Sweet & Simple Bakes: Snow-Flecked Brownies

This month's recipe for Sweet & Simple Bakes was snow-flecked brownies. Thankfully, we didn't have a lot of exams in the month of November, but if you've read my older posts, you know that the one infectious disease exam that we did have was quite a dousy! We had a "food day" at school the next day to celebrate being finished with the exam, and I brough these knowing they'd be the perfect post-exam treats.

I have made homemade brownies before, but I've always used cocoa powder for the chocolate flavor. Truthfully, I'm not much of a chocoholic - brownies are okay, but I don't crave them like many others do. Because I've never made brownies this way, I was excited to see how these would turn out.

I was actually a little worried when I coverted the measurements for the recipe. 3 sticks of butter, 1-3/4 c. of sugar, and 13 oz. of chocolate, and 6 eggs went into this recipe! I'm guessing this may be because I'm used to making brownies in a 8x8 inch pan?? Despite my hesitation, the batter was seemingly correct, so I think the difference in amounts must be a combination of the pan size and the richness of the recipe.

I did try some of the brownies before I took them to school, and the flavor of the brownies was really good. Rich but good. Mine were a little bit too gooey, but I will take credit on this one for underbaking them a little bit. I was concerned with cooking them too long and went to far the other way. I would recommed baking a little longer than the 25 minutes since that is exactly when I took mine out. The middle of the pan was actually too gooey to make it to school, so I just cut the brownies (leaving the middle out) before I brought them along. It turned out okay because the hubby just ate the gooey part with some ice cream :-) Enjoy!

(Printable Recipe)

Snow-Flecked Brownies

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate

5 oz. unsweetened chocolate

3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

6 large eggs

1-3/4 c. sugar

1 tsp. salt
1-2/3 c. flour
1 pkg. white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x13 inch baking pan with non-stick spray.

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a large heavy based pan. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat the eggs together with the sugar and vanilla extract.

Allow the chocolate to cool a little, then add the egg and sugar mixture and beat well. Fold in the flour and the salt. Then, stir in the white chocolate chips. Beat to combine and pour the brownies into the prepared pan.

 
Bake for about 25 minutes or until the top begins to dry to a slightly paler brown speckle. Add or subtract baking time as needed, but remember that the brownies will continue to cook as they cool. Cut and serve. May sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.
 

October Sweet & Simple Bakes: White Chocolate, Orange, and Cranberry Cookies

I was really excited when I saw this month's bake for Sweet and Simple Bakes. I LOVE baking cookies and am always looking for new flavors to put a spin on your basic cookie. These cookies definately didn't disappoint! My hubby was out of town on rotation for school for much of October, so I took these into work and they disappeared in no time flat! I actually had male co-workers asking me about these cookies several days later. Don't worry. I saved a few in the freezer for the hubs to try, and he gave them a thumbs up as well :-)

I did make a slight variation to the cookies to make a taste test. This recipe was screaming "cranberries" at me. I happened to have some dried cranberries in the house, so I divided the dough just before baking and added cranberries to half. I definately prefer the cookies with the cranberries and would add them to the whole batch if I made these again. I also think the cranberries add a "holiday vibe" to the cookies that would make them a good addition to a holiday cookie platter. Enjoy!

(Printable Recipe)

White Chocolate, Orange, and Cranberry Cookies

1/2 c. butter

1 c. white sugar

1 egg

grated zest of 1 orange (2-3 tsp.)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1-1/2 c. flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 pkg. white chocolate chips

dried cranberries (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.

Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg, orange zest, and vanilla. Stir the dry ingredients into the butter mixture until combined. Mix in chocolate chips and dried cranberries if using.

Roll into balls. Use your fingers to flatten onto a non-stick baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes and transfer to a cooling rack. When cool, store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Will freeze well.
 
Yield: 2 dozen
 

September Sweet & Simple Bakes: St. Clement's Drizzle Cake

September's recipe for Sweet and Simple Bakes was St. Clement's Drizzle Cake. The cake is flavored from both fresh lemon and fresh orange zest as well as their juice in the glaze. This was a new type of recipe for me, but I was excited for it because I can remember a similar lemon-poppy seed cake that my grandmother used to make for us when we were younger that was delicious!

