Chewy Brownie

Has anyone noticed that every single one of my recipe posts so far has been brown? Completely chocolatey... nothing else! For someone who claims open-minded variation, my single-minded focus when it comes to chocolate is quite peculiar. But I can't help but post one last chocolate recipe before broadening my food-blogging horizon to include less food-racist things.
The reason i'm delaying my resolution is because of the ultimate chocolate baked dessert. The brownie.

There are so many (SO MANY!) creative ways to shake up your brownie timeline, but one has to work up to those riskier, more complicated recipes. One must start with the classic brownie. And the classic brownie is in no way inferior to its brothers. No, it has the purest brownie flavor of all.

There is another aspect to brownies I should discuss. There are 3 kinds of brownies:

The Goey Brownie: The coplete opposite of dry, this one's my favorite.

The Chewy Brownie: Dense and rich, this brownie is a close second for me.

The Cakey Brownie: Light and fluffy, I find this brownie too dry and don't enjoy eating it. Go somewhere else for your cakey brownie recipes.

Decide what you like before making brownies you won't even enjoy eating. Which would be a massive loss and cause for grief.

I got this recipe off the Hershey's website here, and it's pretty good.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts or chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F (around 177 degrees C)
2. Grease 9-inch square baking pan.
3. Stir together butter, sugar, and vanilla in bowl.
4. Add eggs and beat well with spoon.
5. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.
6. Gradually add to egg mixture, beating until well blended.
7. Stir in nuts or chocolate chips if desired.
8. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.
9. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan.
10. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Nutella Mug Cake

Oh dear readers, what I’m about to share with you will truly change your lives forever. It will solve life’s most basic problem. The one I face with rather unnatural frequency.

A chocolate craving.

But when it hits you, it hits you hard. Like no-holds-barred take-no-prisoners must-find-chocolate NOW hard. There are times when the craving defeats you. When you’re just not in a state of mind to bake. And those are very tragic times indeed.

Now I know that what I’m about to say is practically blasphemy, but there is a point one reaches where eating spoonfuls of Nutella gets… old. And kind of boring. I know, I know, how dare I? Nutella is life, the universe, and everything.

But there are other ways to consume the ambrosia that is Nutella; more creative ways of including it in your desserts. Nutella cookies, Nutella muffins, Nutella pancakes…

And then there is the Nutella mug cake.

The nutella mug cake is a fine specimen. It's fast, easy, tasty... and it doesn't make a mess in the kitchen! Truly, you don'e even have to use the oven. You basically need the ingredients, a mug, a spoon, a fork, and a microwave. That's it. 

Nutella Mug Cake Recipe

• 4 tbsp flour
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp espresso powder
• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp cocoa
• 3 tbsp nutella
• 3 tbsp milk
• 3 tbsp oil
• Pinch of salt
• OPTIONAL: A handful of Chocolate Chips

1. In a mug (Preferably a big one. Depending on the size of your mug, the recipe might make 2) use a fork to whisk the egg a little.
2. Add milk & oil and mix together. 
3. Mix in the Nutella well.
4. Add cocoa, sugar, espresso powder, and salt. Mix well.
5. Fold in flour with fork. Mix well but be carful as not to overmix else you will get a rubbery, tough texture.
6. Mix in chocolate chips if you're including them.
7. Microwave for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes on high. You will have to figure out how long you want to microwave.
8. Let cool a bit and dig in.

Dark Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

Baking makes me giddy. Or perhaps it’s the promise of sugar consumption. Either way, it’s euphoric. And I like the look of bliss that passes on people’s faces when they bite into the baked goodies. 

Image from the theoatmeal.com

The way I see it, food brings people together. It goes something like this:

“I love food!”
“OMG so do I!”
“Then let’s eat!”

At this point I imagine a gigantic feast spontaneously appearing in front of person1 and person2, which prompts them to immediately start stuffing their faces.

Squirrels and chipmunks are just amazing at stuffing their faces. I can only wish to reach their level one day.

I heart cookies. I could eat 9 cookies and still easily convince myself that I’ve barely eaten 4, and that I can at least eat 2 (think 4) more. To follow my logic, just half the amount you've eaten (rounding down naturally) to get the actual amount. I doublethink.

Anyway, cookies are a sort of guiltless guilty pleasure… better not look too closely at that statement.

Today’s cookie recipe is not one for subtle flavors. Nope, not one bit.  It’s consists of chocolate, chocolate, more chocolate, and peanut butter; All in a compact little package. Tiny but mighty I like to say.

I had a blast passing these around. They were explosive. They were the bomb. They went out with a bang. (hehe see what I did there?)

And now… The recipe! I got it from bakerella.com specifically here.

Dark Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter slightly softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
10 oz. dark chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (or for the temperature-challenged, around 180 degrees C)
2. In a small bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt using a wire whisk and set aside.
3. In another bowl, cream butter, peanut butter, and sugar together until light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
5. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture and mix until combined.
6. Stir in dark chocolate chips.
7. Roll cookie dough into 1-1/4 inch balls.
8. Place on parchment paper covered baking sheet.
9. Bake 10 minutes.
10. Place on cookie rack to cool.

Makes about 30 2-inch cookies

Happy Baking!