Cravings

Have you ever had a crazy craving? Like one of those seemingly "out of no where" yet so "deeply rooted" cravings that haunts you until it is satisfied? Well I had one of those. One day I was innocently walking down the hall of my studio building and BAM! I got a delicious whiff of a sweet, tangy, tart smell that reminded me of the perfect lemon square. Double the lemon on top of a buttery short bread. Mmmmmm... Lemon... mm butter. Anyways, that smell lingered with me the whole week until I finally decided to bake me some good lemon squares for the weekend.



The only thing that made me hesitant about baking them was the fact that I already posted twice about lemon squares on the blog, neither being very successful. I've been baking lemon squares since the early beginnings of my baking adventures and although I don't think you can really go that wrong with them, I hadn't found the perfect "aha!" recipe. So I had to do some serious searching.



With the lemon square, I like them super tart super sour. Not painfully sweet, but definitely needs the sugar rush punch. The cookie must not be soggy or too hard, but perfectly crispy on the outer edges, soft and crumbly in the inside. And so after the rigorous and painstaking search, I found it at last, on the great website called epicurious.com!



I was convinced at the author's own description of her lemon butter bar: "This classic cookie combines two of my favorite sweets: buttery-tender Scottish shortbread and satiny lilting English lemon curd." Lilting. Wow. Good word. Also with all the great reviews and ratings, I knew this was the recipe. The recipe requires a tad bit more work than the typical recipe you'll find, but it's worth every stir you make on that stove. The result is simply glorious! And YES, it definitely hit the spot.

Let me reenact it for you.

sarah baker the yoon: [In the kitchen, cutting up the bars to serve to friends, sneaks in a test taste] Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm~~~~
[Cue silent yet violent happy dance for 2 minutes]



That's right. It really is that good. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!

The Ultimate Lemon Butter Bar

recipe from epicurious by Rose Levy Beranbaum (Below recipe is written by Rose, not me!)
make 1 1/2 dozen 2 2/3-inch by 1 1/3-inch bars

ingredients

Shortbread Base
10 tablespoons unsalted butter (soft) (5 ounces = 142 grams)
2 tablespoons powdered sugar (0.5 ounce = 14 grams)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar (0.75 ounce = 25 grams)
1 1/4 cups bleached all-purpose flour (dip and sweep method) (6.25 ounces = 180 grams)

Lemon Curd Topping
4 large egg yolks (2 full fluid ounces = 2.5 ounces = 74 grams)
3/4 cup sugar (5.25 ounces = 150 grams)
3 fluid ounces (use a liquid measuring cup) lemon juice, freshly squeezed (about 2 1/2 large lemons) (3.25 ounces = 94 grams)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (softened) (2 ounces = 57 grams)
Pinch of salt
2 teaspoons lemon zest (finely grated) (4 grams)
2 tablespoons powdered sugar for dusting (0.5 ounce = 14 grams)

directions

Equipment
8-inch by 8-inch by 2-inch baking pan, preferably metal (if using a glass pan, lower the oven temperature 25°F.), bottom and 2 sides lined with an 8-inch by 16-inch strip of heavy-duty aluminum foil.

Electric Mixer Method or by Hand
In Scotland, it is said that the best shortbread is mixed with the fingers and that each woman's fingers lend something distinctive and special to the finished cookie. I find that the texture is more delicate when the dough is mixed with the fingers rather than in a machine. For either method, use superfine sugar for the best texture and be sure to soften the butter.

Shortbread
1. Place 1 oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 325°F.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugars. In a large bowl, cream the butter with the sugars until light and fluffy. With your fingers or with the electric mixer, mix in the flour until incorporated. If using the mixer, add the flour in 2 parts.

3. Pat the dough into the prepared pan. Use a fork to prick the dough all over. Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned and the top is pale golden (do not brown).

While the shortbread is baking, prepare the Lemon Curd Topping.

Lemon Curd Topping
1. Have a strainer, suspended over a bowl, ready near the range.

2. In a heavy noncorrodible saucepan, beat the egg yolks and sugar with a wooden spoon until well blended. Stir in the lemon juice, butter, and salt. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for about 6 minutes, until thickened and resembling hollandaise sauce, which thickly coats a wooden spoon but is still liquid enough to pour. (A candy thermometer will read 196°F.) The mixture will change from translucent to opaque and begin to take on a yellow color on the back of a wooden spoon. It must not be allowed to boil or it will curdle. (It will steam above 140°F. Whenever steaming occurs, remove the pan briefly from the heat, stirring constantly to prevent boiling.)

