Peanut butter swirl Chocolate brownie

For as long as i can remember, jars of peanut butter has been a staple at home, all the way through growing up years, hostel life, and even now. And the best part, it was/is always home made, and by that i mean, mom-made. Creamy (and being the health conscious person that she is, my mother adds absolutely no oil/butter, so the guilt is in check), crunchy with tiny bits of roasted peanuts in every sticky mouthful and with the sweet quotient just right, that yummy spread has done wonders. Needless to say, it is the thing that has seen me (and many friends) through many, many breakfasts/lunches and dinners.  i cherish my jars of peanut butter and love to see how others love it too, but imagine my surprise+incredulity when i saw Oreo sniff and swallow it by the tongueful! :) Apparently, she loves peanut butter!

Getting back to the topic on hand, and then peanut butter brownie/bars happened. This recipe combines the goodness of peanuts, peanut butter, brownie and chocolate ganache, without going overboard. I took some to my office colleagues, and i'm happy to say, they haven't stopped raving about it or asking for the recipe (it is day III since i took it). So go ahead, spread the joy.

 

Recipe adapted with slight changes from here:

For the Brownie:
140 g unsalted butter

3/4 cup cocoa powder

pinch of salt

3 teaspoons water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

little less than 1 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

2 eggs

1 cup lightly salted roasted peanuts

Peanut butter layer:

1/2 cup peanut butter (i used unsweetend)

4 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons sugar (or as per taste)

Ganache:

150 g milk chocolate

1/4 cup milk

1 tablespoon sugar (or as per taste)

First, to make the brownie layer, prepare a rectanguar or square tin with baking paper and a couple of inches of over hang. Preheat oven to 175 C.
Melt the butter in a thick bottomed saucepan. Let it stay over the flame till it stops foaming, solids start depositing at the bottom of the pan, and those solids start turning brown and start emanating a nutty flavor.
Set aside to cool.
In the meanwhile, sift together the sugar, salt, cocoa powder and water. Add the beurre noisette with the browned bits to the dry ingredients and mix. Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract. Mix till incorporated and then fold in the flour half quantity at a time. Fold in the peanuts.

Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 15 min or till cooked, but crumbs still stick to the skewer when pulled out during the skewer test. Keep aside to cool.

To make the peanut butter layer:
Heat the milk till warm in a saucepan/microwave and add the sugar. Take off the flame and add in the peanut butter. Mix till creamy and smooth. Pour oven cooled brownie and spread it evenly. Pop in the freezer to set.

To make the Chocolate ganache layer:
Melt the chopped chocolate over a double boiler. In a separate saucepan, heat the milk till warm and mix in the sugar. Pour the warm milk into the melted chocolate and mix till smooth. Pour over the set peanut butter layer and make sure to spread it out evenly using anoffset spatula. Return it back to the freezer to set.

Remove the brownie from the pan by holding onto the overhang. Using a very sharp and long knife, trim the edges, and cut into bars. Serve!
P.S: Remember to keep it refrigerated as the ganache can get runny if sitting out in room temperature for too long.

On another note, i had the good fortune to meet the talented Aparna Balasubramanian of My Diverse Kitchen fame, and spend a day with her courtesy her photography workshop. Apart from being a powerhouse of info, Aparna is kind, extremely helpful and takes her photography so serious, it rubs off on those around her. it certainly did on me, because here i am experimenting with other modes in my DSLR and learning! Her blog is legendary, because of her pictures and the recipes she posts and meeting her was brilliant.
This was also a lovely opportunity 'cos i got to meet some other like minded folks - food bloggers, who else!! It was fun, fun, fun all the way and we finished the day with some yummy food and a hands-on session. Kettle, Anna Nagar graciously hosted the workshop, and they even declared a contest for us budding photographers: click pics of their famous tea bewing and kettle and the best pic wins a gift from Kettle! SO exciting! Add to that, we had some pretty little takeaways with the ceramic stuff being sponsored by Urbandazzle. Woohoo!!

Nutella Brownie

We all have our vices. if they are passing ones, well, good for you. if they are the more permanent kinds, well, then God save you. One of my longstanding ones is nutella. rich chocolate hazelnut spread. creamy. so yum. so good with almost everything: yes even marie biscuit! it's fairly established that we are nutella freaks (well, that is a given looking at the number of curvy, empty nutella jars lining my kitchen counter). so this was a recipe waiting to happen. Go ahead. make yourself happy. you deserve it.

1 cup AP flour
3 eggs
45 g butter
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup of sugar
1 tablespoons hazelnut extract or 1 tablespoon vanilla extract if that's what you have in your shelf - i used 2 tablespoons of Guindija
1 1/2 tablespoons Cocoa powder
Two squares or 20 gm of dark chocolate - i used Lindt 70% cocoa
100 g semisweet chocolate
1/3 cup Nutella
1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts chopped - optional

Preheat oven to 170 C.

Melt the chocolate (dark chocolate and semisweet chocolate) and butter in a bain-marie. Once melted, take off the bain marie and add the cocoa powder and mix well. Keep aside to cool.

Once cooled, add the nutella and mix well (Resist the temptation to lick clean the bowl. seriously.)

 

Blend the eggs, sugar, vanilla extract and salt on low for about 20 seconds.

Add the cooled chocolate mix to the egg mix and blend for 10 seconds or so to incorporate.

Fold in the flour with a spatula.

If you are adding chopped nuts, fold in the nuts at this stage. Pour into the prepared tin and even out the surface.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or till the inserted toothpick comes out with a few crumbs sticking to it, but appears cooked.

Let it cool in the pan before cutting into squares. Go ahead and tuck in. Share. Feel good. 'Tis the season to be merry!!

P.S: If you have the grace to save some, they taste even better the next day.

The Ulitmate Triple chocolate Fudge Brownies : a slice of chocolate heaven

Do you have a no-fail, awesome, super fantastic, kickass brownie recipe that knows how magical a brownie should be? a brownie that is so chocolatey and so addictive, you will want to have more. i do! i so absolutely do! This recipe yields a fudgy brownie that develops a gorgeous crackly skin. This brownie has the right amount of chocolate in it : Excess!! :)  it uses three kinds of chocolate and hence the name. Too much of good chocolate is definitely not a bad thing. not here. need proof? try this recipe. there will be no turning back.

I added chopped walnuts to give it a classical twist. You could easily do without it or add other nuts like pecans and still be wowed by the result. this is that good!

Recipe adapted with changes from here

- Preheat oven to 175 C and line an 8*5 tin with foil or baking paper.

1 cup AP flour

3 eggs
95 g butter
1 teaspoon salt
little less than a cup of sugar
Chocolate extract (i used Guindija)
3 tablespoons Cocoa powder
two squares or 20 gm of dark chocolate - i used Lindt 85% cocoa
160 g semisweet chocolate

Melt the chocolate (dark chocolate and semisweet chocolate) and butter in a bain-marie. Once melted, take off the bain marie and add the cocoa powder and mix well.

Blend the egg, sugar, vanilla extract and salt on low for about 20 seconds.

Add the cooled chocolate mix to the egg mix and blend for 10 seconds or so to incorporate.

Fold in the flour with a spatula.

If you are adding chopped nuts, fold in the nuts at this stage. Pour into the prepared tin and even out the surface.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or till the inserted toothpick comes out with a few crumbs sticking to it, but appears cooked.

Let it cool before cutting into squares. I cut 16 generous squares.

Result: Very happy, high-on-chocolate people!

Weapon of mass deliciousness??

and tadaaa!! Masterchef Australia, Season III will start ruling dinner time at home yet again. I for one, am not shy to admit that this is the only reality Television series i look forward to watching. :D. heck, i am even catching sneak previews of it online! George, Gary and Matt (ahem, ahem...){WHAT?? you can't but not notice his turquoise silk pants, polka dotted scarf and lingo!! :P} are coming back and i can't wait to check out their snazzy dishes, take in their uber cool gizmos (have u seen their food processor???), try their recipes (their recipe for mashed potatoes was the coolest ever!) and root for my fav contestant (yep, Jono the Eliminator was my fav last season with Skye being a close second because of her way with desserts). So yes, if we dont pick calls from 9 to 10 pm on weekdays Aug onwards, you know what we are upto.

  

So this week is going to be a tribute to everything comforting and chocolatey in the crazy scheme of things that is life, the Snickers Brownie.

Snickers is my absolute favorite bar of chocolate. Snickers on a crazy day makes me want to cuss lesser and take more deep breaths. Snickers on a a happy day reminds me of happy thoughts and people i have shared a bar with. Snickers transports me to my happy place. and is'nt it cool to be able to do that without having to go and splurge on retail therapy or counseling or the spa? Yes, i am low maintenance that way and proud to be so! :)

This is the first brownie i ever baked and has remained a fav since. It is quick, fuss-free and failure proof. Need i brag more? Plus, since the basics remain the same, it is the same recipe as the one that i followed here:

-In addition to the ingredients mentioned there with the exception of the Dulce de Leche, you will need 5 packs of fun sized snickers bars. Chop the same and keep aside.

-Once you have the brownie mix ready, scrape half the mix into the foil lined baking tray.

-Add a layer of snickers (three quarters of what you chopped) and spread it just to make sure you get a bite of caramel-peanutty-nougatty goodness every couple of bites.

-Add the last layer of the brownie mix and top it off with the last pieces of snickers.

-Pop into the oven and bake for 30 to 35 min at 160 deg C or till the center feels soft to touch but has not set fully entirely. It will set on cooling and taste yummo! My ear to ear grin is proof.

P.S: Do not hesitate to add a couple of tablespoons of skinned, roasted and chopped peanuts along with the snickers to the brownie mix if you want knock in a more nutty punch.

P.P.S: Tony Bourdain and Nigella Lawson are making appearances this season at Masterchef apparently! Woohoo!!

Wicked, wicked, wicked!!

Dulce de Leche Chocolate Brownie

Everybody's eaten a good tasting, or even a great tasting brownie. Be it at the local Barista (I used to be a HUGE fan of their wicked brownie) or at a snazzy diner. And many of you may have eaten the heavenly Dulce de Leche and partaken in the glory that your taste buds will be subjected to after. But how many of you have eaten a rich chocolate brownie WITH dulce de leche in it? i had'nt till last night. and now i have found my sure fire, classy AND easy-peasy sweet fix. It is quick and fuss free. But that does not belie the fact that it is a dish that is in like a different league altogether.

That jar of Dulce de Leche has been in the pastry compartment of our refrigerator waiting for an apt, adequately ceremonious and worthy recipe where it could be used. And bam! this recipe promised all of it, and delivered. i was one happy person on a late friday night, sprawled in the living room with Oreo, watching TV, eating sinfully warm Dulce de Leche brownie with scoops of vanilla ice cream. Life just does not get any better. Thank you Mr. Lebovitz!

  Adapted with some changes from here: 

(I halved the measurements and got away with it. Yay! Also, i bought down the sugar and butter a couple of notches).

You will need:

-50 grams of butter

-85 grams semi sweet chocolate

-1/8 cup Cocoa Powder

-1 large egg + an extra yolk

-1/4 cup powdered sugar

-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

-2/3 cup flour

-1/2 cup Dulce de Leche

Yield: 6 brownies

-Preheat the oven to 175 C

-Line the square tin with aluminium foil and grease the bottom with butter and keep aside.

-Melt the butter in a bain marie and once it has melted, add in the chopped chocolate. Keep stirring till the chocolate has melted and then remove the pan and add in the cocoa powder. Whisk to ensure a homogenous mixture. Add the egg and the yolk, one at a time and keep whisking. Add the sugar and vanilla extract and stir again. Add the flour and mix.

Scrape half the batter into the prepared tin and pat lightly to make it even. Add one third of the Dulce de Leche evenly spaced, over the brownie mix and with the help of a skewer, or knife, swirl for a marbled look. Spoon out the remaining brownie mix and pat it lightly and drop the remaining Dulce de Leche in dollops over the brownie mix again. Swirl again (but dont over do it) and make it look pretty!

Bake for twenty five to thirty minutes at 160 C or till the brownie center feels soft to touch and has not quite set fully.

 Pop out of the oven and here' the difficult part: let it cool completely.

P.S: These brownies keep well when stored in an airtight container for 3 days or so. But you won't be able to test that, Heck, my stash is almost over.

Also, these brownies DO taste even better the second day.

If your Dulce de Leche is too thick, not to worry, microwave it for a bit.