Pantry Brownies

I have been in a pre-vacation coma. I haven't even gone grocery shopping. Can you believe I'm out of ice? It's just frozen water, in case you didn't know, and I don't even have that! So of course I am out of a lot of my baking staples, but that's what makes it fun right, what can I throw together that tastes delicious? That is why I call these pantry brownies because these aren't your ordinary brownie ingredients...ok so they're pretty ordinary just not the normal amount...so I just threw everything in there. We have only 1 egg, no granulated sugar, and only 3 tablespoons of butter, so I had to improvise. I thought I might as well throw all the other little odds and ends in there that have been sitting around while I'm at it. So feel free to throw in whatever you have and substitute what you need to.

Pantry Brownies

Ingredients:
1 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup toffee bits
1/2 cup caramel bits

Directions:
1.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8x8 baking tin.

2.   In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment or in a large bowl using a hand mixer cream together brown sugar, butter, and coconut oil.

3.  Then mix in the egg, vanilla, and milk.

4.   Stir in cocoa powder until smooth.

5.  Then add flour, baking powder, and salt and mix until incorporated.

6.  Stir in what ever mix-ins you are using, for these I used white chocolate chips, toffee bits, and caramel bits.

7.   Pour batter into the prepared baking tin and bake in preheated oven for 25-35 minutes. Let cool slightly on wire rack before slicing.

Candied Jalapeno Brownies

Brownies are great but sometimes you just need a little something to kick up an original. The other half went to New Orleans a couple of weekends ago to celebrate his brother's 21st birthday and he brought me back some goodies to bake with. Isn't he sweeeet? :) One of the things he brought back I had never seen before, but I'm so glad he did. He brought me some candied jalapenos. They are sweet and spicy and just right paired with chocolate.

He picked them up at a place called Pepper Palace, and they have a website so you can go order a jar for yourself.

Not only are they good in the brownies but they also told him the juice is great in margaritas, which I can't wait to try! 

Personally I like my brownies fudgy so if you're a cakey brownie fan these might not be for you. Of course you could always use a different brownie base and add the candied jalapenos and chocolate chips. These brownies are fudgy and decadent with a little sweet heat that is extinguished perfectly with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on top.

Candied Jalapeno Brownies

Ingredients:
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup finely diced candied jalapenos
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.

2.  In medium bowl whisk together cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking powder and set aside.

3.  In a large saucepan, melt butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla, then beat in flour mixture.

4.  Stir in candied jalapenos and chocolate chips then spread batter into prepared pan.

5.  Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

Green Tea White Chocolate Brownies

So it is already getting up in the 90's here in Texas. It's going to be insanely hot before we know it and it’s getting me in the mood for summertime. Swimming and BBQ’s and getting into the car that feels like you are going to internally combust, and forget it if you have leather seats, it’s like sitting on molten lava. Oh boy! It sucks for everyday life, but it’s great for going to the beach or floating the river with an adult beverage, which I need to make an effort to do more of.  There's just something about summertime though that even though it's super hot and you have to watch out for that back sweat stain on your favorite t-shirt, it's still great.

I may be kind of weird. I get excited about going to the grocery store. It's so easy to look at it as a chore, just something to add to your list of things to do that day and fight the crowd, but I just love to explore the aisles. I was doing just that at one of our local specialty grocery stores when I ran across this sweet matcha by rishi. Its matcha powder mixed with cane sugar. You can make green tea lattes with it, or cocktails, and of course you can bake with it. So I couldn’t resist picking up a bag. Look at that lovely green color it imparted into the brownies. You may notice there is no sugar in the recipe and that is because my matcha powder is sweetened. If you are using unsweetened matcha I would start by adding 1/4 cup sugar and maybe a 1/2 cup if you like your brownies really sweet. The white chocolate naturally adds sweetness. Feel free to play with the recipe.

Green Tea White Chocolate Brownies 

Ingredients: 

1 cup flour 

1/4 cup sweet matcha powder 

6 oz white chocolate 

6 tbsp unsalted butter 

2 eggs 

1/2 tsp vanilla 

1/4 tsp almond extract 

1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted 

1/2 cup white chocolate chips 

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven at 350. Grease and flour an 8x8 baking pan. (I used Pam for baking and dusted with a little extra flour) 

2. In a large microwave safe bowl, combine the butter and white chocolate and heat at thirty second intervals until melted and smooth. Set aside to cool. (about 10 minutes) 

3. Stir in eggs and matcha powder until combined, then add flour, vanilla, and almond extract just until incorporated. Lastly stir in almonds and white chocolate chips. 

4. Pour into prepared pan and spread into even layer. Bake about 20 - 25 minutes or until lightly browned. 

5. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut and enjoy.

White Chocolate Blueberry Brownies

In an attempt to fatten up my coworkers I try to bake for them once a week. I use them as my guinea pigs to test out new recipes. Not that I’m trying to sabotage their diets, but somebody has to try all this stuff. This is one of my coworkers now, after all of the goodies…

It’s nice to have a little inspiration at times, so when my coworker and I were bored at work I started quizzing her about her favorite sweets. She said she loved brownies and anything with blueberries so I instantly thought white chocolate and blueberries would be great together. Turned out they tasted even better than I thought. 

White Chocolate Blueberry Brownies
Adapted from this recipe.

1/3 cup unsalted butter, cut in pieces
8 ounces white chocolate, chopped
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup dried blueberries

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Butter and line a 9-inch baking pan with butter and parchment.

Place butter in a medium-sized, heat-proof bowl. Place bowl over a pot of barely simmering water, melt butter halfway. Add 4 ounces of the white chocolate and stir until chocolate has melted. Remove from heat and add in the remaining 4 ounces of chocolate. Stir until chocolate has melted and mixture is smooth.

Place sugar and eggs in a large bowl. Using whisk attachment on high speed beat sugar and eggs until pale and thick, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium and add vanilla and chocolate mixture, beat just to combine.

In a separate bowl, using a fine-mesh sieve, sift flour, baking powder and salt. Add to egg mixture and beat until smooth.

Fold in dried blueberries, (do not over mix).

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into centre comes out clean. Place on wire rack to cool completely. Remove from pan and cut into squares.