Peanut M&M Blondies

As a godmother, I believe that my responsibilities to the lovely three-year-old Maureen Elizabeth Mowery include, among various other things, teaching her about how to be a good person, encouraging her to embrace her feisty girlness, and providing her with baked goods at every holiday. I’m fond of creating care packages for her and her family, picking out fun-colored tissue paper for padding and placing all manner of treats inside, like last month’s Rice Krispie shamrocks, last fall’s pumpkin chocolate chip bread, or some other easy-to-ship concoction that can withstand the trip through the mail from Pittsburgh to southern Maryland.

Last night, I realized that I only had a few days left to go until Easter, and I needed something to send to my main gal Mo. Such things happen when you’re two weeks away from your association’s national conference and you’re lucky to be able to put a coherent sentence together…holidays tend to sneak up on you. Anyway, because most Easter-related cookies are sugar cut-outs that aren’t all that conducive to shipping, I sought a sturdier treat idea. Fortunately I had some Easter-colored peanut M&Ms in the treat jar (a jar given to me by Mo’s grandma, my favorite aunt, Aunt Liz), and I did a quick internet search for something that could be made with those. Fortunately, I found a peanut M&M blondie recipe and adapted it just slightly to suit the other ingredients I had on hand.

Note: you could easily substitute the half-cup of dark brown sugar and half a cup of the white sugar for one cup of light brown sugar. Since I didn’t have enough light brown on hand, I did a quick substitution and they turned out just fine. The recipe below is adapted from one found at A Full Measure of Happiness.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
12 tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 12.6-ounce package Easter-colored Peanut M&Ms

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 13 pan completely with foil and lightly spray with baking spray.

In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, dark brown sugar, and white sugar; mix well to combine.

Add melted butter and stir to incorporate slightly; add eggs and vanilla extract and stir well to fully combine.

Add peanut M&Ms and mix with your hands to combine well; using a spoon just wasn’t effective for me.

Press dough into the prepared pan and bake for 23-25 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool in pan for about 10 minutes, then lift out by the foil and place on a wire rack; peel foil back slightly and allow to cool completely.

Once cool, remove foil entirely and cut into bars. Store in an airtight container.

Lemonies

I refuse to call a lemon treat baked like a brownie a “lemon brownie.” It’s just not right! Brownies are, first of all, brown. And chocolate-based, be they studded with nuts or swirled with cream cheese or frosted with fudge. These treats aren’t exactly blondies, either, which tend to contain brown sugar and are more like cookies than anything else.

So, what to call these delightfully sunny yellow treats? Not lemon bars, although that would be close…but really a lemon bar has a buttery crust with a gooey, lemon meringue pie-like center and a dusting of powdered sugar on top. I have to credit another food blogger, Christina of Sweet Pea’s Kitchen, for calling them “lemonies,” as I feel that this is the most appropriate title.

My coworkers enjoyed these treats, and I look forward to making another batch when my sugar fast is over. This recipe used Meyer lemons, but regular ones would surely work just as well.

Ingredients

8 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
6 tablespoons lemon juice
zest of 3 small/medium lemons
1 to 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray an 8 x 8 baking dish with baking spray.

In a mixing bowl, combine butter, sugar, flour, and salt; beat on low to medium speed with the paddle attachment until well-combined.

In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and zest from 2 of the 3 lemons. Add to flour mixture and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, until very fluffy and light in color. Scrap the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Pour batter into prepared dish and bake for 20-25 minutes, until edges are just golden and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Do not overbake, as these can turn out dry! Mine baked for about 21 minutes.

Allow to cool completely before glazing.

To make lemon glaze, place 1 cup powdered sugar and zest of the third lemon in a small bowl. Add remaining lemon juice, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, until you reach a drizzly consistency. I added another half-cup of powdered sugar to reach a slightly thicker drizzle.

Spread glaze over top and allow to harden, then cut into squares. Store at room temperature for 2-3 days.

“Healthy” Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

Can a “healthy” version of a dessert actually taste as good as the regular, full-sugar, full-fat version? This is a question I’ve pondered for some time, fascinated by the employment of applesauce and stevia and wheat flour in a variety of treats in lieu of higher sugar/fat/carbohydrate ingredients. For the most part, I envisioned healthy versions of desserts to be unfulfilling, tasting vaguely like their regular counterparts, but not quite as good.

My boss asked if I’d be interested in baking this Weight Watchers peanut butter swirl brownie, as many of us in the office have recently recommitted ourselves to healthier habits. I was more than happy to test this out, to see if a lower sugar, reduced-fat brownie could live up to my advanced sweet tooth’s expectations.

