Chocolate Zucchini Bread

It's got to be a good recipe to bring me out of blogging hibernation. right?. I'm so excited about this "bread" I had to tell you about it. I put "bread" in quotes because this is really more like chocolate cake. Dark, dense, moist and very chocolatey cake. It would go great with a tall glass of cold milk. I just LOVE it.

I found this recipe while surfing along looking for things to do with zucchini. This specific recipe caught my eye because it looked just like a really good chocolate zucchini bread that I get a bit too often at The Coffee Studio in Andersonville.

Some high points are that it uses 1 1/2 cup of grated zucchini, which is a lot compared to some of the recipes out there. Think about it: if you make the mini loafs, you get 1/2 c of zucchini in each. You can take secret joy in that as your children gobble the it down. Also, this recipe has chocolate chips in it, which is never a bad thing and facilitates the gobbling.

Since I knew the flavor I was trying to approximate, I made a few adaptions to the original recipe on Joy of Baking. I cut down on the cinnamon, using a scant 1/4 teaspoon and eliminated the allspice altogether. I wasn't looking for a spice bread.

So, if you try this recipe, do it my way with just a little cinnamon and without the allspice. You can make one big loaf or divide the batter into 3 mini ones. But don't wait until next summer to make this.

Two more quick things: It's really good cold out of the fridge and leave out the word zucchini when you offer it to your kids.

Chocolate Pecan Bars

Wow, two cookie posts in a row?

Shortbread crust, melted semi-sweet chocolate and a caramel-ly layer of butter, brown sugar and toasted pecans. If you like this type of thing, you'll be happy with these Chocolate Pecan Bars.

Mine were made in an 8 by 8 pan so they turned out a little thicker than they should have. I forgot that I like to make them in a 9 by 11 which makes them a little thinner but makes more cookies too. You just need to use a little more chocolate for the increased surface area.

I also skip the cinnamon in this recipe. I don't think it needs it. But I think these bars were originally made to accompany a Mexican-themed meal so a little cinnamon would be nice to add if you are serving a menu like that.

As per usual, if the link doesn't work and you want the recipe, just send me a note.

Saucer-Sized Oatmeal Cookies

The whole oatmeal cookie thing started last week when I made monster cookies for my son's last kindergarten snack of the year. I used Mean Chef's recipe (a long-standing favorite) and loaded them with chocolate chips, raisins and m&ms. (These are kindergarteners after all.) They turned out really well, as expected, but they made exactly 18, enough for the whole class and the teacher, but not enough to keep any at home. It is cruel to make cookies in front of your family and not let them have any. And my children and husband would not let me forget that. So the pressure was on.

So cookies were already in the forefront of my mind when I read my blogger friend Amy's post about her lovely oatmeal cookies. She used a recipe from Pam Anderson, a respected cookbook author and food magazine person. Pam Anderson has an interesting blog called Three Many Cooks

Amy did hers with chocolate chips, dried cherries and toasted pecans. And that sounded so good that I really had to give this recipe a try, especially with Mean Chef's recipe so fresh in my mind.

These really are saucer-sized, if you want. The cookies were huge on my first sheet, so I made them a little smaller for the rest. If you want them huge and literally saucer-sized, use a standard ice cream scoop and mound the dough above the scoop before releasing it on to the sheet. And put 3 on a tray (they spread.) For mine, I measured the dough level with the scoop for a palm-sized cookie. I made some without nuts for the kids and then I added nuts to the rest of the batch for those who know better ;)

Unique about this recipe, is that the butter is melted before adding the dry ingredients. It makes for a thinner but chewy, buttery, praline-like oatmeal cookie. Mean Chef's cookie is thicker and chewy with a hint of cinnamon. Both cookies are REALLY good. I really couldn't pick one over the other. But I think the thicker Mean Chef cookie makes for a better cookie to hold a lot of add-ins.

