24 | 52 Blueberry Brownies

Have you had enough of blueberries yet?

Oh wait - is that even possible?

Not for me. I could honestly eat them every day. Several times a day, actually.

I don't think I've ever made anything with blueberries and chocolate though.

Very strange. Because I could eat chocolate... - let's not talk about that.

So let's see what this blueberry chocolate concoction is all about...

Blueberry Brownies

From Hummingbird High

140 g (5 oz) dark chocolate

85 g (6 tablespoons) butter

2 eggs

200 g (1 cup) sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

100 g (3/4 cup) flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

140 g (1 cup) blueberries

2 tablespoon flour

70 g (1/2 cup) blueberries

• Preheat oven to 200ºC (400ºF).
• Melt the chocolate and butter over a bain-marie.
• Combine the 140 g / 1 cup blueberries with the 2 tablespoons flour. This will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the brownie.
• In a bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar.
• Add vanilla. Then add melted chocolate-butter mix.
• Fold in flour and salt (do not overmix). Carefully fold in floured blueberries.
• Bake for 25-35 minutes.
• Carefully press 70 g / 1/2 cup of blueberries into the brownie while still warm.
• Let cool and enjoy.

My modifications:

I reduced the sugar to 170 g (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoon).

The taste:

I wasn't 100% convinced when I took the first bite. But from the second bite onwards - berrylicious chocoliciousness. Definitely a fruit chocolate combo to keep and repeat. Often.

What's your favorite fruit chocolate combo?

9 | 52 Nutty Dark Chocolate Brownies

Brownies. With lots of nuts.

When Joy the Baker posted this picture on Instagram, I knew I had to make them. 

I mean.... Brownies and lots of nuts! 

Come on! How could this not sound good to anyone?

(Sorry to all you allergy sufferers out there. I honestly feel for you.)

Nutty Dark Chocolate Brownies

From Joy the Baker

140 g (5 oz) bittersweet chocolate (chips)

60 g (2 oz) unsweetened chocolate

113 g (1/2 cup) butter

3 tablespoons cocoa powder, unsweetened

3 eggs

250 g (1 1/4 cups) light brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

130 g (1 cup) flour

1 small handful pecan halves, walnut halves, and hazelnuts

• Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
• Melt chocolate and butter in a bain-marie (or in your microwave, if you have one). Once completely melted, stir in cocoa powder.
• In a bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar. Whisk in vanilla. Add chocolate mix and stir to combine. Stir in salt, baking soda, and flour until combined. 
• Pour into prepared pan (20x20 cm/8x8 in) and sprinkle with nuts. Bake for 30-35 minutes until nuts are golden brown. Let cool before slicing.

My modifications:

I used half bittersweet chocolate, half 75% (not quite unsweetened) chocolate because that's what I had at home, and I reduced the sugar to 200 g (1 cup). Both worked well.

The taste:

So so so so good! Awesome brownie recipe and with those nuts - divine! Most definitely a keeper and one for the repertoire!

What's your favorite brownie recipe? Any (secret) ingredients or toppings?

49*52 Pumpkin Spice Brownies

I know, I know.

It's the second of advent and I should really be baking christmas cookies.

The thing is: I am so not in the christmas mood yet. But soon!

Until then - let's enjoy the autumnal taste of pumpkin spice again.

Paired with chocolate in the form of brownies.

Sound good? I think so.

Pumpkin Spice Brownies

Adapted from Sweet & Easy: Enie backt via Sixx

125 g (4.4 oz) dark chocolate

125 g (1.1 stick) butter

3 eggs

100 g (1/2 cup) sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

100 g (3/4 cup) flour

 pinch of salt

283 g (10 oz) Pumpkin Spice Candy Melts

• Preheat oven to 180°C (360°F).
• Melt chocolate and butter over a bain-marie.
• In a bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, and vanilla.
• Add melted chocolate-butter.
• Fold in flour and salt until just combined. Add 140 g (5 oz) of candy melts.
• Pour into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. Let cool.
• Melt remaining candy melts and frost brownies with it.

My modifications:

I reduced the amount of sugar by 75 g because I knew that the candy melts will bring additional sweetness.

I also added the candy melts to the batter and as frosting.

The taste:

Sweet but very good in a pumpkin spice kind of way. I'm really glad that put off the cookie baking and made this today instead.

Do you have any great baking recipes using candy melts?

44*52 Peanut Butter Chip Brownies

Chocolate and peanut butter. I mean, seriously. 

