A Bit of a Healthier Bite- Whole Wheat Brownies

I noticed this recipe from the September 2010 issue of Everyday Food, tucked into the back of the magazine, and it also ended up tucked into the back of my mind. I don't know if it's been noticeable here, but I love to substitute whole wheat into recipes whenever I can. It's especially easy in pancakes or muffins, but can be a little more difficult with the sweeter baked treats. This time around the recipe did all the work for me, so no worrying about whether or not my substitution would turn out to be a big mistake. I have always been suspicious of baking recipes that include applesauce. I know a lot of people that swear by it as a healthy substitution, but every time I've eaten something baked with applesauce (other than an actual apple dessert) it has seemed noticeable and not all that pleasant. I took a chance anyway, and I'm glad that I did. These brownies are far from being health food, with the butter and of course all that chocolate. But if you're going to make a brownie, and would like to save a couple of calories or sneak in a smidge of fiber, then this is a good recipe to try out. These brownies came out pretty cake like for me, so if thick fudgy brownies are your thing I wouldn't recommend these. I however, am indiscriminate when it comes to brownies. Fudgy, cake, or anywhere in between- I like them all.

Whole Wheat Brownies
Recipe from Everyday Food; Makes 16

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
1/2 cup all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1/2 cup whole wheat flour, spooned and leveled
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 large egg
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8" square baking dish; line with parchment, leaving a 2" overhang on all sides. In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, cocoa, baking powder, salt and baking soda.
• In a large bowl, stir together sugar, applesauce, and egg. Place butter and 6 ounces chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pot of simmering water; stir until melted. Stir chocolate mixture into sugar mixture. Stir in flour mixture. Pour into pan and top with 2 ounces chocolate.
• Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 40 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack. Use parchment to lift cake from pan and cut into 16 squares. (Store in an airtight container, up to 5 days.)

My notes: I skipped the whole butter/parchment step and just sprayed my glass pan w/ some nonstick canola cooking spray. I cut my brownies and just popped out one for each of us. I'm storing them in the pan until I pack them up for Josh to take to work. Whole wheat or not, I don't need to eat them all! Also, I used my favorite WW flour, white whole wheat. It's a finer grain that regular whole wheat, so I find it works better for most baking substitutions.

Sweets for the Sweet

I know, I know- sure, I got our Valentine's Day dinner posted before too long after the day, but here I am almost a week later posting the dessert I made for us. But things kept me a little busy this weekend. Things like taxes. Blech. And a friend's wedding. Hurrah. Anyway, here I am with the goods, tardy but not absent. I worked with what I had in the kitchen, which included semisweet chocolate and half a bar of cream cheese. This recipe is supposed to turn out different than it did in my case, but that's because I decided I wanted more of a flavored topping than a completely marbled cream cheese brownie. So I sort of plopped the cream cheese mixture on top of the brownie batter and ran a knife through it to marble it just a bit, but keep most of the cream cheese sitting atop the chocolate. I liked it a lot, but I'll try it the regular way sometime soon too.

Super Fudgy Brownies with Cream Cheese Crust
Recipe from Everyday Food; Makes 16












Brownie batter:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for pan
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs

Cream Cheese batter:
4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a 9" square pan with butter. Line bottom and two sides with a strip of parchment paper, leaving a 2" overhang on the two sides. butter paper, and set pan aside. In a small bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
• Place butter and chocolate in a large heat-proof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth; remove bowl from pan. Add sugar; mix to combine. Add eggs, and mix to combine. Add flour mixture; mix just until moistened. Transfer batter to prepared pan.
• Whisk cream cheese and butter. Whisk in sugar, egg, and flour. Spoon mixture over brownie batter, leaving some spots of brownie batter showing through. Run knife through pan to marble top.
• Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached., 50 to 60 minutes. Cool in pan 30 minutes. Using paper overhang, lift brownies out of pan; transfer to a rack to cool completely. Use a dampened serrated knife to cut into squares. Store in an airtight container.

My notes: Doing it this way you will probably have a bit of the cream cheese batter leftover. Just an FYI.

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.

Browniebabe Of The Month

My participation in this blog event was a result of coincidence and circumstance. It just so happens that my new issue of Everyday Food had a cover article on brownies. And thanks to the inclement weather yesterday I found myself home 3 hours earlier than normal. And I'd been craving sweets ever since my husband made cookies the night before- cookies that I couldn't eat because they contained my most hated form of chocolate, white. So, all these things came together, convincing me that I should go ahead and whip up some brownies. Browniebabe Of The Month has been created by Myriam at Once Upon A Tart as an ode to the lovely fudgy baked good that no one can turn down. And I think the brownie is a splendid choice to base an event around because it is so darn versatile. I've already got several ideas about my entry for next month! But before I get ahead of myself, let me get down to this months recipe first. I followed the base recipe in Everyday Food, since they were so kind to know that I would need to make brownies in the first place. I tweaked it to create my own batch of---

Almond Mocha Brownies
Based on Everyday Food recipe; Makes appx. 16 squares
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for pan
1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/4 cup unsweetend cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
8 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
Additions: 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder, 2/3 cups chopped almonds

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a 9-inch square baking pan with butter. Line bottom and two sides with a strip of parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the two sides. Butter paper, and set pan aside. In a small bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
• Place butter and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of gently simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes; remove bowl from pan. Add sugar; mix to combine. Add eggs, and mix to combine. Add flour mixture; mix just until moistened (do not overmix). Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top.
• Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool in pan for 30 minutes. Using paper overhang, lift brownies out of pan; transfer to a rack to cool completely (still on paper). On a cutting board, using a dampened serrated knife, cut into 16 squares. Store in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 2 days.

My notes: To make my Almond Mocha version you need to add the 2 teaspoons of espresso powder to the melted chocolate & butter mixture. Then add the almonds after you have added the flour mixture. I love how coffee really enriches the flavor of chocolate, and the almonds add a complimentary flavor and texture without taking the spotlight away from the fudgy, cocoa goodness.