What I like about a big oatmeal cookie is that one really is enough. There's something satisfying to the eyes and hands to hold a big loaded cookie and have it all to yourself. And a giant cookie allows for a second glass of milk or will match up to your venti skim latte. So try one of these recipes out. You can make them and freeze them too. Then pull them out of your bag in the middle of a long car trip and people will think you are magic.

Catch up!

Here's a sampling of I've been up to in the kitchen.

This is Evelyn's (from CooksTalk) Spanokopita. She lives in Athens, Greece and knows her way around a kitchen. Her recipes are always a hit. And we liked this alot. I also picked up these hand pie molds because I always like to use dough scraps. These are fun but the hand-formed ones are just as charming.

This pie was done with another gadget, a pie stencil.

I Never Did Talk About the Pies

So for Thankgiving I asked for the pie responsibilities I like to do the pies. They're kind of my thing. I made a big, apple pie in my deep dish pie pan and a couple of pumpkin pies. I always have extra pie crust dough (I use Barefoot Contessa's Perfect Pie Crust recipe) and extra pumpkin pie filling (I like the recipe on the back of the Libby's can o'pumpkin) so I make a much-coveted mini pie. Nothing tastes better than your own personal pie, at least if you're 11, or 41.

Chocolate Raspberry Tart

The only thing tricky about this raspberry tart is acquiring really good raspberries (and not spending a fortune.) Otherwise it is pretty straightforward: graham cracker crust, bittersweet chocolate ganache cooled a bit ... And raspberries. You want firm and perfect jewels to adorn the top. And now is the time, berries are at their best and their cheapest.

Banana Muffins TDF

I wanted to tell you about these Kona Inn Banana Muffins from the 150 Best American Recipes Book. The recipe is from the highly regarded baker, Marion Cunningham, author of the Fanny Farmer Cookbook. These turn out really, really good. I liken them to the banana muffins from the original Corner Bakery, back when the Corner Bakery was just one bakery (with breads from Nancy Silverton) and not a corporate entity. The recipe makes only 12 perfect muffins but uses a whopping 5 bananas. My math tells me that's roughly 4 tenths of a banana per muffin. And there's no cinnamon or vanilla, just pure banana flavor. The only thing is the recipe calls for shortening, which I don't really like to use. I do keep some in the freezer though, because I use it for Ina Garten's Perfect Pie Crust. I just use the no-trans fat variety and try not to think about it. The recipe is written in sort of a tedious way, perhaps intended for the novice baker. I apologize for that.

Kona Inn Banana Muffins

½ c veg. shortening, plus more for greasing pan
1 ¼ c all purpose flour, plus more for sprinkling on the pan
5 very ripe med. bananas
1 t baking soda
½ t salt
1 c sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
½ c chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Smear the cups of a muffin pan with shortening and sprinkle with a little flour and shake the pan to distribute. Turn the pan upside down over the wastebasket and shake out excess flour.

Peel the bananas, place them in a large bowl and beat them well with an electric mixer. The riper the bananas and the more you mash them, the more tender your muffins will be. Don’t expect absolute smoothness, there will always be a few lumps. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add sugar, shortening, eggs and walnuts to the bananas and mix well. ( I like to save some walnuts to put on the top) Add the dry ingredients ot the banana mixture and stir just until the batter is thoroughly blended.

Fill muffin cups to about two-thirds full. If you’ve reserved some walnuts, dot the tops of the batter with them.

Place pan in the lower third of the oven. After 15 minutes, check the muffins for doneness. A toothpick should come out clean. If not, cook 5 minutes longer and check again. When toothpick comes out clean, remove the muffins from the oven and let cool in the pan for 5 minutes.

Run a knife along the edges of the muffins and transfer them to a platter serve warm.

These can be a cake. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans and divide the batter between them. Bake for about 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool cakes in the pan for 10 minutes. Dust completely cooled cakes with powdered sugar.

