Frosted Fudge Brownies with Pecans from Ramona's Tree

Every year in late January, my dear neighbor Ramona hires a man to come with a machine-a-ma-jig to knock the pecans off her stately tree. The first year when the pecan-shaker came, I thought it was an earthquake and sent the kids to stand in doorways while I shouted instructions about covering their heads. I got that from my good old fashioned Los Angeles upbringing. But it was just the rumblings of the pecan-shaker and not a 6.3 on the Richter scale. We could relax and enjoy the pretend earthquake, kind of like a Disneyland ride. We got into the swing of things and we really started looking forward to the pecan-shaker. Afterwards, Ramona's yard was always full or pecans. They needed to be collected and sorted. If you don't hustle over to help Ramona, you won't get the chance. She is spry and hard-working AND she has dozens of helpful grandchildren. If you want to help Ramona, you better not procrastinate or there will be nothing left to do. Here are my Ramona, my two charges and cousin Reeve collecting the nuts. West is making sure it's a good nut before he tosses it into the basket. (We need those little Willie Wonka scales for good nuts and bad nuts. )Sailor has a handful of perfectly good pecans, ready to be shelled and toasted and made into all sorts of lovely things, like the glazed pecans that Ramona brings us every year for Christmas. Since it was getting late in January, I asked Ramona when the pecan-shaker was coming for our annual thrill. But this year, all the pecans fell off by themselves. No shake, rattle or roll was necessary. When Ramona saw that we were disappointed, she brought us over another bag of sugared pecans and a whole bag full of pecans. We've been in heaven. To show our gratitude, I decided to bake Ramona some chocolate frosted brownies with lots of pecans. I spotted the recipe on Cookie Madness, my friend Anna's baking blog. The brownies were utterly divine. They were rich and fudgy and full of buttery pecans. (They've gotten nothing but rave reviews from everyone we've shared them wtih.) They are relatively inexpensive to make since they don't require any baking chocolate; just plain old cocoa powder does the trick here. You could swap out the pecans for another sturdy nut like walnuts, but I think the pecans are worth the splurge. Or you could move onto my street and wait for sweet Ramona to bring you a basket. Frosted Fudge Brownies with Pecans from Cookie Madness
Estimated Cost: $4.00 for 9 servings
4 oz (1/2 cup) butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 scant teaspoon salt
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup Hershey’s natural cocoa (not sure what results you’d get with Dutch)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Frosting
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 1/3 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup chopped pecans (optional) or 9 pecan halves
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line an 8 inch metal pan with foil and mist the bottom with cooking spray.
Melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Whisk in the sugar, then whisk in the eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder. Gradually add flour mixture to the batter. Stir in the pecans (if using). Pour into pan and bake for 20-25 minutes (I baked for 20). Pull from oven and make frosting.
Frosting: Stir together cocoa powder and powdered sugar. If you have time, you might want to sift it. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the milk. Stir it into the chocolate/sugar mixture. Stir in the vanilla. Add pecans if using. Pour over the warm brownies and kind of spread it a little to cover. Garnish with pecan halves.
Let brownies cool completely. Lift from pan, set on a cutting board, trim edges and cut into squares. I trimmed the edges and made 9 large squares.

Brrrrr-ownies

Hiya, folks. It's not zucchini (try not to cry), but today's Tuesday and I'm posting a recipe from my weekly baking club. You're gonna like this one-brownie batter loaded with bits of York peppermint patties, for a cool and minty zing. I put my batter in muffin cups and tucked a peppermint pattie into each one.

Mmmm. Brrrr. Mmmm. Brrr. I could get used to this. I'll eat an extra whole zucchini as penance.

Click here for the recipe.

Be back tomorrow with Grilled Steak and Zucchini with Maple Chile Butter

Bittersweet Brownies for your Valentine

Post Edit:
My friend Stephanie called this morning from Vegas to tell me they were talking about the Jif contest on a radio morning show. I quickly dialed in and they put poor, shy West on the air. He's even timid on the telephone, in his pajamas before breakfast. Hey- he didn't have a heart attack and maybe he'll even get a few more votes! Thanks Stephanie!
Two brownies diverged in Dorie's cookbook,
And sorry I was that I could not make them both.
I chose the wrong one,
And that has made all the difference.

Maybe it's not quite as poetic as Frost, but it's true. This week's assignment for my weekly baking club was for "Brownie's for Julia." But unfortunately, it sat plainfaced in the cookbook, side by side with another brownie recipe: "Bittersweet Brownies." I didn't realize I was making the wrong recipe until they were already in the oven. (It didn't help that the ingredient list was practically identical.) And when they came out of the oven, I was overjoyed at my error. I'm a picky, picky brownie biter. They have to be fudgy, rich, chocolatey, without being too gooey, or cakey, or sweet. I've made dozens of brownie recipes over the years, and I only like a handful, and there are even fewer that I can say that I love.
This is my new number two go-to brownie. (Here's the link for my number one.) Dense, without being gooey. Sweet, without being cloying. Chocolatey, without being bitter.
I made them on Sunday night.... then I woke up and made them on Monday morning again. And that alone is evidence of their endearing and addictive nature. I think I'm in love. And isn't that what Valentine's Day is all about?