This recipe is very easy to make and put together, so don’t be intimidated by ingredients like apple butter and egg substitute. You’ll find other uses for them (stay tuned, as I’ll be searching for ways to use up apple butter in the coming days) and they behave pretty much exactly like the full fat, full sugar ingredients they’re replacing. The brownies were a big hit at the office today, and I have to admit, they actually taste like real brownies.

Peanut Butter Swirl

Ingredients

6 ounces Neufchatel cheese
3/4 cup reduced fat peanut butter
1/4 cup fat-free egg substitute
3 tablespoons half and half

Preparation

Combine Neufchatel and peanut butter in a mixing bowl and beat until well-combined.

Add egg substitute and beat until well-combined.

Add half and half and beat until well-combined and fluffy. You want a easily-spreadable texture.

Set aside while you prepare the brownie mix.

Brownies

Ingredients

1 box dark chocolate brownie mix (or regular mix if you prefer)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup apple butter
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup fat-free egg substitute

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 13 x 9 pan with cooking spray.

Spread half of the brownie mix in the bottom of the pan.

Top with dollops of about half of the peanut butter swirl mixture; using a spatula or knife, swirl to spread peanut butter mixture over the brownie mix.

Spread the remaining half of the brownie mix over the top, then follow with additional peanut butter swirl mix in dollops. Swirl peanut butter over the brownie mix.

Bake for 30-32 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. My brownies were slightly more fudgy in the middle than I would have liked, and I baked for 30 minutes, but I’d recommend adding a few extra minutes for a firmer center.

Cool completely; cut into 32 squares. One square is equal to 4 Weight Watchers points, for those participating in the program.

Chocolate Chip Blondies

I wonder if people really ask their neighbors to borrow cups of sugar. It happens all the time on older television shows, facilitating friendships between spirited women and will-they-or-won’t-they love matches between handsome guys and pretty gals.

Last night, I fell one half-cup short of the requisite two cups of packed light brown sugar in this recipe. For a brief moment, I thought about running next door to ask if my neighbors had any, but I settled on a quick internet search and found the solution. (As it turns out, mixing equal parts dark brown sugar and white sugar will yield a similar flavor and texture.) And then, I wanted to know who came up with the world’s baking substitutions? Who took the time to experiment, and how did they get the ratios just right? Whoever they were, I’m grateful for them, for their bravery to try something new instead of just abandoning their recipes, and then for sharing that knowledge with the rest of us.

Ingredients

1 cup butter, melted
2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
2 eggs
1 cup chocolate chips

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter a 13 x 9 baking dish.

In a large mixing bowl, combine brown sugar and melted butter; mix well.

Stir in baking powder, salt, and vanilla until well combined.

Add flour and stir until well combined.

Add eggs and stir until fully incorporated.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Spread batter in buttered pan and bake for 35 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool completely in the pan.

Devil’s Cut Brownies

Mike is a Freemason. According to various conspiracy theorists, Masons run the world. And while I suspect that Mike and the other brothers of Dallas Lodge 231 don’t run the world, even if they did, he’d never be able to tell me. All that secret handshake business? It’s top secret, and for real.

The Masons meet on several Thursdays throughout the month, and these brownies accompanied Mike to this past week’s lodge meeting. Dinner that evening was corned beef and cabbage, and I thought that a good complement to an Irish dinner would be brownies with whiskey cream cheese frosting. Apparently they were delicious; even Mike didn’t get to eat one because they disappeared so fast.

Brownies

Ingredients

1 cup butter, melted
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 13 x 9 pan with cooking spray.

In a mixing bowl, combine melted butter, sugar, and vanilla and stir until well combined.

Add eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each.

Stir in cocoa powder until well combined.

Add flour, baking powder, and salt; stir until well combined.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 30-35 minutes, until the edges pull away from the pan slightly.

Cool completely before frosting.

Devil’s Cut Frosting

Ingredients

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1 tablespoon Jim Beam Devil’s Cut whiskey

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and butter; cream together until very well combined and smooth.

Add powdered sugar, about one-half cup at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add cocoa powder and beat well.

Add whiskey and beat.

Frost brownies with a small offset spatula.

Store in the refrigerator; let stand at room temperature for about 10 minutes before serving.

Peanut Butter Cup Blondies

This weekend I was online searching for recipes that call for 10×15 baking pans, as my dear friend Carrie gave me one for my birthday this summer and I’ve yet to use it. And while I found several promising ideas for 10 x 15 baking (stay tuned for pumpkin roll, which will be coming soon), I also discovered this blondie recipe, baked in an 8 x 8.

This recipe yields a dense, chewy, peanut butter cookie-like blondie with ample candy pieces, so I recommend cutting them into small squares. You could add even more peanut butter cups or chocolate chips if you wish; next time, I think I’ll add toffee bits or salted peanuts for extra crunch.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
16 miniature peanut butter cups, cut into fourths
1/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line an 8 x 8 baking dish with foil and coat the foil with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, combine flour and baking powder; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine melted butter, brown sugar, peanut butter, egg, and vanilla and mix well.

Add flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Add peanut butter cups and chocolate chips and mix well; you may need to use your hands to get everything fully incorporated.

Press dough into baking dish.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until top is fully set, edges are brown, and a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool in pan for about 30 minutes, then lift out and place on a wire rack to cool completely before cutting.

Fudge-Frosted Brownies

Brownies invite creativity. They can be cake-like or fudgy, with or without nuts, blended with cream cheese or peanut butter, sprinkled with marshmallows or candy bits, or my personal favorite, topped with vanilla ice cream and served warm.

This recipe produces a cake-like brownie ideal for frosting; it utilizes a cooking method for preparation, in which sugar, cocoa powder, and butter are melted together and then combined with other ingredients. To facilitate the mixing process, I recommend measuring out all of your ingredients and placing them next to your stove, like a television chef, so that you can have easy access to everything as you mix.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups sugar
12 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup cocoa powder

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a 9x13x2 baking pan.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.

Measure out milk; set aside.

Crack eggs into a bowl; set aside.

Measure out vanilla; set aside.

In a large saucepan, combine sugar, butter, and cocoa powder. Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until butter melts and mixture becomes incorporated.

Remove from heat; add eggs and vanilla and stir until smooth.

Add flour mixture and milk alternatively in three batches, mixing well after each.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool completely in pan; invert onto a cutting board or platter and frost with Fudge Frosting (see below).

Cut as desired; store in an airtight container.

Fudge Frosting

Ingredients

2 1/3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1/6 cup boiling water (just under 2 oz. in a glass measuring cup)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparation

Combine powdered sugar and cocoa powder.

Add butter, boiling water, and vanilla.

Beat on low speed until ingredients are just combined, then increase speed to medium and beat for 1 minute.

Rolo Brownie Bites

Rolos, according to Mike, are like crack. And I have to agree; there’s something about that smooth chocolate/caramel combination that is highly addictive. Because I’m a big fan of the Reese’s peanut butter cup cookie, which involves peanut butter cookie dough baked in a mini muffin tin and a miniature peanut butter cup pressed into its center, I was excited to try this recipe.

While they turned out to be tasty, several of these bites fell apart when I removed them from the pan, as their tops separated from their bottoms. I suspect that uneven distribution of dough among the cups is responsible, so next time I’ll make sure to fill each cup only halfway with batter for more even baking.

The broken bites will go very well with some vanilla ice cream for dessert tonight, though, proving that most baking mistakes are easily remedied.

Ingredients

5 tablespoons butter
2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 ounce semisweet baking chocolate, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
24 Rolo candies, unwrapped and chilled

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 24-cup mini muffin tin with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a medium microwave-safe bowl, microwave chocolate and butter for 1 minute, then stir. Continue microwaving in 30-second intervals, stirring each time, until chocolate is nearly melted; remove from microwave and let the residual heat finish the melting process.

Combine sugar with melted butter and chocolate and let cool until warm.

Stir in egg and vanilla until well blended.

Stir in flour mixture until well blended.

Drop batter into muffin cups, filling halfway.

Bake for 14 minutes or until the tops are almost firm when pressed in the center.

Remove from oven and immediately press one Rolo into each brownie.

Cool on a wire rack.

Classic Brownies

Nothing says Valentine’s Day like chocolate, at least not to me. And while I’m not a huge fan of Valentine’s Day, I’ll definitely take celebrating this holiday as an excuse to bake brownies.

Brownies are one of my favorite desserts, especially when served warm with vanilla ice cream. They’re a versatile treat, easy to adapt in texture and flavor; you can bake them with nuts, marshmallows, chocolate chips, or other candies, flavor them with amaretto, raspberry, or mint, sprinkle them with powdered sugar, frost them with your favorite icing, spread peanut butter on them, or just eat them plain, right out of the pan, standing up in the kitchen in the middle of the night. Or is that just me?

Ingredients

2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
½ cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup flour

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease an 8×8 baking dish and coat the bottom of the dish with sugar; this will give the brownie bottoms a nice crunch and make it easier to pop them out of the pan.

Melt butter and unsweetened chocolate in a medium saucepan on low heat.

Using a wooden spoon, stir together sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a mixing bowl until combined.

Add melted butter and chocolate and stir until combined.

Add flour and stir until combined.

Pour into baking dish and bake for 30 minutes.

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