Turkey Joes and more

I'm so behind on posting that I think I'll do just a short recap of some of the recipes I've tried recently. First off, here's another new cookbook that I've really been enjoying. And NOT because Rick Bayless does the intro, but that is a plus. Molly Stevens is one of the editors and Fran McCollough, the other. Stevens is an acclaimed chef and cookbook author in her own right and McCollough too has authored cookbooks, though many seem to have to do with low-carb eating. (not my thing.)



The book is a diverse collection of recipes tried and hand selected from 2006. It's fun because the recipes are an interesting mix from magazines, cookbooks, newsletters and the internet. Many of the recipes from this book have gotten good reviews at CooksTalk . And I found it new on ebay for $10 and couldn't pass it up. I'm enjoying it so much, I think I will watch for the earlier editions of "Best Recipes" and pick them up if they're cheap

One recipe we've enjoyed is what we've called Turkey Joes, aka Sloppy Joes made with ground turkey. These were delicious and with a whole wheat bun, a savory, healthy weeknight dinner.


I also made a nice blueberry cobbler from the book. This time I played around a little with proportions because I wanted to make a small one in my 6 inch cast iron skillet. It turned out good to eat but not quite what I expected it to be (i.e. not cobbler-esque enough for me.) This was more like a blueberry clafouti. But I'm blaming myself and not the recipe for this. I will give it another try. I also made some TDF banana muffins from this book but failed to take pictures. But I promise I'll make them again soon and post picts and the recipe.

From Fine Cooking, I finally got around to making the Seared Scallops on Pea Puree from a few issues back (92). I wanted to wait until I could get some nice young fresh peas at the Farmers Market and that didn't happen until late June. This dish turned out really good. The seared scallops are delicious with the creamy sweet puree and there is some crispy pancetta and a gremolata to top it off. The pink pancetta pops on the green puree for a gorgeous plate. I won't wait for fresh peas to make this again. I think frozen would be fine.


I've also been doing a lot of beet salads because we really love them. Chioggia Beets are the ones with the candy stripes on the inside and they are really sweet. I love them next to a bitter green, some goat cheese and a tart vinaigrette, particularly one made with a white balsamic or champagne vinegar.

Finally, James Peterson, in his book, Fish and Shellfish, taught me that sometimes the simplest approach can be very rewarding indeed. Here I did his fish Bercy, which is basically a classic preparation of fish cooked gently with butter, white wine, lemon and herbs. It really brought out the best in these grouper fillets.




I'm done for now, but not caught up. We haven't yet talked about grilled pizza on the Fourth of July . . .

Chocolate Pecan Squares

I've had this recipe for Chocolate Pecan Squares in the back of my mind for a while (oh, since about issue 70.) I just needed the right occasion to make them. The kids don't eat cookies with nuts in them and I didn't want make a whole tray of cookies, especially rich ones like these, for just me and dear husband.

A request for cookies for a school event arrived in my son's backpack one afternoon and I knew immediately that I would give these a try. This way I could make them, taste them and send them away for others to enjoy (far, far away from my snacking hands.) These cookies have just about everything going for them: a buttery crumb crust, a layer of bittersweet chocolate and a sticky pecan topping. I thought they were fantastic. I made them in a quarter sheet pan instead of a 9 by 9. The topping came up to the rim and I was scared it might bubble over but it worked out fine. It gave me a bigger yield of cookies but a little thinner of a crust.

When I make them again, I will decrease the honey a little because I think the topping could be a little less sweet. If you make them in a slightly bigger pan, you might want a little more grated chocolate, maybe an ounce more. Also, my mom thought I could decrease the cinnamon, but that is a matter of taste. I believe this recipe was originally part of a mexican menu, and cinnamon/chocolate is a classic Mexican combination. You might have to run a thin knife around the edge to loosen the sticky topping, but the crust comes out of the bottom very easily. So don't worry about using parchment or greasing the pan. There's plenty o' butter in the crust to take care of that.

