Gluten Free Brownies, or, baking with coconut flour

Guess what I did?

I baked!

two items!

I've been invited to a baking party next weekend and since two of my friends are gluten intolerant, the challenge is to find a gluten free recipe.

I've baked with rice flour before and wasn't particularly wowed by it, but I pretty much substituted it exactly for regular flour which you can't always do.

I debated buying the gluten free all purpose flour but decided to be more adventurous and instead I bought coconut flour to experiment with.

Turns out you have to make a few adjustments to your recipe when using coconut flour as it tends to be more absorbent than your standard all purpose flour.

After scouring Pinterest, my first experimental recipe was for a lemon loaf. 

It sucked.

It tasted too eggy, which was no surprise considering it called for 6 eggs. 

I tried again.

Brownies.

A big winner.

There's a nice hint of coconut (there would have been more if I had used coconut oil and coconut milk as the recipe calls for) so if you like the taste of coconut, grab some flour and give this recipe a whirl.

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a brownie pan with parchment paper.
• Over medium heat, combine 1/3 cup coconut oil, 1/4 cup butter and 1/2 cup honey until melted. In a heat-proof bowl, add 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Pour oil & butter over chocolate and allow chocolate to begin to melt, then stir until combined. 
• Add in 1/2 cup coconut milk, 1 tsp vanilla, and 2 eggs. 
• In a separate bowl, combine 1/2 cup coconut flour, 1 tbsp cocoa powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda, and 1/4 tsp salt. Mix into wet ingredients with a whisk to get rid of lumps.
• Pour into brownie pan and bake for 25 minutes.  

The Ultimate Brownie, or The Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake Brownie

I haven't done any baking in a loooooong time. 

A long time.

And now that I have this wonderfully big, open kitchen, there's no excuse.

Spurred on by the colder weather we've been having as of late, I decided to turn on the oven and get to mixing.

A few weeks ago I bought a bag of cookie mix, having been craving a large, soft chocolate chip cookie that day. By the time I got home the craving was gone and the bag sat in the cupboard for awhile.

 

So.

What could I make with a bag of President's Choice The Decadent chocolate chip cookie mix?

What if I whipped up a brownie mix?

What if I layered the brownie mix over the cookie mix?

And what if I added some cheese cake mix, whirled into the brownie mix?

Well Jamie, I do believe you'd have The Ultimate Brownie: The Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake Brownie.

If you want to make your own, here's how:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Mix chocolate chip cookies according to instructions on bag (your best bet is the kind that only needs butter and water. No raw egg means you can lick that bow clean without worry). I used about a 1/3 of my cookie mix to completely cover the bottom of the pan. 

2. Spread in an even layer along the bottom of a 9x9 pan, pre-greased with butter or cooking spray.

3. Bake for about 8 minutes, until set around the edges but not completely finished. Remove and let cool but don't turn the oven off. 

4. In a small microwave safe bowl, mix 3/4 cup chocolate chips with 3 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp vegetable oil (I substituted with olive oil cause it's all I had and it didn't affect the overall taste). Heat for 30 seconds then stir together. If not quite melted, heat for another 15 seconds. 

5. In a separate bowl, mix together 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup buttermilk (or 1/2 cup milk + 1 tsp vinegar) , 2 egg whites, and 1 tbsp vanilla extract. Pour in the melted chocolate and mix until smooth. 

6. In 3 additions, mix in 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, and 1 tsp baking powder. Mix until combined. Set aside 1/2 cup of this mix and pour the remaining brownie batter over the chocolate chip cookie, being careful to spread the batter around without ruining the bottom layer. 

7. In another bowl, mix together 1 pkg softened cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 tbsp vanilla extract, and 1 egg. Use a whisk to smooth out the lumps. 

8. Pour evenly over the brownie batter then drop spoonfuls of the remaining brownie batter into this. Use the back of a spoon to swirl the brownie batter into the cheesecake layer. 

9. Bake at 350 for about 40 mins or until set. Allow to cool then cut and enjoy your slice of heaven. 

With this cooler weather I expect to be in the kitchen a bit more in the next little while so stay tuned for more recipes.

