I Got You, Browniebabe

Well, again, sorry it's been awhile. Josh is feeling much better, but then I was sick last week. But now I'm feeling better myself, and I've got a Browniebabe entry to share! Lately Browniebabe, hosted by Myriam at Once Upon A Tart, is the only blog event I have been participating in regularly. Hopefully that will change soon, but I haven't wanted to miss out on the chance to win one of Myriam's fabulous aprons. If I don't win one soon, I might just have to resort to actually buying one. Okay, honestly I'll have to buy one, cause there's no way I'm gonna beat out all the fabulous baking bloggers out there. But it's still fun to try!

This time around I made blondies, which I had never attempted before. I perused the world wide web and settled on a recipe from Sherry Yard, which I found via Chubby Hubby. This recipe had everything I was looking for- it seemed easily adaptable to whatever little tweaks I wanted to make, and it used vanilla. I'm always looking for an excuse to use my Mexican vanilla. I'll regret being so eager when I'm down to that last teaspoon, but for now I'm more than happy to pour a little bit of that sunshine into a mixing bowl.

Cherry Almond Blondies
Recipe adapted from Sherry Yard
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 ounces unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1 tablespoon Mexican vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup slivered almonds

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with rack in center of oven. Grease a 9"x13" baking pan and line the base with parchment paper. Grease the parchment paper.
• Triple sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.
• Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed until soft and creamy (about 1 minute). slowly add the sugars and beat on high speed until fully incorporated and the mixture is light and fluffy (about 10 minutes). Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
• Add the eggs, one at a time. Be sure each egg is completely incorporated and scrape down the sides of the bowl before adding the next one. Add the corn syrup, vanilla, and almond extract.
• Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined. Add dried cherries and almonds and combine with rubber spatula.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

My notes: I reserved about a teaspoon of the flour and tossed the cherries and almonds in it, which is supposed to help keep your mix-ins from sinking to the bottom. I didn't really notice much of a difference though. I slightly over-baked mine, as my timer didn't ring, but I caught them fairly quickly. I took these over to the in-law's for my husband's grandmother's birthday this weekend and they were a hit. I'll definitely make them again.

Browniebabe of the Month 2!

Okay, I probably should have gotten this post up in the month of May, but I'm still under the entry deadline by a few days. This week wasn't all that pleasant, so at least I got to end it on a chocolaty note. For this round of Browniebabe of the Month hosted by Myriam at Once Upon A Tart I decided to use a little regional flavor. I've named these Tex-Mex Brownies. I combined the flavor of Mexican chocolate with the fruits of the Texas state tree- pecans. These brownies were also the first thing I've baked with the incredibly fragrant and delicious Mexican vanilla extract that my lovely in-laws brought back from their recent vacation.

Tex-Mex Brownies
Recipe from me, adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe; Makes 16
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
1 disc (3.15 oz.) Mexican Chocolate
5 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon Mexican pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pecan topping

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan or glass dish. Line pan with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang on two sides. Set aside. Place butter and all chocolates in large heatproof bowl set over pan of simmering water; stir frequently until butter and chocolates have melted. Remove bowl from heat and let cool to room temperature.
• Stir sugar into cooled chocolate mixture until combined. Whisk in eggs one at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Whisk in vanilla. Gently fold in flour and salt.
• Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake until cake tester inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs, about 50 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack to cool completely. Apply pecan topping (see below) to brownies while the cool.
• Remove brownies from pan using parchment paper once brownies have cooled and topping has set. Cut and serve.

Sugar & Spice Pecan Topping

4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup pecans, whole, halves, or chopped

Melt butter in bowl in microwave. Stir in sugar and cinnamon and microwave on high 1 1/2 minutes. Stir pecans into mixture and microwave on high for 3 minutes, stirring twice throughout cooking time. Remove from microwave and spread across brownies.