Pecan-Chocolate Squares

by Paula Disbrowe, David Norman

Yields sixteen 2-1/2 inch squares.

ingredients

For the cookie base:
6 oz. (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
9 oz. (2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. table salt
2 oz. finely grated bittersweet chocolate (a scant 1/2 cup)

For the pecan topping:
10 oz. pecans (3 cups), toasted
1/4 lb. (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
2 Tbs. heavy cream
1/2 tsp. table salt

how to make

Make the cookie base: Position a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 350ºF. Put the butter in a food processor, along with the flour, light brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Pulse until the mixture is well combined (about 20 pulses). Scatter the dough into a 9x9-inch baking pan and press it evenly over the bottom. (Wipe out the processor bowl but don’t bother washing it.) Bake the base until firm and lightly browned, about 25 min. When the cookie base comes out of the oven, sprinkle the grated chocolate evenly over the top. (Don’t turn off the oven.) Set the pan aside.

Make the pecan topping: As the cookie base bakes, pulse the pecans in the food processor until coarsely chopped. In a medium-size heavy saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the dark brown sugar, honey, cream, and salt. Simmer for 1 min., stirring occasionally. Stir in the pecans. Pour the pecan mixture over the chocolate-sprinkled cookie base, spreading evenly. Bake until much of the filling is bubbling (not just the edges), 16 to 18 min. Let cool completely in the pan. When ready to serve, cut into 16 squares. Tightly covered, these bars will keep for about five days (though they never last that long).
From Fine Cooking 70, pp. 34-39

Whole Wheat Flour Need Not Apply

I'm not much of a cake person. I would pick pie or a creamy custard over cake any day. And because I don't really get excited about cake, I've never put any energy into learning how to make a decent one. However, in the course of things, I have made a few cakes from scratch, mostly as a vehicle for some fruit or another.

But my dear son requested a homemade cake for his birthday. A birthday cake, a real, live, layer cake with frosting in between and specifically NO FRUIT of any kind involved. He wanted yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

So, I figured, this was an opportunity to stretch my culinary wings and learn how to make the classic birthday cake topper, buttercream. I set to work. First with reading. I started with CooksTalk, of course, and the folks over there sent me over to Real Baking with Rose. That's Rose, Rose Levy Beranbaum, author of The Cake Bible, and Supreme Goddess of All Things Baked. The woman is a baker extraordinaire, but she's also a scientist. Her recipes are measured, tested and thought out to the extreme. And she's very generous about sharing her knowledge. She will answer just about anyone's question on the website. I don't own her book. But kind friends at CooksTalk suggested her recipe for Classic Eggwhite Chocolate Buttercream and I found her recipe for Rose's Favorite Yellow Layer Cake on her website. Next came the shopping: butter, more butter, chocolate, more chocolate, pasteurized eggwhites. (Since I planned to serve this to children, other people's children, I couldn't be too careful.)


As I mentioned, I have made cakes from scratch before. So I was more worried about the buttercream than the cake. I decided to give the recipe a test run by making cupcakes for my son's actual b-day. I decided to make Amy Sedaris' vanilla cupcake recipe from this incredible website. And to make the chocolate eggwhite buttercream (recipe in link above) to frost them.



I had a great time making this buttercream. I was venturing into unknown territory and it was exciting. I carefully chopped and melted my chocolate. I whipped my eggwhites and prayed that what I thought was stiff peaks is what RLB thought was stiff peaks. And then I, ever so patiently, added a pound of butter, by the tablespoon, to the eggwhites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Whew! that took a long time. All the while, I didn't believe that those eggwhites could possibly absorb all that butter. At one point the mixture looked curdled. But the wise, all-knowing RLB talked me down from the ledge with her instruction on how to smooth it out. After all the butter was added, I got to mix in the melted chocolate and I was rewarded with an ethereal-ly light, but incredibly chocolatey buttercream. It was so smooth, creamy and velvety in my mouth, I couldn't believe it. And it was very easy to work with.