3. When the curd has thickened, pour it at once into the strainer. Press it with the back of a spoon until only the coarse residue remains. Discard the residue. Stir in the lemon zest.

4. When the shortbread is baked, remove it from the oven, lower the temperature to 300°F., pour the lemon curd on top of the shortbread, and return it to the oven for 10 minutes.

5. Cool the lemon curd–topped shortbread completely in the pan on a wire rack. Refrigerate the pan for 30 minutes to set the lemon curd completely before cutting into bars. Place the powdered sugar in a strainer and tap the strainer with a spoon to sprinkle a thick, even coating, entirely covering the lemon.

6. Run a small metal spatula between the sides of the pan and the pastry on the 2 sides without the aluminum foil. Use the foil to lift out the lemon curd–covered shortbread onto a cutting surface. Use a long, sharp knife to cut the shortbread first in thirds, then in half the other way, and then each half in thirds. Wipe the blade after each cut. The powdered sugar will start to be absorbed into the lemon curd after several hours, but it can be reapplied before serving.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature, or in the refrigerator or freezer.
Keeps 3 days at room temperature, 3 weeks refrigerated (individually wrapped in plastic wrap to prevent drying), or 3 months frozen.

Third time's a charm

Hello, everyone. I made Special Brownies yesterday. No, not the ones that you find in a college dorm room or on the menu of Amsterdam's coffeeshops, but just real. good. brownies. I've been looking, searching, hunting for a good recipe, only to be left with flavorless or cakey imitations. But no longer will I chew on bland and insipid brownies. No longer will I swallow eggy cakes. I have found the BAKED brownie.



The Baked Bakery in NYC. I'm sure you've heard of them, if you're as "hip" as I am in the baking world. (Totally and utterly kidding about this. I am not hip, nor does one have to be in order to be a good baker.) Anyways. They really are a cool bakery, though. Their baked goodies not only get lots of raves about how delicious it is, their stuff just looks oh-so-stylish too. I really like their new cookbook and I'll probably be purchasing it real soon, but for now, I'm just going to be a super sneak and copy their recipe with a pen and paper at the book store.



Yes, I am a recipe thief. But you must understand that I've been really wanting a perfect brownie recipe, and the one in their book REALLY stood out. Maybe it was the way they described their own masterpiece, but it really convinced me! It uses both dark chocolate bars and dark cocoa powder, is almost a one-bowl recipe, and implements a strict "no-overbeat, no-overbake" rule. And when followed properly, you'll get the perfect brownie: dense, chocolatey, and moist.





The recipe follows a fairly easy procedure, but whenever they get all "DONT OVERBEAT!!" on me, I must admit I get a bit nervous. I've had cases where I underbeated things and the thing was a failure. How much beating is necessary? Luckily, this recipe is pretty descriptive and seems to make an effort to let you know when it is time to stop. First off, they divide the 5 eggs into two steps so that it's properly mixed in, they let you know when you should stop beating ("When the flour mixture is only slightly visible), and finally, the whole thing is done by hand. You don't need to bust out your handy hand-mixer or your trophy kitchenaid. Your hand and trusty whisk/spatula will do. :)



The result is one fantastic brownie. Lots of chocolate in there. Lots of moisture. Lots of real brownie-ness. I give it an A! (Why not the "+" in there? Ah... It's missing just ONE component that I truly desire in a brownie: chewy. It's not chewy. It's like melt-in-your-mouth soft and tender, but not chewy. We all know how important chewy is.) But I'm glad that after my third try, I can post up a proud brownie recipe here! Please! I recommend!