Money Saving tips: I used Baker's chocolate (in the red box) with great results here. Since the recipe calls for 4 and 1/2 ounces of chocolate, I used four squares of Bakers and a generous tablespoon of chocolate chips. You can use a pricier chocolate, if you are so inclined, but you don't need to! When Baker's goes on sale for $1 a box, I load up my cart with bittersweet, unsweetened, and white chocolate for baking.
Bittersweet Brownies
Slightly adapted from Dorie Greenspan
Estimated Cost: $3.00 for 12 brownies
1 stick butter
4 and 1/2 ounces bittersweet (or semi-sweet) chocolate, NOT UNSWEETENED
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspon salt
1/2 cup flour, plus 1 tablespoon, divided use
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8 inch square baking pan with foil. Butter foil and set aside. In a medium microwaveable bowl, melt butter and chocolate, stirring often. Mix in sugar. Add eggs and mix well, until combined. Add vanilla and salt. Stir in 1/2 flour. In a small bowl, combine chocolate chips and remaining 1 tablespoon flour; fold gently into batter. Pour into prepared foil-lined baking pan. Bake for 30-33 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out almost clean, but with fudgy crumbs. Let cool completely before removing foil and slicing, or using a cookie-cutter.
Next Up:
My sister Leslie's Red and White Pasta for Valentine's Day
PS Four more days to vote for West's More Rockin' Moroccan Peanutty Pitas. The contest ends Friday, so help us get West that $25,000 scholarship and a chance to compete in the NYC cook-off.

Halloween Brownie Torte

Welcome to Tuesdays with Dorie, the day in which I whip up one of Dorie Greenspan's sweet treats with my on-line weekly baking club. Join in; it's super fantastic fun. Whee!

This week's assignment was for a Cherry Brownie Fudge Torte, but it just didn't sound like Halloween, and all treats this week must evoke the spookiest of holidays. So with a few little changes, I've made a Halloween Brownie Torte. I used Dorie's brownie as a base (click here for the recipe), and then added a cheater mousse made by whipping 4 ounces of cream cheese, 1 cup of whipping cream, and about 1/2 cup powdered sugar. I piled it high and deep atop the brownie, then added a chocolate chevron pattern. It's easy; I'll show you. Simply pipe some melted chocolate into straight parallel lines; then run a toothpick in a perpindicular motion down from end to end, switch directions and run up from end to end. You can do it, too.

But here's the naked truth: this week my mind is on donuts. I'm considering a new recipe for apple cider donuts to eat while pumpkin carving. But these are my all time favorite maple glazed buttermilk donuts, and I'm not sure if anything else will ever be as good. Make some, OK? I'll try the new recipe and let you know if it's worth it. Because these maple babies are worth every. single. deep-fried. sugar-coated. calorie.In less guilty pleasures, there's always a hearty bowl of my crockpot vegetarian chili to warm the cockles of the Halloween heart. You can look on my sidebar for lots of other chilis, too. One can never have to much chili, unless you are a baby. "You fed a baby chili?"

I also like the warming idea of a hearty beef stew with a hint of cider before Trick or Treating. See you soon with that recipe.

P.S. Here, here. I've entered a French's recipe contest that ends on Halloween Day. Click here to vote for my recipe. I'm not a passionate lover of voting contests, but this one is nicer than usual, since you can vote for any and all recipes that you like. If you like mine, could you purdy please vote for it once a day? You can? Thanks, I knew I could count on you.

Next Up: Hearty Beef Stew with Cider

Cheesecake Brownies

It's Tuesday, dear readers, and you know that means something sweet. Although, around here, you're apt to find treats on Fridays. Thursdays, yes, Thursdays also, but we mustn't forget Wednesday, just to make it through the week. And Saturdays, because it's the weekend. Sundays, too, because the weekend is almost over. And sometimes even run of the mill Mondays, because a treat is just the cure for a run of the mill Monday. See, what makes Tuesdays special is that the treats come from Dorie Greenspan's sizable tome, "Baking: From My Home to Yours." If you don't have a copy yet, this recipe just might convince you. Think of dark fudgy brownies...topped with a creamy layer of cheesecake with a swirl of said brownies coursing through it like a chocolate river. The cheesecake was supposed to have espresso, but not for me. Besides being a coffee teetotaler, I also have this wild obsession with vanilla and chocolate. Hot Fudge Sundaes, Chocolate Chip Cookies, scoop of chocolate- scoop of vanilla, black and white cookies, and now these. Speaking of chocolate and vanilla, get a load of this snapshot I took of the Quiet Man's gams next to mine this summer. Would you believe that we are both of European descent? My relatives are from the France and Italy, while his hail from the Czech Republic and the Isle of Man. What a difference a few degrees of latitude make! We're black and white in other less obvious ways too: he is stoic, I like to gab. He is careful, I am feckless. He loves the morning, I come alive at night.