To make a long story short, since I had success with the cupcakes, I felt confident making the cake for the actual party day. The second time through, the buttercream recipe came out just as well. The cake itself was good too, but hardly noticeable because the buttercream was so delicious. Sure I could use some lessons on how to properly frost a cake (I know I should have saved some white icing and used a different tip to do the lettering,) but to 11-yr old boys (and one sweet one in particular; it was just fine.

Adventures with Whole Wheat

I've been playing around with whole wheat pastry flour quite a bit lately. Just substituting small amounts to different things that I regularly make to see how it affects taste and texture. I make biscuits often for my boys and I always feel somewhat guilty about it because, other than the fact that they are homemade, there isn't much in the way of wholesomeness to redeem them (the biscuits, not the boys.) So I decided to try them with whole wheat pastry flour. The cool thing about WWPF is that you can substitute it for white flour 1:1, which makes it easier to work with in a recipe. Of the flour called for in the recipe, I used 1/3 WWPF. I was worried that the heavier wheat might keep them from rising but they puffed up nicely. They came out more golden brown with tiny specks of brown instead of lily white but nobody noticed and of course, I didn't say anything. They slather honey or jam on them anyway so I figured I'd get away with it.

The next thing I decided to try was pie crust. I made a cherry pie using my Barefoot Contessa's Perfect Pie Crust recipe and again, substituting 1/3 ww pastry flour. Here the switch was hardly detectable at all. The only place where I could detect it was on the thick edge. It may have been little more dense but not by much. I used frozen sour cherries for the filling and used my favorite recipe from Fine Cooking for this pie.


Next up, pizza. Again I used my regular pizza dough recipe (from FC) and substituted 1/3 with wwpf. Here is where I noticed the addition. The crust was just not as crispy and crackly as I like it. There was a definite chew. Thinking about it more, it may have been the fact that I used pastry flour and not regular whole wheat. Pastry flour is not meant to develop gluten. That's why it gives you a tender flaky pastry crust. But for things like bread and pizza dough, you want the gluten strands to develop. The whole point of kneading is to develop those elastic strands. So I might try this again with just regular whole wheat. But if I'm making it for the whole family, I'm going to stick with regular flour. The boys couldn't express why but they were less enthusiastic about this pizza than normal.

Uncompromising Apple Muffins

Let me start out by saying, I am not a fan of lowfat/low calorie baking. Unlike savory foods where you can just pick recipes that, just by their nature, lean toward the lighter side, baked goods require substitutions for the fat and the sugar that make them taste good and have a tender crumb. Lowfat/low cal baked goods always seem to have a "compromised" flavor and rubbery texture. Why bother? I just prefer the real thing. Perhaps a smaller portion or less frequently, but real butter, please. But this recipe has really made me call that principle into question because these Apple Muffins are one of those recipes that substitutes applesauce for butter and includes whole wheat flour to increase nutritional value. And yet, these taste great. They're from my new favorite cookbook author and Food Network show host, Ellie Krieger and her cookbook The Food you Crave. We had these for breakfast Easter morning. They use half whole wheat flour and half regular unbleached white flour. And there is only 1/4 cup of canola oil in the whole recipe; but you get 12 generous, full-size delicious muffins. The muffins are studded with small apple chunks and have a cinnamon, brown sugar, pecan topping.

Ellie Krieger's Energy Bars

Ellie Krieger is a nutrition-ist who has her own cooking show on the Food Network. Her show isn't the greatest, but I appreciate her approach to eating well and she sometimes makes things I really want to taste. I haven't been baking much and I really had an itch to make something one recent afternoon. I decided I needed to give these Energy Bars a try. These bars are her homemade substitute for a nutrition bar. They're full of dried fruit, nuts, oats and wheat germ that is all ground up together to make an appealing granola-type bar. The result is a sweet, chewy textured bar "cookie" that is very satisfying alongside a midafternoon cup of tea. And each one (coming in at 133 calories per bar) is a solid, if a bit small, snack that will tide you over until your next meal. Both I and dear husband liked them a lot. He tends to eat two per serving. However, as expected, it was a no-go with the kids. I have frozen them and pull a few out as needed because they defrost quickly. I like a good Zone Bar as much as the next person, but these are nice because I know exactly what is in them and they have a homemade comfort-food quality that I appreciate.