I did run into a little bit of a snag while making the cake. I was right in the middle of beating the eggs into the batter when I realized that if I didn't start making supper, that it would be LATE before we got to eat. I finished the batter and sat it aside in the refrigerator for a couple hours. When I finally got the cake in the oven, it started to brown FAST! At 30 minutes when I checked it, the top was pretty brown and the middle still looked like jello! Thankfully, I was able to save it by covering the pan with aluminum foil for the last 15 minutes of bake time. I don't know if it was the time or the refrigeration that threw the baking off so far, but I can recommend baking the cake immediately after finishing the

 batter!

The flavor of the cake was very good! It stayed quite moist even with my bake time adventure. In fact, I didn't get very good pictures of the slices because my husband dug in before I was able to get out there with the camera =-) The citrus glaze really does add a nice sweetness to the top, but I think I would use a larger "poking" device next time so that it penetrates further into the cake. Enjoy!

(Printable Version)

St. Clement's Drizzle Cake - Sweet and Simple Bakes

1 c. (175 g) granulated sugar

6 oz (175 g) softened butter

grated zest and juice of 1 large lemon

grated zest and juice of 1 large orange

4 Tbsp. milk

2 eggs

1-1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1-1/2 tsp. baking powder

3 Tbsp. granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a large loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray. Place 1 c. sugar, butter, and zest of the lemon and orange in a bowl and beat together until pale and creamy. Add the milk. Beat in the eggs, one at at time with a spoon of flour to prevent the mixture from curdling. Mix in the remaining flour. Spoon into the prepared pan and level the surface with a spatula. Bake in the oven for about 45 mintues or until they are golden brown and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake.

While the cake is baking, place the lemon and orange juice in a saucepan, bring to boil and allow to reduce in quantity to about 3 tablespoons. Leave to cool, and then stir in the remaining granulated sugar until it just starts to dissolve.

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, prick several times with a skewer. Slowly pour the lemon and orange sugar over the entire top, letting it soak into the cake. Leave to cool completely in the tin before turning out and cutting into slices to serve.

Sweet & Simple Bakes: Jammy Doughnut Muffins

Lately, I have been on a quest to find new cooking groups. I find it fun to make something knowing that several others are making the same thing, and it's always interesting to see the individual variations that we all add. This was my first month baking with the Sweet and Simple Bakes group and the recipe up on the block was jammy doughnut muffins.

I went into making this recipe this not knowing how my muffins would turn out. It was not the type of recipe that I would normally pick, I had planned to make several changes to the base recipe as written, and I had to convert the measurements to cups as I do not have a kitchen scale. I have to admit that both my husband and I were pleasantly surprised with the results! I cut the recipe in half when I made it since it was just the two of us, and it probably was a good thing because I think we would have eaten all 12 in 1 night!

I did substitute sugar-free strawberry preserves and they seemd to work quite well. Strawberry is probably one of my favorite flavors, but I may have to play around with it a little bit if I make them again in the future because flavors like apple would definately go well with the cinnamon topping!  Enjoy!

Jammy Doughnut Muffins
2 c. all-purpose flour (275 gm)
3 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt (I left out since I used salted butter)
1/2 c. castor sugar (100 gm) (I just used granulated sugar that I had on hand)
2 eggs
200 mL of milk
75 gm (3oz) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp. vanilla
12 tsp. strawberry or raspberry  jam (I used sugar-free preserves)

Topping:
100 gm (4oz) unsalted butter
3/4 c. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl (I didn't sift it!), and stir through the sugar. In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs, then add milk, cooled butter, and vanilla; beat together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently until just combined (do not over mix; lumps are fine).

Spoon half the mixture into the bottom of each muffin liner. Top each with a teaspoon of jam and cover with the remaining muffin mixture making sure that the batter completely encircles the jam. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden and firm to the touch. 

To make the topping, melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Mix the remaining sugar and cinnamon and spread in a shallow bowl or dish. When muffins are done baking, leave in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove and dip the tops of the muffins in the butter and then in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Serve warm or cool.