Recipe Swap: Zucchini Brownies

Today I'm thrilled to be sharing a Blogger's Choice Recipe Swap from a fellow Cincinnati suburbanite blogger, Melissa of Delicious Meliscious.  A long long time ago I had tried and posted about a Cincinnati-Style Chili which I had found through her blog.

For this swap, I wasn't sure what to choose.  The original plan was actually her Uno's Deep Dish Pizza but that was axed when I realized I didn't have enough yeast and had already done my grocery shopping for the week.  I also considered this English Muffin Bread with Strawberry Butter but darnit again with the yeast!  I never realized just how much I use/love yeasted recipes until this little delimma!  But then Tuesday rolled around and in my CSA box was a single small zucchini and a larger yellow summer squash.  It was a sign and I was being beckoned.  I was to make these Zucchini Brownies.

I had previously made this version of zucchini brownies on All Recipes which doesn't include any eggs and is super fudgey and topped with a chocolate frosting.  That recipe made me a believer and I remember I ended up raving about the recipe on the cooking message board after my first bite.  And yet...I never shared it on here...oops.  Sorry about that.  If you've never made zucchini brownies before, they're quite delightful and a nice change of pace from the (wonderful but completely overused) zucchini bread.  You can hardly taste the zucchini in them (and if you shred them finely, the visible evidence is all but obliterated) but can rest easy knowing they're loaded with lots of fiber.  

I didn't have enough zucchini so subbed some of the summer squash which worked out nicely.  This particular recipe was nice too because it used ZERO oil, butter, or other added fat AND used whole wheat flour.  The flavor of the cardamom was interesting and loved all the melty chocolate chips scattered within the brownie.  I have to admit though, that I prefer a dense, fudgey brownie and therefore the All Recipes version wins out for me...the frosting on that one also probably helped haha.

Yes, this was probably the most healthy brownie I've ever eaten but you would be none the wiser ;).  So go ahead and use that bumper crop or happily accept your neighbors extras and turn it into a chocolatey, cake-like, beautiful thing.

One Year Ago: Greek Salsa and Fussili a la Crazy Bastard

Zucchini Brownies

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 c (200g) sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 c (60 mL) applesauce
• 1 c (150g) whole wheat flour
• 1/4 c (45g) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
• 2 c (~300 to 320g) grated zucchini
• 1 1/2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
• Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F (175C).
2. In a mixing bowl, combine eggs, vanilla, sugar, salt, and applesauce.
3. Sieve the flour and cocoa powder into another bowl.  Add the baking soda, cinnamon, and cardamom.  Mix well.
4. Add the wet mixture to the dry flour mixture and combine until well mixed.  Add the grated zucchini and chocolate chips.  Mix again.
5. Pour the batter into a greased 8"x8" (20x20 cm) pan and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out somewhat clean (note: because there are chocolate chips in it, you may get some melted chocolate on your toothpick!).
6. Allow to cool completely in the pan.  Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

Source: Baltic Maid as seen on Delicious Melicious

DIET BUSTER ALERT: Peanut Butter and Fudge Brownies with Salted Peanuts

DIET BUSTER ALERT: If you're on a diet or have resolved to not eat sweets after stuffing one too many Christmas treats down your pipe last month I advise that you exit this page.  Now.

Still here?  Alright fellow non-dieters and sweet lovers, you're in for something  very very delicious in this post.  If you're actually on a diet and you're still here, you must be a masochist or something...but...to each their own :).

You know what's funny is that the healthy White Bean Roasted Red Pepper Dip that I posted last was like one of my least visited posts ever.  Clearly you all are like me and aren't down with the healthy mumbo jumbo.  This is probably why the majority of the blogs that I follow are so dessert heavy.  Not only are they beautiful to look at on the computer screen (mmm...you can almost lick your screen and taste it!) but overall, you're just meeting what your audience desires. 

My blog has some dessert but I actually focus more on entrees.  The main reason is that a girl's gotta eat and unless I want to be 500 pounds I just can't sustain myself on cakes and cookies alone :).

So this recipe is what Chris chose  for me to make for our Dinner Club Ugly Sweater Christmas Cookie and Secret Santa Exchange.  I was uninspired by what to make and so presented Chris with a few options on what I could make.  I knew full well that this would be his selection when pitted against fruity and chocolate sans PB cookies.  But you know what?  It turns out it was a good pick because everyone at Dinner Club, with ugly sweaters and all, agreed. 