Tarts and Turnovers

Thumbing through Fine Cooking issue no. 79, I found an article on berry desserts that I had passed over and forgotten. The article incudes a butter dough recipe that you can use to make a few different desserts. One suggestion is a fruit tart using the dough for the shell and a mix of lemon curd folded into whipped cream for the filling. The tart is finished with fresh berries. You could use this dough to make eight little lovely tarts.


Another possibility with the dough is it to use it to make hand pies or what FC editors dubbed "Rustic Raspberry Turnovers." If you use the dough for this recipe, it will give you 12 turnovers, maybe more with scraps rerolled.



I, feeling especially frisky one recent afternoon, decided to try both recipes by making just two tarts and using the rest of the dough to make turnovers. This Buttery Shortbread Pastry Dough is delicious and worked really well for both recipes. The little turnovers are made from circles, 4 inches in diameter. You can only fit 3 or 4 sugared raspberries in them (5-6 blueberries, I made some of both.) The crust is like a flaky cookie, and the bright tart berries play off its buttery sweetness. These were great for a few days, just sitting on the counter. Dear husband took them to work for a snack.

As for the fruit tarts, the lemon curd/whipped cream was a revelation. I loved it with the berries and it was so easy using jarred lemon curd. You could easily have the tart shells and the lemon whipped cream made in advance and assemble these tarts right before you need them. Also I think children would enjoy assembling them, spooning in the cream and decorating with berries. And the shells are sturdy enough that you wouldn't need to worry about them breaking.

Buttery Shortbread Pastry Dough

yields enough for 1 single pie crust, 8 mini tarts, or 12 turnovers

9 oz. (2 cups) all-purpose flour
7 oz. (14 T) chilled, unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 T granulated sugar
1 T chilled heavy cream
2 t fresh lemon juice
1 t table salt

In a food processor, combine the flour, butter, egg, sugar, cream, lemon juice, and salt and pulse until the dough starts gathering together in big clumps. Turn the dough out onto a counter and gather it together. Shape the dough as needed

Buttermilk Biscuits

Making buttermilk biscuits for my son, Sam, is a simple pleasure. It makes me happy that I can sort of spoil him by giving him homemade biscuits. Once you start having them from scratch, you just can't go back to the vacuum tube. I hope when he gets older he'll remember sitting in our yellow kitchen eating warm homemade biscuits.

Buttermilk Biscuits from Joy of Cooking

Position rack in center of oven, Preheat oven to 450*. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

In a large bowl, mix together:
2c flour
2t. baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt

Cut 5-6 T unsalter butter into flour until largest pieces are the size of peas

Add all at once:
3/4 c buttermilk

Mix with wooden spoon until dry ingredients are moist. With a floured hand, gather the dough into a ball and knead it gently against the sides and bottom of the bowl. Knead just a bit on flour board and pat dough down gently to 1/2 inch thick. Cut with biscuit cutter and place on baking sheet. Brush Biscuits with milk. Bake until golden brown on top and bottom, 10-12 minutes.

Nibble Nibble

Merry Christmas!

I like to bake cookies for Christmas. It just doesn't feel like Christmas if I haven't baked until 11pm at least one night. Each year, I do a mix of favorites and a few new ones. This year's family favorites included chocolate chip, peanut butter, pecan tarts, and decorated sugar cookies. The new ones I tried are the Chocolate-Vanilla Swirls (awesome), Blondies with choc. chips and coconut, and Chocolate Cherry Drop Cookies.