But that's not what you are here for. You are here for these brownies. But you'll have to go here and get the recipe. Or else buy the book, which I'd highly recommend. It'll take your baking out of black and white and straight over the rainbow to technicolor, Dorothy.

Up Next:

Cooking Light's September Cover Pizza

Uber Cute Brownie Buttons

Hiya cutie pies. I even like your darling little name: Brownie Buttons. You're brownies, but you're helpless little newborn brownie infants with a little sprinkling of baby powder-uh- I mean powdered sugar. You're so darn adorable, I want to sneak you into my Hello Kitty pencil pouch and carry you off to school. Or I could meet you later, when the bell rings. My house, say at 3? Wouldn't you like to have one of these waiting for you after a day at school with Mrs. Crabtree? The apple is only for decoration, dear readers.
Click here for the recipe. Just as a note, these are a little bit tricky to get out of the pan, so butter it well. I tried mini muffin liners-big sticky mistake. Also, this recipe makes 14 brownie bites, but I filled my 12 cup mini muffin pan a little full and they came out just perfect.

Coming Next:

Spicy Fried Chicken Drumsticks

Katherine Hepburn Brownies

Maybe the reason that I love actresses of yesteryears so much is that I can tell them apart. Their looks were distinctive. They didn't have plastic surgery to fix their noses, their wrinkles, their lips. They didn't bleach their teeth, and while some of them certainly bleached their hair, they didn't all do it, and certainly not the same shade of platinum blond. They look like they even ate dinner once in a while, and didn't have liposuction to have it all sucked away. And they were gorgeous. Real human women-with flaws and all-are so much more beautiful then the false and brittle images that Hollywood promotes these days. Like Katherine Hepburn, for example. She's spectacular in Bringing Up Baby, divine in Philadelphia Story. She was a real woman; beautiful, talented, and imperfect. And Hepburn even had her own brownie recipe. A gooey, delicious, fudgy, deeply chocolaty brownie recipe. On second thought, maybe she was perfect after all.

Click here for the recipe that we baked as part of our online baking group, Tuesdays with Dorie. They'll cost you about $2.00 to bake on your own, and they're guaranteed to make you as gorgeous as Katherine Hepburn. Honest.)
Up Next:

Summer Tex Mex Vegetable Soup

Chipster Topped Brownies

This week's assignment for Tuesdays with Dorie's weekly baking club is a base layer brownie topped with a chocolate chip bar cookie. It's a naughty treat leapfrogging on top of another naughty treat, and it's no simpler than making the two on their own. To work fast, you will need two able bodied men. If none are available, seek out two pint size charges, preferably with clean hands and bored expressions. Have them mix up the batter side by side, while you dump in the ingredients; no sense in getting out the sugar twice. There, now that's done. After we had just poured the batters into the pan, my mother convinced us to run down to the high school and see the grad night decorations. The charges were game (as usual) even though I didn't really want to go (as usual), but my mother is awfully good at convincing me to come along (as usual).

The entire gym was decorated in a Night at the Museum theme.




It was so fun and fabulous that we had to call my Dad and the neighbor and the Quiet Man and convince them to come up and take a look too. (My mom did the convincing; she's much better at it than I am.) When we raced home to pick them up, our weekend guests (3 of my sister's families with a combined total of 10 kids under the age of 10) had already begun to arrive, so my mom convinced them to come up and see it too. Some of them even stayed for the kick off fireworks, but I went home to work on my chipster topped brownies. And then we very nearly gobbled them all up before I could snap a picture. This was all I got:They were declared extremely yummy by all. (Click here for the recipe.) I thought they were a wee bit much, myself. I'd rather take each element separately, in its classic form. Also, I made a half sized batch but I baked it in a full size baking pan, which was plenty thick enough and helped stretch the recipe enough to serve the multitude that I call my family. And speaking of that multitude, there were finally enough people around for me to justify making jelly donuts. That's next....