Me pinning ugly Christmas pins to Chris' shirt a la Prom Style

Look at me!  I *jingle*...like our dog Toby lol.  (That's a bell around my neck in case you can't tell.)

Dinner Club 2010 Ugly Sweater Christmas Cookie and Secret Santa Exchange



 We went in expecting to just have a good time in our Ugly Sweaters but leave it to Jeff and Jackie to make everything a (secret!) competition.  This recipe won "Best Tasting" which is a complete honor given the talent of each and every person in our club.  To round out the competition, Emily's macarons won "Best Looking" and Kemani's Fat Boy Cookies as we dubbed them (ie: a bar cookie concoction that he created which included a random assortment of all known candy bars!) won "Most Interesting".


The spread: Egg nog and peppermint macarons (Emily and Scott), Jeff's Chocolate Surprise (Jeff), Kemani's Fat Boy Cookies (Kemani), Snickerdoodles? (Toni), Peanut Butter and Fudge Brownies with Salted Peanuts (Christine and Chris), Cream Cheese Cherry Cookies (Sigmund and Kristen).  I feel like I might be missing some so friends please feel free to correct me!

Our plates runneth over...

This brownie is just as the description says.  A perfect harmony of rich fudgey brownie studded with salty peanuts, topped with wholesome peanut butter as if you just licked it off a spoon, and then finished with a layer of bittersweet ganache.  Holy diet buster!  Sadly, my ganache cracked a bit when I went to cut it.  This did not impact the flavor at all so for me, I said who cares.  Perfectionists may desired to let the bars come up in temperature a bit before trying to cut into bite size squares.  (Yes, BITE SIZED.  They're too rich to eat anything bigger!)

Special shout out to our talented unofficial photographer Emily for these gorgeous photos above to remember the day by.  These are some of the best friends I have ever known and I hope we'll continue this tradition for many years to come :).

One Year Ago: Herb Breaded Tilapia and Light Oat Bread

Peanut Butter and Fudge Brownies with Salted Peanuts
Printer-Friendly Version 
(note: printer-friendly does nothing to reduce the caloric content of these brownies haha!)

Ingredients

For the Brownies

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 7 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup roasted salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

For the PB Frosting and Ganache

• 1 cup chunky peanut butter (do not use natural or old-fashioned)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided, room temperature
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg (I used a dash of cinnamon instead)
• 1 tablespoon whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

7 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

Directions

For brownies:

1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 325°F. Line 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan with foil, leaving long overhang; butter foil.
2. Place 3/4 cup butter in heavy large saucepan. Add both chocolates; stir over low heat until smooth. Remove from heat. Whisk in sugar, vanilla, and salt, then eggs, 1 at a time. Fold in flour, then nuts. Spread in prepared pan. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 30 minutes. Place pan on rack; cool.

For frosting and ganache:

1. Using electric mixer, beat peanut butter and 1/4 cup butter in medium bowl to blend. Beat in powdered sugar, salt, and nutmeg, then milk and vanilla. Spread frosting over brownies.
2. Stir chocolate and 1/4 cup butter in heavy small saucepan over low heat until smooth. Drop ganache all over frosting; spread to cover. Chill until set, about 1 1/2 hours. Do ahead Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and keep chilled.
3. Using foil as aid, transfer brownie cake to work surface; cut into squares. Bring to room temperature; serve.

Source: Originally from Bon Appetite (January 2007) by Dorie Greenspan as seen on Rose's Recipes

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

Since Chris was busy working all day I still have the itch to cook stuff out of sheer boredom, I decided to make some homemade brownies.  Normally I would just make his Grandma B's Brownies but  I didn't have the Hershey syrup on hand and was too lazy to go to the store.  I found what seemed like an easy and delicious looking recipe on a blog and then decided heck, we have 3 bags of Reese Cups leftover from Halloween so I'll throw some of those in too.  I also only had semi-sweet chocolate chips and salted butter on hand so I adjusted the added salt and sugar appropriately.  If I've learned anything in my ameteur cooking trials, it's that you can substitute and adjust to your personal tastes and it won't be the end of the world :).

For whatever reason I had to bump up the heat to 350 degrees after the 35 mins had elapse and let it bake an extra 5-8 minutes...maybe because of the added reese cups adding moisture to the batter?  If you try this yourself, I suggest starting at the original directions and seeing if maybe my baking times and temperatures were a fluke (please leave me a comment and let me know!).  At any rate, these things were amazing!!  (And I don't even really care for peanut butter cups, that much!).  For those that don't like or are allergic to nuts, you can omit the PB cups and it'd be your classically delicious brownie.