Brownies with peanut butter chips. Hell yeah.

No need to say more this week, right?

Peanut Butter Chip Brownies

Adapted from somewhere but I honestly don't know where anymore. It's a brownie recipe that I wrote down on a piece of paper a long time ago but never made until now, I just added the peanut butter chips.

114 g (1 stick) butter

227 g (8oz) dark chocolate

200 g (1 cup) sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

110 g (3/4 cup) flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

180 g (1 cup) peanut butter chips

• Melt butter and chocolate in a bain-marie.
• In a bowl, whisk together sugar and eggs. Add vanilla. Add melted butter-chocolate.
• Fold in flour and salt until just combined. Then fold in the peanut butter chips.
• Pour into prepared brownie pan. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 30-35 minutes.

My modifications:

Just added the peanut butter chips.

Next time I would probably reduce the sugar by half because it is pretty sweet.

The taste:

Heavenly. Addictive. Need I say more?

What is your favorite sweet combination?

14*52 Chocolate Fudge Brownies with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Spring is around the corner. I know it.
It must be hiding somewhere but it's ready to make a full appearance. Soon.

Until then, let's continue to eat chocolate. Okay?

Chocolate Fudge Brownies with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Adapted from the Joy the Baker Cookbook by Joy Wilson aka Joy the Baker

Brownies

110 g (3/4 cup) flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

114 g (1 stick) butter

85 g (3 oz) dark chocolate

65 g (1/2 cup) brown sugar

110 g (1/2 cup) white sugar

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

85 g (1/2 cup) dark chocolate chips

• Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
• Melt butter and chocolate in a bowl over hot water. Remove the bowl from water once both have melted. Whisk in both sugars, then the eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla.
• Fold in flour mix and when combined, the chocolate chips.
• Pour into prepared 20 cm (8 in) pan and bake for 20-30 minutes.
• Let cool completely before frosting.

Frosting

81 g (3/4 stick) butter, room temperature

30 g (1/4 cup) unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

150 g (1 1/4 cups) powdered sugar

1 tablespoon milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2-4 tablespoons heavy cream

2 tablespoon Ovomaltine (Ovaltine) powder

• Cream together butter, cocoa powder, and salt. Add the powdered sugar, then the milk and vanilla. Stir together cream and Ovomaltine powder and add to the frosting until it reaches your desired consistency. 

My modifications:

None.

The taste:

Heavenly. The brownies are pretty dense and neither gooey, nor too cake-like. But I still really love them. And then the frosting! Very devilish...

And adding some fresh raspberries makes it even a tiny bit better.

What's your recipe to fight the winter blues?

18/52 Oreo Mint Brownies

Oreos. Mint. Two of my mom's favorites. 

Mint Oreos? She loved them when we brought them back from the States but we can't get them here.

Oreo Mint Brownies? Should be an even better combination that has been waiting on one of my Pinterest boards for a while now, to be made when my mom visits.

She did visit last week. And the Oreo Mint Brownies were made. Especially for her.

Oreo Mint Brownies

Adapted from babble

300 ml (1 cup) vegetable oil

480 g (2 cups) sugar 

2 teaspoons vanilla 

4 eggs 

1 teaspoon baking powder 

80 g (2/3 cup) cocoa powder 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

170 g (1 cup) flour 

25 Mint Oreos (or regular Oreos plus about 10 drops of pure peppermint oil)

100 g (1 cup) mini chocolate chips

• Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
• Mix together the oil, sugar, vanilla, eggs, baking powder, salt, and flour until combined well.
• Spread the Oreos on the bottom of a greased square pan (23x23 cm or 9x9 in). 

• Pour batter on top of Oreos and sprinkle with chocolate chips.
• Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool before cutting and serving.

My modifications:

I doubled the ingredients because the amounts that the original recipe calls for are not enough for the size of the pan.

As suggested above, I used regular Oreos (or rather: German Oreo imitation cookies) and added about 10 drops of pure peppermint oil. You can usually get the oil at pharmacies or drug stores (for colds).

The taste:

They were good. But not the best brownies I ever made. 

The Oreos on the bottom were nice though. Might try that again with a different brownie batter. 

I also think that Oreo crumbles in the batter would probably be nice, but I am sure that's not a new idea. 

Oh, and the texture was very chewy, soft, runny even. Even though that's what I love about brownies, it might have been a bit too much in this case.

What's your favorite brownie recipe? Are they plain or pimped?