Okay okay. Now that we talked about wonderful recipes and baked goods up there. Can we just discuss about one thing? Prices. Costs. Expenses. Expensive. Is it just me or is baking taking quite a toll on the wallet? Phew. I don't know how y'all do it! I'm a big snob when it comes to baking ingredients--but not even, because I think all bakers know how important it is to get the best materials you can get your hands on! We can't settle on Baker's chocolate if I want to make great tasting brownies. We can't just buy cheapo butter for our butter cakes! So as I'm dishing out $18 on a chocolate bar and $6 for a block o' butter, I do sometimes wonder if what I'm doing is the smartest thing in the world. I've been looking online for deals on good chocolate, but shipping to Canada is always such a markup, let alone have shipping available to here. One thing that really kills me is when for cupcake orders, people ask for discounts. I know if I was in their position, I would probably look for ways to cut down on prices too, but really, as a private-at-home baker, it's really hard on me too! I'm not a big bakery where I get all my stuff in bulk and cheap, where I get lots of hands helping me either. It's just me! I get mt stuff retail mostly, cuz the bulk stores don't have the best ingredients sometimes, and when I say a price, I've calculated all that's gone in there. But I guess another good thing about my home "business" is that I can always say no too. :) Anywhooo. Lots and lots of rambling here. If you have any tips for me for purchasing ingredients or any personal opinions on rising butter prices, give me a shout!! I wanna hear from you!

the baked brownie

from the baked cookbook

ingredients

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp dark unsweetened cocoa powder
11 oz dark chocolate coarsely chopped
2 sticks butter, cut into 1" pieces
1 tsp instant espresso powder
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
5 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter the sides and bottom of a glass or light colored metal 9x13x2 pan.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, salt, and cocoa powder.
3. Put chocolate, butter, espresso powder in a heat resistant bowl over a pan with simmering water, but not bowl touching the water directly. Softly whisk until completely melted and smooth. Turn off heat, but keep bowl over the water and add sugars. Whisk until completely combined. Then remove bowl from pan. Bring the mixture to room temperature.
4. Add 3 eggs to the chocolate mix and whisk until combined. Add remaining eggs and whisk until combined. Add vanilla extract and stir until combined. Do not overbeat at this point, or the brownie will be cakey and stiff.
5. Sprinkle flour mix into the chocolate mix. Using a spatlua, fold the flour mix until just a bit of flour is visible.
6. Pour batter evenly onto the pan and smooth the top. Bake in center of the oven for 30 minutes. Rotate pan halfway through the time until toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs. Don't overbake and check consistently. They say "an overbaked brownie is not a BAKED brownie". Cool completely to serve.
The brownie can be kept airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Baked Note: A great brownie is easy to make, but you have to be aware of several factors. 1. Use a dark cocoa powder, like Valrhona. A pale, light-colored cocoa does not have enough depth. 2. Make sure your eggs are room temperature and do not overbeat them into the batter, and 3. Make sure you check your brownies often while baking. Once the brownies have been overbaked slightly, they have reached the point of no return.

California Dreamin'

Actually, this post has nothing to do with the sunny state of California at all - only the fact that I seem to be living in "Cali time" nowadays. What I mean is that my "internal clock" or "Circadian rhythm" is set to three hours later than it should be. When it is midnight here, I feel like it's only 9 pm (which would be the present time for western states/provinces). And so even if midnight is usually my sleep time, I am awake and struggling to fall asleep. By the time it is 3 am, I am finally getting some shuteye. But it's not like I'm not getting any sleep either! I'm waking up at noon (haha!) just as if it is only 9 am! Plus I squeeze in some naps here and there. I've been doing this every day for a week now.



My sleeping pattern has definitely changed as all those late work nights have built up over the month. And now all the fatigue from the stress and restlessness is hitting me. I've never been an easy sleeper, but this is getting a bit ridiculous. It doesn't help that I'm done school now and I have no set schedule and so I've been sleeping and waking up whenever I want to. My family has been quite generous and letting me relax a bit after finishing all my school stuff, but it's starting to get a bit embarrassing. My mom once sweetly said, "You know the saying, the early bird gets the worm? Just thought you'd like to know.." Haha.



I think it's about time I get back to Toronto time and get it altogether again! Sometimes, self-motivation seems to be the hardest thing, especially after a long journey already. I'm still terribly worried about my new career situation but I feel tired and unmotivated. :( BUT, life is not just about "feelings". It's about doing the right thing even if it's hard, sowing the seeds, and passing through the tunnel! I really should get out there and look hard! There's bound to be a window open somewhere! I'm sure there is a good place waiting for me... I just need to find it.



Anyways, how self-indulgent of me. I've just been ranting on and on about myself without even telling you about the delicious baked goods you've been eyeing on this page so far. Am I right? Well you're in for a treat! Three treats, to be exact. These three goodies were for a very special picnic for a very special girl: Cheryl! It was my favorite Cheryl's 22nd birthday picnic, ever so sweetly organized by her boyfriend. It was a fantastic picnic with gourmet sandwiches, delicious antipasti, champagne and - you bet - cupcakes. I always like to bring baked goodies as gifts for my friends' birthdays, so this time it was no different. Just times three.