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies
Printer-Friendly Version

Ingredients

• 1¼ cups (5 ounces) cake flour
• ½ teaspoon salt (omit if using salted  butter)
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine
• 12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, cut into six 1-inch pieces
• 2¼ cups (15¾ ounces) sugar (reduce to 2 cups if using semi-sweet chocolate chips)
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ~10 regular sized Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, broken into bite size pieces

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Whisk to combine flour, salt, and baking powder in medium bowl; set aside.
3. Melt chocolate and butter in large heatproof bowl set over saucepan of almost-simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth. (Alternatively, in microwave, heat butter and chocolate in large microwave-safe bowl on high for 45 seconds, then stir and heat for 30 seconds more. Stir again, and, if necessary, repeat in 15-second increments; do not let chocolate burn.)
4. When chocolate mixture is completely smooth, remove bowl from saucepan and gradually whisk in sugar. Add eggs on at a time, whisking after each addition until thoroughly combined. Whisk in vanilla. Add flour mixture in three additions, folding with rubber spatula until batter is completely smooth and homogeneous.  Fold peanut butter cup pieces into batter.
5. Transfer batter to greased 9x13 pan; using spatula, spread batter into corners of pan and smooth surface. Sprinkle toasted nuts (if using) evenly over batter and bake until toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into center of brownies comes out with few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes.  (You may need to test a couple spots just in case you hit a Reese Cup!  Too short will result in gooey fudgey brownies; too long will result in a dry cakey brownie.)
6. Cool brownies then cut into 2-inch squares and serve.

Source: Brownie base from Cook's Illustrated as seen on The Way the Cookie Cumbles; Image from Duncan Hines...mine looked yummier and more homemade lol!

Grandma B.'s Brownies

I asked Mary Lynn to make this classic family recipe as one of our open house desserts.  Chris' Grandma B. was a fabulous baker.  Her desserts were delectable and the sweet tooth was definitely passed onto Chris.  I used to think that boxed brownie mix was good...until there was this.  It was love at first bite.  Sometimes Mary Lynn will even substitute some peanut butter chips or add peanut butter for that nutty taste that Chris goes gaga for :P. 

Sorry, no pictures at the moment but next time they're made I'll be sure to snap a photo to add to this entry!

Grandma B.'s Brownies
(Source: Helen B., Chris' grandmother)

Ingredients
Brownies

• 1 c sugar
• 1 stick margarine
• 1 can Hershey syrup (not the stuff in the plastic bottle)
• 4 eggs
• 1 c flour

Frosting

• 1 stick margarine
• 1 c sugar
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 1 c chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. To make brownies, beat together sugar, margarine, and can of hershey syrup.  Then beat eggs.  Once well mixed, add flour.
3. Pour brownie batter into a greased 13"x9" pan and bake for 30-35 minutes.  If toothpick comes out of center clean, it is done.
4. While brownies are baking, prepare frosting.  In a saucepan, stir together margarine, sugar, milk.  Bring to a boil for 2 minutes then add chocolate chips.  Beat until smooth then pour over warm brownies.

Blonde Brownies

I'm not really much of a sweets person but Chris is so I try to make the occasional dessert to satisfy his need for sugar.  This is a new recipe for me but I think it turned out pretty good.  I'd say it's more of a cookie bar or one of those cookie "cakes" than a brownie and I think I under baked it but it just made it extra ooey and gooey :).  For once, I didn't modify the ingredients AT ALL!  I kind of believe that baking isn't meant to be messed with...though, I did prepare the recipe "lazily" (ie: no sifting, no intermediate mixing...just dumped all my ingredients in a bowl and blended with a mixer!).  An easy recipe for when you need to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Blonde Brownies
(Source: All Recipes)

PREP TIME	10 Min
COOK TIME	25 Min
READY IN	35 Min

SERVINGS 16

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

• 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
2. Measure 1 cup sifted flour. Add baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Sift again. Add 1/2 cup chopped nuts. Mix well and set aside.
3. Melt 1/3 cup butter. Add 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar and mix well. If shortening is used, add 1 tablespoon hot water. Cool slightly.
4. Add egg (beaten) and vanilla. Blend well. Add flour mixture, a little at a time, mixing well.
5. Spread in 9 x 9 x 2 inch pan. Sprinkle 1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips on top. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes