| Three Good Recipes for Fudgy Brownies (Tested) |
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Brownies are among the hallowed sweet treats of October, along with caramel apples. (SHNS photo courtesy the Cincinnati Post.)
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By Joyce Rosencrans
Scripps Howard News Service There'll be a lot of brownies baked at the end of this month. Halloween goblins like deep, dark chocolate brownie bars as black as midnight. Regular people and party guests do, too. Brownies are among the hallowed sweet treats of October, along with caramel apples and those downsized candy bars for which trick-or-treaters ring doorbells. The accepted standard and all-time favorite is the fudgy brownie; we Americans like them moist and moldable between our fingers. Cake-like brownies are like polite visitors on the scene. You wouldn't mind getting stuck with one, but you'd rather spend quality time cozied up with a fudgy brownie. On a brighter note, brownies are good to pack up for sunny autumn picnics or tailgate parties, too. Fudgy brownies don't crumble in backpacks or picnic containers. Even a smooshed brownie is a decent brownie. They taste great with a sandwich and cold milk on a cool autumn afternoon spent in the park, woods or stadium. A vacuum bottle of hot coffee goes well, too. Brownie-bakers may well be confused these days, dizzy from the choices. There were mainly two groups -- box-mix makers and mix-avoiders -- prior to the recent appearance of "refrigerated brownie batter" products. Among the box-mix avoiders is Julie Shapero, a dietitian, mother and cooking-class instructor for Tri-Health in Cincinnati. She said, "I don't like the box mixes." I countered. "But the low-fat type of brownie box mix tastes pretty good, and box mixes made with cocoa are usually the economy choice compared to homemade brownies." Then Julie mentioned the final, indisputable fact: "Making brownies from scratch is easy anyway. Why do I need a mix?" She's right. We don't. Here are three deluxe brownie recipes, all quick and easy. Two of the recipes are made in a single mixing bowl, start to finish. These are your basic one-bowl brownies, as long as you can melt the chocolate with microwaves. Otherwise, you have to wash a small saucepan, after offering the chocolate-smeared pan to some volunteer, of course. No use putting all that melted chocolate straight into dishwater. On really lazy days, there's "refrigerated brownie batter," which is brand new on the scene. These products save all the fuss of actually breaking an egg into pre-mixed dry ingredients. Do we really need this, or don't we need the sarcasm? Who's to judge? There are days when you might not feel like breaking out a mixing bowl or going to the bakery for brownies. And third-graders have been known to need cookies for, say, a Brownie Scout meeting, but they forget to tell you until their ride to the meeting is waiting in the driveway. If the first product in the totally lazy category, Pillsbury's One Step Brownie, is waiting in your refrigerator, you could unwrap it, shove it in the oven and deliver it before the Brownie troop has disbanded for the afternoon. Baking takes 30 minutes at 350 degrees. This is refrigerated brownie batter already in a foil baking pan! The package says: "Perfect for office parties, video night, weekday desserts, sleepovers and post-game celebrations. Just bake!" But it's more complicated than that. The package warns that the product is best stored flat. Otherwise, the batter can shift and no longer be level in the pan. If this happens, let product stand at room temperature until you can spread the batter evenly in the pan provided. My purchased batter was still level, but when I slipped it out of its plastic sleeve (granted, there's no over-packaging here), and pulled off the white cardboard sheet on top of the batter, some batter stuck to it. So I scraped that off with a knife and spread it evenly on top of the remaining batter. As I did this, I pictured all the college students caught without a baking pan on campus. These One Step Brownies should sell well there, though the product states it is not for microwaves, which are generally in college kids' dorm rooms these days. Gee, they still might have to get brownies shipped from home. The second new product of ready-to-bake brownie batter is from Nestle Toll House. I found both products between eggs and butter, with other refrigerated sweet doughs. The Toll House product comes in a plastic sleeve, too, but there's no pan. You have to break apart the pre-scored, very firm brownie dough like a Hershey bar, spacing the little pieces in your very own 8-inch square pan. Baking (not microwaving) is a shade less than 30 minutes at 350 degrees, or you can use this product a little at a time, placing a single brownie-dough square in a muffin cup. Bake individual brownies at 325 for 18-22 minutes. Quality seemed pretty good, if not quite up to the standard of these deluxe homemade brownies, and prices were not outrageous, as are some bakery brownies. The Nestle product, which weighs 1 pound, 2 ounces and makes 12 brownies, costs $2.99. Pillsbury's One Step Brownie with batter already in a foil pan, weighing 1 pound and 2.7 ounces, costs just $2.49. So, if you buy the first product, you pay 50 cents more and still have your own pan to wash. The dimensions of the Pillsbury pan are about 9-1/2 by 7 inches. Brownie mix to fill a 9x13-inch baking pan, for which you add an egg and 1/4-1/3 cup oil, costs $1.79 for Duncan Hines. The same $1.79 buys a Pillsbury mix, but you add two eggs and 1/2 cup oil. Ditto for Betty Crocker at $1.75. All of these brownie recipes would probably cost more, but the price would vary by how fine a chocolate you choose to melt into the batter.