Hope you all had a safe and happy Memorial Day.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Caramel Topped Brownie Cake

Halloween day is the deadline to become a new member of the Tuesdays with Dorie baking club. Join in and churn out stunning desserts, like this week's assignment..... It's rare for me to find a recipe that I have no desire to tamper with, but this week Dorie hit a bullseye. Our assignment was a gorgeous brownie cake topped with salty peanuts and sticky caramel. Like a little lamb, I planned to follow the Greenspan shepherd to the sweet green pasture of baking perfection. Except I forgot to read the recipe very well. I think I was mesmerized by the puddly caramel photo. Dotty and dingy, I baked a very gorgeous deep dark rich cake---with UNsweetened chocolate, not the BITTERsweet chocolate that Dorie specified. Unmolding it perfectly onto the platter, a single crumb fell to the rim-perfect for snatching....only it wasn't perfect. It was as bitter as my disappointment.
And I had guests to impress in a few short hours and I needed a cake that was not just pretty but that actually tasted good. Important guests, too. My college friend Tanji and her husband Roger were coming for a visit from North Carolina. We hadn't seen each other in a decade, and were only recently reunited through this blog. This blog-the one that claims to have scandalously good food. How could I impress my impressive friend with a beautiful and bitter tragi-cake?

Beginning again was the solution. This time I was lightening fast, making the brownies my way-melting in the microwave, using only one mixing bowl. Admittedly, they came out of the pan not quite as pretty, but the crumb was tender and sugary. After a coating of salty nuts and gooey caramel, I was confident that the dessert would hit the bullseye I was aiming for. And it was completely sweet, both the brownies and the reunion of old friends.

For the complete recipe, click here. For my penny pinching friends, this recipe costs about $7.00-if you make it right the first time. Be sure to stock up on baking chocolate and buy a nice fat jar of salted nuts when on sale.

Since Tanji was coming, I finally had the motivation to get my mantle decorated for Fall. Maybe she should come back just before Christmas....

Coming Tomorrow:
Soft Whole Wheat Pretzels with Honey Mustard

French Chocolate Brownies

This week's challenge from Tuesdays with Dorie, brought a delightful rendition of a fudgy French inspired brownie. TWD members weekly bake a gorgeous Greenspan treat, worthy of any high end bakery, but for at least half the cost. It's a great way to save pennies, celebrate life, and hone your baking skills. There's always plenty to share, so your neighbors are sure to grovel... Dorie's brownie of today called for flambeed rum soaked raisins, which were deftly omitted to make them more appealing to my two little charges and their cousins. I'm always making changes for mass appeal. I can't run the risk of eating anything alone.

Come to think of it, a good name for my baking blog could be "Half Nuts; a Metaphor for Family Life." Everything I bake around here has, well, you know...half nuts. I credit the kids for the splintered baking and the fractured insanity.

Now, after you try Dorie's fudgy brownie version, I must put a plug in for my own brownie. I like them fudgy and cakey because I'm hard to please, wishy-washy, a perfectionist, and greedy. I hope you'll love me in spite of all that. I've tried so many brownie recipes and I like almost all of them, but "Old Fashioned Buttermilk Brownies" remains my hands-down classic favorite.

Anyway you slice it, you can't miss with warm from the oven brownies made from scratch.

French Chocolate Brownies

Estimated Cost: about $6.00 (depending on chocolate price) for 16

Notes:I omitted the rum, raisins, and cinnamon, and added some walnuts sprinkled on top. I also baked it in a pie dish, since my 8 inch square is out on loan.

Ingredients
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

1/3 cup raisins, dark or golden

1 1/2 tablespoons water

1 1/2 tablespoons dark rum

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons; 6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into 12 pieces

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup sugar
Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 300°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, butter the foil, place the pan on a baking sheet, and set aside.
Whisk together the flour, salt and cinnamon, if you're using it.
Put the raisins in a small saucepan with the water, bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until the water almost evaporates. Add the rum, let it warm for about 30 seconds, turn off the heat, stand back and ignite the rum. Allow the flames to die down, and set the raisins aside until needed.
Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Slowly and gently melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the butter, stirring so that it melts. It's important that the chocolate and butter not get very hot. However, if the butter is not melting, you can put the bowl back over the still-hot water for a minute. If you've got a couple of little bits of unmelted butter, leave them—it's better to have a few bits than to overheat the whole. Set the chocolate aside for the moment.
Working with a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until they are thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Lower the mixer speed and pour in the chocolate-butter, mixing only until it is incorporated—you'll have a thick, creamy batter. Add the dry ingredients and mix at low speed for about 30 seconds—the dry ingredients won't be completely incorporated and that's fine. Finish folding in the dry ingredients by hand with a rubber spatula, then fold in the raisins along with any liquid remaining in the pan.
Scrape the batter into the pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top is dry and crackled and a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and allow the brownies to cool to warm or room temperature.
Carefully lift the brownies out of the pan, using the foil edges as handles, and transfer to a cutting board. With a long-bladed knife, cut the brownies into 16 squares, each roughly 2 inches on a side, taking care not to cut through the foil.

Coming Tomorrow:

Sesame Lime Pork Noodles; a Pork Chop Leftover Bonus