Her boyfriend requested some goodies along with birthday cupcakes for a group of ten or so. I decided that super sweet and sour lemon squares, and a fun and colourful m&m cookie would be perfect for a summery picnic! I also considered blueberry crumb bars as well, but it was just too much to make. Anyways, I'm so excited to introduce you to my new favorite recipe for lemon squares, which were much much much better than my last try. I really loved them because they were super lemony - but beware, the sugar level is crazy in this one. Only people with a true sweet tooth will appreciate this square. It was received very well among many, but my daddy did not approve. Next was my m&m cookie which just needed a terrific cookie dough recipe. I used allrecipe's Best Big Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie. It wasn't exactly the chewiest, but it was still great with the crunchy candied chocolates. By the way, I looove how it looks on the back of the cookie. The candies look like they were drawn on by colourful chalk! It's so cute!



Lastly, my white chocolate cream cheese frosting on raspberry dark chocolate cupcakes. Well, see, I once tried this most fantastic cake which consisted of a moist deep chocolate cake, raspberry jam, a terrific white chocolate buttercream, and lots of white chocolate shavings on top. This was one memorable cake. I've always dreamed of recreating that with my cupcakes and this was my chance. I really had to investigate different ways I could make this cupcake because there are so many possibilities! I considered putting the raspberry jam right into the buttercream, or making a raspberry mousse to swirl with the buttercream, or to fill the cupcakes with raspberry jam... and it goes on. In the end, I sorta just settled on a easier and simpler method. I simply spread the rapsberry jam (which was DELICIOUS, and should be, because I spent lots of money on it) on top of the cupcake, and then I iced the buttercream on top. It turned out great... until I had to leave it in the hot car for a few hours. O DEAR O DEAR. Bad idea. It was a smoltering day and I should've known!! But baking till 1am did not do me too good so the next day I was a bit slow in realizing I should've kept it cold. The cupcakes were pretty gross looking by the time it was picnic time... but my friends didn't care. So sweet of them, they still ate it with much glee and praise. Thanks guys!!

Yummy M&M Cookies

adapted from allrecipes

makes 3 dozen

ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups mini or regular m&ms

directions

1.Preheat the oven to 325F. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Lemon Squares

makes 30 squares

ingredients

CRUST
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
6 oz. cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

FILLING
6 large eggs
3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

GARNISH
about 3 tbsp of confectioner's sugar

directions

Crust: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine flour and confectioner's sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and beat on low speed until mixed. Add butter and continue to mix until the butter is the size of small peas, about 30 seconds. The mixture will be very dry. Gently press the mixture evenly onto the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.

Bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees.

Filling: In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and granulated sugar until smooth. Stir in lemon juice and then flour. Pour the filling on top of the crust.

Bake until the lemon filling is set, about 40 minutes. Let cool to room temperature and then put in the refrigerator for an hour or keep at room temperature for three hours before cutting. Cut into squares, about 2 1/4 inches. Dust tops with confectioner's sugar.

Note: The squares can be made a day in advance, covered and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before serving. Dust with confectioner's sugar before serving.

Summertime

So it really is that time now. The blue sky and the bright sun is out. The days are getting longer and longer. And if I'm lucky, I even catch old men in their sandals with their socks on. That really must mean that summertime is here! Yay! (Although, Toronto weather has been really sucky lately and it's back to chilly Spring weather.) Anyways, I just felt that it was fitting to talk about summer because I baked brownies! I don't know if you've read my last entry on brownies, but I actually talked about the new snow of last winter. So now my brownies re-enter milk and honey with a backdrop of greenery!



The truth is, I'm not really a brownie person at all. But my brother-in-law is. And he and my sister were coming over after their lovely honeymoon in Hawaii, so I thought I'd bake some for them. He's one of the greatest supporters of my baking talent, so I'm always so very very happy to provide sweets for him.





I found the recipe here. I've never been to this blog before, but I love it when bakers reveal their "mom's" recipe cuz it just has to be killer, doesn't it? Don't we all swear by our mom's recipes? But I think I'm a bit unlucky when it comes to brownies. This brownie was very light and moist and almost spongecake-like. My sister really liked it. But I didn't like that at all. If I'm going to have brownies, then they better be rich and dense. Chewy and chocolatey. YEAH.