Its Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

We've been mad bakers here at the house. We're preparing for a small childrens party of Christmas crafting, cookies and hot chocolate. My son and I enjoy cutting out cookies and decorating them with bags of tinted royal icing, colored sugars and sprinkles. It quickly has become a tradition. Here's a sampling of our handiwork. They're not fancy but they're fun.

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

This cookie recipe is from the current Fine Cooking, issue 82 in which the editors pick a great cookie from each of the 12 years they've been publishing. The original recipe harkens back to 2001, issue 43. I have that issue; I have all the issues except 4 of them. And I have always wanted to try this recipe from the article, The Only Peanut Butter Cookie You'll Ever Want. Well, after being reminded of them once again, I knew it was time.

These delicate crunchy peanut butter cookies have a luscious peanut butter creme sandwiched in between. It all tastes pretty yummy together but we thought they were a bit large. I would certainly make them smaller next time. As they are, they are a one cookie kind of a cookie which would make them a good bake sale treat.

Maida Heatter's Brownies

This following recipe has gotten rave reviews on the Fine Cooking web site. These brownies fall into the rich fudgy brownie category. What makes them somewhat unusual is that the recipe includes sour cream which made me interested in trying them. They turned out really smooth and moist with a deep chocolate flavor. And they tasted even better the next day, but I don't think I'll be making them again. My family likes a drier, more toothsome brownie. My quest for the perfect brownie continues...

If you are a fan of Maida Heatter, check out "Mondays with Maida" on the link below. This cook bakes one recipe per week, mostly Maida's cookie recipes, and evaluates them in an interesting way. http://mylittlekitchen.blogspot.com/

For those who like fudgy, moist brownies (i.e. the majority of the population,) I would recommend Maida's brownies:




Maida Heatter's Brownies

1/4 cup (31 grams) sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 ounces (225 grams) bittersweet chocolate
5 ounces (140 grams) (1 1/4 cups) walnuts
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons (8 grams) pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup (80 grams) sour cream
4 ounces (1 stick) (113 grams) unsalted butter
3/4 cup (150 grams) white sugar

Preheat oven to 300 degrees and put rack in center of oven. Prepare an 8 by 8 by 2 inch pan by lining the pan with a piece of aluminum foil, shiny side up. Coat pan with room temperature butter, then pour some fine dry bread crumbs into the pan, tilt pan to get crumbs all over, then turn the pan upside down to shake out excess.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Chop the chocolate in small pieces (can use a food processor or else place a cutting board inside a baking sheet with sides. Makes clean up easier); set aside. Cut walnuts into medium-sized pieces; set aside. In a In a small bowl beat the eggs, vanilla, and sour cream just to mix; set aside.

In a 1 quart saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the sugar and stir for a minute until sugar is partially melted. Then add the chocolate and stir until melted.

Transfer to large mixing bowl. Stir in egg mixture, then the sifted dry ingredients. If the mixture is not perfectly smooth, beat it briefly with electric mixer. Stir in nuts.

Pour into the baking pan and smooth top. Bake for about 50 - 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out almost (but not completely) clean. Let stand at room temperature until cool. Remove from pan by inverting on a cutting board and then re-inverting it onto a plate. Chill brownies completely before cutting. I messed these up a bit by not letting them cool enough, so heed this warning. These freeze very well.

Makes 16 brownies

Source of recipe: Maida Heatter's Brand-New Book of Great Cookies

Apple Crumb Pie

While Steve likes to watch football on Sundays, I prefer to spend my afternoon hours making pie. As you can see by many of the posts here, I make a lot of pie. I have some farm girl genes in me and this is my way of expressing them. This Sunday, I found myself with some frozen, homemade, leftover pie dough and a whole bunch of apples. The dough amounted to only enough for a bottom crust. Hmmmm, what to do? Apple Crumb Pie was the answer. I didn't follow an exact recipe, but I did use the crumb topping recipe from Fine Cooking #67, except I omitted the ginger. I was going for a very traditional tasting apple pie. My boys don't like surprise flavors in things.