White Chocolate & Peanut Butter Blondies

One word....Sinful!!! Am not a fan of peanuts and I never liked anything made out of peanuts. This has been on my to bake list for way too long, ever since I saw Rachel Allen bake these on her show Rachel Allen Bake! They looked amazing. The only thing that held me back from baking this was Peanut Butter. This Blondie uses a lot of peanut butter. So am back home and as usual my dear bro was demanding I bake something for him. I wanted to bake something fast yet delish, and peanut butter is one of his favourites. So I decided to go on with this recipe but I had my doubts till the end. The moment it came out of the oven and went into my mouth.....I had no words. It was amazing amazing! Moist and nutty and my god I cursed myself for not trying these for long. 

My 2.5 years niece who is a picky eater loved the crust. I found couple of squares with no crust at all ;) And the white chocolate was a kick! I actually doubled this recipe and later regretted...I must have tripled it!!!

Recipe Source : Rachel Allen's Bake!

Makes 16 Squares (depends on the size you cut it)

You Will Need:

125g Plain Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
100g Unsalted Butter, Room temperature
150g Crunchy Peanut Butter, Room Temperature
175g Caster Sugar
1 Large Egg
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
75g White Chocolate, Chopped
1/2 Cup Milk

The Baking:

Preheat oven at 180c.

In a bowl sift together plain flour and baking powder. Keep aside.

In a large bowl cream the butter and peanut butter together till smooth and fluffy. 

Note: I strongly recommend crunchy peanut butter. You will get an amazing crust from it. You can also use smooth peanut butter, but not so good crust.

Since its first time I tasted peanut butter it was salty and my batter was salty. But when baked the sweet was just perfect. So don't be alarmed if the batter tastes salty. 

Add the sugar gradually and beat till incorporated. Break in an egg and add the vanilla extract. Beat well.

Gradually fold in the flour mixture alternating with milk. The batter will be thick. Finally mix in the chopped chocolate.

Grease an 8 x 8 inch baking tin and spread the batter evenly. Bake for 25 - 30 mins or until the top is nice golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let it cool in the pan before taking it out and cutting it. 

Note: Once cooled, cling wrap the uncut Blondie and store till next day. This will make the cake firm and less crumbs. I know its hard to wait but you have to. 

To make need squares, use a serrated knife. Saw through the crust and cut straight down into the cake. Wipe the blade clean before slicing the next one.

Serve hot with a scoop of cold vanilla ice cream drizzled with caramel or serve them on their own at room temperature. 

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Happy Baking!

Dessert

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Cookie Dough Brownie

The two brownie squares in the picture are the last two left from the whole lot. I had my family visiting me and I made these to celebrate my father-in-law’s birthday and these just flew away in no time. COOKIE DOUGH BROWNIE…Deliciously chewy brownie topped with lusciously creamy sweet cookie dough. What more can be done to these additive desert.

My husband and I always prefer plain cakes or cakes with less frosting, never the one with too much frosting. Hence I have topped the brownie with a thin layer of cookie dough. Cookie dough is really sweet and the brownie is rich on its own, so I would recommend a thin layer of cookie dough. But if you want it super rich then I have mentioned another cookie dough recipe which will make a thick thick layer of cookie dough*** Also the cookie dough is egg-less  so you don’t have to worry about eating raw eggs. Brownies always tastes better the next day, so bake it a day before and It is difficult to resist but do wait for a day. Brownies eaten immediately after its baked and brownie eaten the next day varies so much in taste.

Recipe Adapted from Recipegirl.com

You Will Need:

For the Brownie:

4 Oz or 113g of Dark Chocolate or Any of your Favourite Chocolate ( I use Cadbury all the time)

230g or A Cup of Unsalted Butter

2 Cups of Packed Demerara Sugar / Light Brown Sugar

4 Large Eggs

A Cup of Plain Flour

2 tsp of vanilla Extract

Pinch of Salt

For the Cookie Dough (Egg-less):

170g or 3/4 Cup of Unsalted Butter

1 1/2 Cups of Plain Flour

3/4 Cup of Loosely Demerara Sugar / Light Brown Sugar

3/4 Cup of Caster Sugar

3 tbsp of Milk

1 1/2 tsp of Vanilla Extract

Pinch of Salt

1 1/2 Cups of Mini Chocolate Chips (Optional, I didn't use it)

Richer Version of Cookie Dough***

A cup of Unsalted Butter

A cup of Light Brown Sugar

A Cup of Caster Sugar

1/4 Cup of Milk

1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 3/4 Cup + 2 tbsp Plain Flour

2 Cups of Mini Chocolate Chips

The Baking:

Brownie:

Melt together the butter and chocolate on a double boiler. Make sure the simmering water don’t touch the bottom of the chocolate bowl, if it does then the chocolate will curdle.