I waited till the next day to eat them, hoping it would've improved the texture and flavor a bit. But it was lacking still, in my opinion. But it's not sucha bad brownie either. If you like light fluffy ones, you'll like these babies!

Brownies

makes 20 pieces

ingredients

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

directions

1. Preheat oven 350°F. Grease 8×8x2 pan.
2. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.
3. In medium bowl, blend melted butter, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs and beat well.
4. Gradually add dry mixture to egg mixture. Beat until well blended.
5. Pour chocolate mixture. Place in oven for 35-40 minutes.

We have a little farm in the backyard that my grandma tends to. Meet our homegrown chives in the backyard. Mmm I love fresh chives...

Christmas Bake-a-thon: Lemon Squares

Hello hello.
Okay. Today it's going to be a short and sweet one. These were the second goodies that I baked for the church Christmas get-together thing but I have to admit, I didn't like them. I definitely over-baked them so the filling was too stiff and egg-y. Not enough lemony zing and the shortbread was too mushy. This was a new recipe, so I think I'll stick with my original ones. Anyway, enough complaining. :P Please enjoy the pictures. :) No recipe today.

Christmas Bake-a-thon: Pecan Bars

Pecan bars are deadly...yet fabulous! I don't mean to scare you right off the bat, but the amount of butter and sugar and butter that goes into it? Yikes! You have to blame a lot of it on the pecans too, though. Pecans themselves are buttery calorific delights. But what can I say? They are just too darn delicious.



Now that I have cleared that out of the way, I found this version from Martha Stewart's Cookies. This recipe was created by John Barricelli (Martha's baking man that occassionally shows up on her show too) and I think they were a great choice for this baking occasion. My church asked for some baked goodies for the Christmas get-together thing and after a pretty traditional lunch (turkey and cranberries and ham) I thought nothing better than to finish it off with pecan pie...bars!



Make sure you keep your shortbread dough crumbly and not overbeaten, so that it would give a nice crumbly and soft texture.





I think I might have done something wrong or different than what was supposed to be done for the pecan filling part. In the picture of the book, the pecan filling is very glossy and full, but mine became quite dull after a day and less caramel-y looking. And.. the recipe call for a 9x13" pan, but it seemed that there was not enough filling. The pecans were quite bare for some of the parts. I'm not sure but maybe if I make it again, I might increase ever so slightly the filling amount (while keeping the pecans the same).



But the flavor was definitely all there. It was nutty and buttery and caramel-y and delicious! Mmm! And they smelled great!! People really liked these babies. (I saw one lady take about 5 pieces) Haha! Definitely will make this again.

Pecan Bars

Makes about 4 dozen pieces
from Martha Stewart's Cookies

ingredients

for the crust:
1 cup plus 2 tbsp (2 1/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temp
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups AP flour

filling:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp heavy cream
1/4 tsp salt
2 cup (8 oz) pecan halves
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Make crust: Put butter and brown sugar into a bowl on an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on med speed until light and flufy. about 2 minutes. Mix in salt. Add flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing until fully incorporated after each addition. Continue mixing until dough to come together in large clumps.

2. Press dough about 1/4" thick into a 9 x 13" baking pan. Pierce the dough with a fork. Chill until firm, about 20 minutes. Bake until golden brown, 18-20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Reduce oven to 325F.

3. Make filling: Place butter, brown sugar, honey, granulated sugar, and heavy cream in a sauce pan over high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until mixture coats the back of a spoon, about 1 minute. Remove pan from heat; stir in salt, nuts, and vanilla. Pour filling into the cooled crust.

4. Bake until filling bubbles, 15 to 20 minutes. Carefuly transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Run a paring knife around edges of the pan and invert onto cooling rack. Invert again onto a cutting board. Use a sharp knife to cut into 1 by 3 " bars. Bars can be stored in an airtight container at room temp up to 1 week.

Okay and a random last picture. This is the view outside my door. Us Torontonians got a severe snow fall alert (which is why I stayed in all day, baking!). And boy did it snow out there. It piled up quite a bit. I mean, you can't help but admire the white fluffy sparkly stuff outside, but dear-oh, shoveling? Shoveling makes it not worth it no more. :( No more!