Triple Chocolate Brownies Ingredients: 4 squares unsweetened baking chocolate
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup flour
4 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted in ungreased pan for crispness Ingredients for Chocolate Glaze: 3 squares semi-sweet chocolate
2 Tbs. sugar
2 Tbs. water
2 Tbs. butter Preparation: Heat oven to 350, or 325 degrees if using a glass baking dish. Line a 13x9-inch baking pan with foil, then grease the foil. Microwave the unsweetened chocolate and butter (1-1/2 sticks) in a large microwavable bowl on high 2 minutes or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is smoothly blended with butter. Stir sugar and brown sugar into chocolate mixture until well blended. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour until well blended. Stir in chopped chocolate and nuts. Spread in the greased, foil-lined baking pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes at 325-350 degrees or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. Do not overbake. Cool in pan. Meanwhile, prepare the Chocolate Glaze: Microwave the 3 squares of semi-sweet chocolate with sugar and water in a small microwavable bowl on high for 1-1/2 to 2 minutes or until chocolate is almost melted. Stir until chocolate is well blended. Stir in 2 tablespoons butter until well blended. Cool about 15 minutes, then spread glaze evenly over brownies. Let stand until chocolate is set. Cut into squares. Serves: 24 brownies
One-Bowl German Chocolate Brownies Ingredients: 1 (4-oz.) package Baker's German's sweet baking chocolate
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar, divided
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1 cup chopped pecans, divided
1-1/3 cups (3-1/2-oz.) flaked coconut
1/4 cup milk Preparation: Heat oven to 350 degrees (325 if using glass dish). Grease bottom and sides of 8" square baking pan. Microwave chocolate and butter in a large microwavable bowl on high for 1-1/2 minutes or until butter melts. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. (Chocolate lumps hold shape after microwaving, even if softened.) Stir 1/2 cup of brown sugar into melted chocolate, then mix in eggs. Stir in flour and 1/2 cup of pecans until well blended. Spread in greased baking pan. For topping, mix coconut, remaining 1/2 cup pecans and remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar in the same bowl. Stir in milk until well blended. Spoon mixture evenly over brownie batter. Bake at 325-350 degrees about 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. Cool in pan and then cut into squares. Serves: 16 brownies
One-Bowl Cream Cheese Brownies Ingredients: 4 squares unsweetened baking chocolate
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup flour
1 cup coarsely chopped nuts, toasted for crispness
1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup additional sugar
1 egg, additional
2 Tbs. more flour Preparation: Heat oven to 350, 325 degrees if using a glass baking dish. Grease a 13x9-inch baking pan. Microwave chocolate and butter in a large microwavable bowl on high for 2 minutes or until butter melts. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir 2 cups sugar into chocolate until well blended. Mix in 4 eggs and vanilla. Stir in 1 cup flour and nuts until well blended. Spread in greased baking pan. Beat cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 egg and 2 tablespoons flour in same bowl until well blended. Spoon mixture over brownie batter. Swirl with knife to marbleize. Bake 40 minutes at 325-350 degrees or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. Cool in pan, then cut into squares. Serves: 24 brownies
(Joyce Rosencrans is living editor of The Cincinnati Post.) (Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.shns.com.)
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