Preheat oven at 160 degrees and grease a 9 x 13 inch baking tray. I usually line the baking tray with foil and brush a little butter in the bottom and sides of the lined baking tray. This makes it easy to lift the brownie out of the baking tray and easy cleaning too.

Remove the bowl carefully from the double boiler once the chocolate and butter has melted, and let it cool down.

In a bowl, crack the eggs and whisk well with the sugar and salt. Add the vanilla and beat again. Once the chocolate is completely cooled, pour it gently into the egg batter and mix slowly until well combined. Sift in the flour and fold until well combined. If the batter is too thick, thin it our with a tbsp of milk.

Pour this into the baking tray and bake for 30 –35 mins or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out with few wet crumbs.

The brownie needs to cool well before you spread the cookie dough on top, warm brownie will make the cookie dough to melt. Let it to cool in its tray for an hour or 2.

Cookie Dough:

In a bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer for a min. Now beat in both the sugar, vanilla and milk. Beat until everything is well combines and fluffy.

Now beat in the flour and salt (sifted) until just combined and finally stir in the chocolate chips.

Now spread the cookie dough evenly over the cooled brownie and refrigerate until set. This makes the brownie to firm up more making it less crumbly.

Cut into neat squares and serve with melted chocolate drizzled on top or any other way you like them.

IMPORTANT POINTERS:

• The melted chocolate and butter must be allowed to cool completely, if you add it hot to the eggs then the eggs will scramble.
• Read my Tips on Cake Baking post for more tips and pointers on baking.
• And also my Tips For Perfect Brownies post for more tips and pointers on baking brownie.
• I also have a post Do the Math, which will help you to easily convert cups to grams to ounces.

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Happy Baking!

Slices

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Chocolate Fudge Brownie

CHOCOLATE FUDGE BROWNIES...This is melt in your mouth moment. Its so chocolaty and so dense that it give such a sugar rush. Brownies are very easy to bake. All you need to care is the selection of the chocolate that goes in. Make sure the chocolate is of good quality. Select a chocolate which you like to eat as it is. Its going to be chocolate all the way in your brownie so its wise to chose a chocolate that you like. 

Brownies are of three types. FUDGE BROWNIES are so dense, very moist and intensely chocolaty. CHEWY BROWNIES are moist but not as gooey as the fudge ones. And CAKEY BROWNIES are moist crumbed and slightly fluffy in texture like a cake. My pick is always the fudge.

You Will Need:

1/2 Cup (113g) Unsalted Butter

1/2 Cup (115g) Semi Sweet Dark Chocolate

4 Large Eggs

200g of Super Fine Sugar
50g of Demerara Sugar
100g Roughly Chopped Walnuts 

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

85g of Plain Flour
Pinch of Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

The Baking

Double Boiler (Stock Image)

On a double boiler melt the butter and chocolate. Take off heat and let it come to room temperature. In a bowl whisk together eggs and sugar till the sugar has dissolved. Now add the vanilla and melted chocolate. Once they are well incorporated sift in the flour, baking powder and salt and fold the batter till there are no lumps. Line a baking pan with foil and evenly pour in the batter. Preheat the oven at 170c and bake for 15 - 20min or till a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Important Pointers:

• Line the baking tray with aluminium foil leaving extra over the sides of the tray so that you can easily lift the brownie out of the tray. Or line with a parchment paper.
• For the double boiler simmer boiling water in a pot and place a bowl over it. Make sure the bowl does not touch the simmering water. The chocolate will curdle if the water touches the bowl of chocolate. 
• The melted chocolate and butter mixture should be cooled before adding to the eggs. If hot there are chances the eggs will scramble. 
• Demerara sugar is optional, white sugar is fine. 
• Refer Baking Tips for tips on perfect brownies. 

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Happy Baking!

Chocolate

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