Blondies have more fun

Do blondes have more fun? It's one of those questions that people like to talk about, but I wouldn't know. Cuz I'm a very black-haired girl. And proud! Hehe. But nonetheless, "blondies" - in their buttery, chewy and delicious sense- are perfectly fun.



Last night, my lovely family of three (Jenn & Kev) were craving some sweets again after dinner so I busted out my spatula once again. I looked online for an easy breezy recipe I could just make out of the stuff I have in my pantry and found a perfect recipe on smitten kitchen. (I lovvee that blog, by the way!) And honest to goodness, it is the easiest thing I have ever baked in my life.



It took not even 15 minutes to prepare, and almost one bowl!! The result was delicious and delightful and hit the spot right away. It's chewy and soft and wonderful.

Blondies

16 medium squares
from Smitten Kitchen

ingredients

8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Pinch salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

directions

1. Preheat oven at 350°F. Butter an 8×8 pan.
2. Mix melted butter with brown sugar - beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla.
3. Add salt, stir in flour. Mix in any additions (below).
4. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until set in the middle. It might seem a little underbaked at first, but when you leave it to cool on the rack for a while, it'll set.

Further additions, use one or a combination of:

1/2 to 1 cup chopped nuts, toasting them first for even better flavor
1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon mint extract in addition to or in place of the vanilla
1/2 cup mashed bananas
1/4 cup bourbon, scotch or other whiskey; increase the flour by one tablespoon
2 tablespoons of espresso powder with the vanilla
Stir 1/2 cup dried fruit, especially dried cherries, into the prepared batter
Top with a vanilla butter cream or chocolate peanut butter cream frosting

New Snow and Warm Brownies

It is indeed winter in Canada. We were fortunate enough to push back our snowy days till late November now, but it has come for sure. It has been quietly and quite faithfully snowing all day and night yesterday so this morning there is a white and wintery scene outside my window. There is a warm sun out, though, so the snow is slowly melting again.




Last night was a cold night, and so my sister, her fiance Kevin, and I were all bundled up at home. We all sat around the kitchen after dinner, brought out each of our "homework" to do and sipped on some coffee. The three of us started to crave something sweet and warm and good. That's when I yelled out, "Brownies!", in which the two of them moaned a sweet moan, "mmmmmmmm brownies..."



So I quickly ran upstairs to my computer, found a recipe on Cooks Illustrated and found a "light brownie" recipe (because some of us are concerned about our waistline) and busted out my square pan and spatula. After a quick 30 minutes or so, we had our warm brownies. But to my disappointment, it was just okay. I was worried about it to begin with because, come on, LIGHT brownies? But they liked it just fine. It wasn't too sweet at all, and it still had some what of a chewy consistency. Kevin devoured a lot of them and happily took some home for work tomorrow. :)



In my opinion, the brownie was rather thin and sorta grainy. It was a bit better this morning- I guess the overnight helped it set. Overall, I didn't really like it, and I don't think I will use the recipe again, but last night, it wasn't about that. It was about warm goodness and sitting around together enjoying each others company. And that we did. :)



So about winter nights and winter mornings. I'm not sure if I'm ready for endless shoveling of snow; layers and layers of clothes; frozen nose tips and finger tips; slipping and sliding around ice plates, but one can't help but feel excited and giddy inside when one sees fresh white snow out the window. So boldy and daringly I say, "BRING IT ON, WINTER!!"

Lighter Brownies

12 medium squares
from CooksIllustrated.com

ingredients

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (2 1/2 ounces)
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 tbsp warm water
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3/8 tsp instant espresso powder
2 tbsp unsalted butter
3 oz semisweet chocolate , chopped fine
1/2 cup sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
1/8 tsp table salt
1 large egg , lightly beaten

directions

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square metal baking pan with parchment paper, or foil lightly coated with vegetable oil spray.
2. Whisk the flour and baking powder together in a small bowl; set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk the cocoa, water, vanilla, and espresso powder together; set aside. Microwave the butter and chocolate together in a medium microwave-safe bowl on 50 percent power until melted, about 1 minute; whisk until the mixture is smooth. Whisk in the sugar and salt until completely incorporated. Whisk in the cocoa mixture, then whisk in the egg. Stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated (do not overmix).
3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking (do not overbake). Cool completely on a wire rack, about 1 hour, lift the brownies out of the pan by grasping onto the parchment paper, and cut into 12 brownies.