspired content!

I’ve been pretty excited for Valentine’s Day this year. Maybe it’s because after the holidays being over with I’m eager to celebrate the next thing, or maybe it’s because January was super long, cold, and boring. Whatever the reason, I am looking forward to all things pink and red and covered in chocolate right now!

I know I was MIA from the blog last week, but that is because I got my wisdom teeth out. It made eating and thinking about food very painful (in multiple ways: painful in a physical way but also painful mentally and emotionally because I missed cooking!) so I couldn’t bring myself to blog anything new. The good news is I am on my way to full recovery so expect to see some delicious things soon!

I totally underestimated the whole wisdom teeth thing. I mean I knew it would be painful but for me it wasn’t really bad until like 4 days after the surgery. Weird, right?! Thankfully it’s over and hopefully I never have to experience something like that again.

Let’s move on to these decadent, rich, smooth brownies. OMG.

I do love a good brownie, but I’m going to be honest and say that in the past I just haven’t found a good from scratch brownie that I liked. I mean there were some that were okay but in the end I preferred a box mix because it was easier and tasted better (don't judge me!).

Well let me tell you that if you are in the same camp I was in, things are about to change!!

These brownies are one bowl, so easy, and fudgy. I love that the batter doesn’t even use cocoa powder and instead opts for real chocolate (SO much better!). I cut down the sugar a bit to go with the (insanely delicious and simple) frosting. If you don’t have earl grey or are just not into it, you can leave it out.

Normally when I make desserts we do not eat them all, but we definitely ate every. single. last one of these!

These are part of a fun Valentines Day recipe roundup featuring some awesome bloggers! Check out their links below!

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies via What Should I Make For...

Chocolate Wine Cake via The Sweet Nerd

Pink Grapefruit and Thyme Shortbread Hearts via The Beach House Kitchen

Blood Orange Margarita Sorbet via Beyond Mere Sustenance

Vanilla Rose Shortbread Cookies via Seasons & Suppers

Chocolate Panna Cotta with Raspberry Compote via Ciao Chow Bambina

Horchata Latte Cheesecake via Meg is Well

Chocolate Coffee Layer Cake via Katherine in Brooklyn

Chocolate Topped Seed and Nut Bars via This Brown Kitchen

Chocolate-Bottomed Strawberry Fool via Seek Satiation

Earl Grey Frosted Brownies

makes approx 16 brownies

Ingredients

For the brownies, adapted from Baker's One Bowl Brownies

4 oz semisweet chocolate
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour

For the earl grey frosting

3 tbl butter
2 tbl cocoa powder
1 cup powdered sugar
1 earl grey tea bag
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbl milk

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and line a 9x9 square baking dish with parchment paper or foil.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate together over medium heat, stirring until everything is mixed together.

Pour into a large bowl, and stir in the sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla and stir until incorporated. Lastly, add the flour and mix until combined.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 min, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. The top of the brownies should be crackly.

Let cool in pan before adding frosting.

To make the frosting, melt butter (either in a small saucepan or by 30 sec increments in the microwave). Stir in the cocoa powder.

Add the powdered sugar, the contents of the tea bag, vanilla, and milk. Stir with a spoon until everything is combined. Add a little more milk if frosting is too thick.

Spread frosting over cooked brownies with a spatula, and cut into squares!

Weeknight Craving Chocolate Brownies

April 11, 2016 in Recipes

After a busy weekend on Mondays all I want to do is sleep in and never get out of my pajamas slash leave my cozy bed. I wish casual Friday's at work could actually transition to Casual Monday's because it is on Monday's where I feel least excited to get ready for work. You know what I mean?

My weekend was spent eating and walking around everywhere as per usual. Saturday I met up with some friends for brunch at Agave, which I have been wanting to try for quite some time. It was pretty good! Afterwards Kyle and I took the crosstown bus to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (which we sadly realized the other day we hadn't been to in almost a year), and browsed the paintings and sculptures and armory and weapon room. Epic. Then, we got hot dogs from the food cart and saw Zootopia. Does it say something about us that we legitimately enjoy kid movies over adult ones? They are just always so clever and cute and funny! Sunday we went to a rowing class and could hardly move the rest of the day we were so sore. But we did make it to church and I am so glad that we did, because it was exactly what I needed.

So anyway, you may dislike me after this post, because having an easy brownie recipe on hand to make whenever you like (as easy as making on a weeknight) may ruin any hopes of having a healthy diet free from baked goods.

I'm sorry but not really sorry?

When the brownie craving hits me, it is actually a rare one. If I do crave sweets it is often a chocolate chip cookie or a slice of cake. I can usually have a piece of chocolate and the craving goes away. But at some point last week I had a not so great day at work and came home with one thing on my mind: therapy through baking and chocolate.

I searched the web for some easy brownie recipes and finally modified a few to make this one. As always I cut the sugar when I can, add chocolate chips when necessary, and it resulted in an easy chocolatey combination that may be easily doubled if more brownies are needed. So, if the brownie craving hits you on a Tuesday night at 8pm, all you need are a few basic ingredients and about 45 minutes and your craving will be satisfied. You're welcome.

Weeknight Craving Chocolatey Brownies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
2 eggs
1/3 cup flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup chopped chocolate, such as Attune Probiotic Chocolate Bars!

Directions: Preheat oven to 325. Grease and line an 8x8 pan or similar size.

Melt the stick of butter and cocoa powder over medium low heat. Remove from heat, and allow to cool for a few minutes.

Transfer to a medium sized bowl. Once cooled, beat in eggs, one at a one. Add vanilla and sugar, and stir to combine until smooth.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients, and stir until smooth.

Pour into prepared pan, and top with chopped chocolate pieces. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, and then remove with parchment paper to cool on counter. Slice into squares!

This post features chocolate from Attune Foods Probiotic Chocolate bar! I love their products because they only use simple and pure ingredients in everything they make. Make sure to check out their site!

Black Bean Brownies

August 04, 2015 in DSLR, Recipes

Welp. I am currently stuck in Dallas after my flight was delayed for four hours...then canceled to New York tonight. They (Virgin America) put me up in a sketchy hotel near a gentleman's club and a Waffle House and all I can think about is how I could have eaten more tacos and gone swimming one last time instead of hanging out at the airport the entire day. Oh well, at least I am alive and headed to NYC first thing tomorrow! (The shuttle bus leaves at 5 AM...so I cannot oversleep this one!)

My first order of business upon arrival to the beautiful NYC is to kiss and hug my dear husband whom I've been missing so much. Then, rush to work, answer a zillion emails and hopefully finish (start?) some projects, then head to a free off-Broadway show thanks to some very dear friends! In the meantime, here is a recipe for brownies--made with black beans. Wait wut? Are you out of your mind, Madeline?

I read somewhere on Pinterest that you could substitute flour for black beans (!?!), and then I thought the only way to conceal the color difference of black beans from white flour would be to make something chocolate. My next thought was brownies--and so I searched, and found this idea has already been done by a million other bloggers. But, let me just tell you, I actually tried it, and it tasted really good. Like, exactly like a gooey, rich, chocolate-y brownie normally tastes, except I don't feel near as bad afterwards when I eat them. I also tricked my husband (and a couple of friends) into eating the "brownie" before telling them what they were made of, and truthfully, they didn't taste any difference. It wasn't until after I told them what they were made of did people freak out. But...the taste was truly there. I hope you try these, and become a believer that healthy substitutes in baking can indeed taste good!

Flourless Black Bean Brownies: (adapted from skinnytaste)

Ingredients:

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 large eggs
1/2 cup cocoa powder*
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon oil
1 tablespoon whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground coffee
1 cup chocolate chips, divided in half

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Blend all ingredients (except for the chocolate chips) in a food processor or blender until smooth. Mix half of chocolate chips to blended batter and pour batter into a greased 9x9 inch pan. Top with rest of the chocolate chips.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Enjoy!

*I used special dark cocoa powder and that is why the brownies look so dark in color. If you used regular cocoa powder they would be a lighter brown color that would match the chocolate chips more.*