Quick & Easy (and delicious) Brownies

It's been too long since I've added any baking posts.

Partly because I haven't been doing much baking.

This week I got the bug and after making a nice dinner on Thursday night, I took a quick glance through my Canadian Living Baking book for a Brownie recipe.

I used the 'Super Chocolate Chunk Fudge Brownies'  recipe but left out a few steps & ingredients.

The result was a deliciously moist and soft brownie with that trademark flaky chocolaty crust on top. 

I seriously don't think I'll ever make brownies from a box ever again, or use another recipe.

This one is the best I've ever made.

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Over medium heat, melt 1/3 cup butter with 3/4 cup sugar and 2 tbsp water in a saucepan. Remove from heat and add in 3/4 cup chocolate chips (I used both sweet and semi-sweet chips), stir until melted. Allow the chocolate mixture to cool.
• Whisk in 2 eggs, one at a time, then add in 1 tsp vanilla.
• In a separate bowl, sift together 3/4 cup flour, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt. Pour into the chocolate mixture and stir to combine. 
• Pour into a greased brownie pan and bake for about 30 minutes. Let cool then cut and enjoy.

Christmas Cookie Countdown: Oreo Brownies (25 days to go!)

And it begins!

The Christmas Cookie Countdown Challenge.

The first recipe is not a cookie.

Neither is the second recipe (heads-up).

I think I'd get real sick of cookies within a week if I made 25 different types.

I got this idea from a fellow blogger (in this post here - my stuff doesn't look nearly as good as the picture in her blog) and the combination of two things I love was enough to make me decide then and there that this would be on the list.

I chose to go with a quick and very simple way of making this.

If you've got time click on that link and follow the recipe but if you need to throw together an easy desert fast, bake this up and let a scoop of ice cream melt over the brownies, straight from the oven.

(Seriously it's the easiest 3 steps you will ever follow)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix together a brownie mix as directed on the back of the box. Generally this will call for water, oil, and an egg.

2. Pour half of the brownie batter into a loaf pan then top with oreo cookies. Cover with the remaining brownie batter and smooth it over the cookies.

3. Bake brownies for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted into the brownie comes out clean.

See?

Didn't I tell you it'd be easy?

Plus people love brownies and oreos so put them together and give it to them and no one's going to question how you made them.

Now to start planning for the Bad Christmas Sweater Party!

Now in it's 6th year!

Crazy.

Voice Your Choice: Brownie Poll

Having become known as "Sara Lee" around the office I do my school placement in (it was too late to tell them I'd prefer "Martha"), it has become the norm that on Tuesdays there will be baked goods for the staff to enjoy.

Yesterday my title as the office baker was finally challenged.

Well, kind of.

Let me explain.

Since I started bringing things in, some of the workers would ask for certain types like "chocolatey", cookies, etc. Yesterday brownies were requested and it became known that one of the younger guys who works there makes amazing brownies.

And thus the brownie bake-off idea was born.

I am a graceful loser (...on the outside) and weird as it may sound, in certain situations I almost prefer losing as I know I can handle it and then I don't have to deal with a sore loser.

But I don't want to be shown up at this challenge.

And if I do lose, I want to know that I brought my A-game and did the best I could.

So here's where I need your opinions!

I'd like to hope that this is the first of a new series I will call:

VOICE YOUR CHOICE!

I searched the Martha website and picked several brownie recipes that I think could be contenders.

So ... EVERYONE WHO READS THIS POST: PLEASE COMMENT AND VOICE YOUR CHOICE!

Even if you're someone who reads this blog unbeknowst to me (which essentially is anyone not in my family) leave me your choice!

Chances are if you stumbled across this blog, I probably creep you on facebook anyway so it won't be at all awkward. To me anyway.

So before I go any further in making myself look like a weirdo, here are your choices:

1. Mocha Brownies

2. Cheesecake Brownies

3. Rocky Road Brownies

4. Cappuccino Brownies

5. Turtle brownies

6. Cream Cheese Brownies

7. Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

Voice Your Choice!

I'll be baking these either Sunday or Monday night so get your votes in ASAP!