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?

5/52 Peanut-Apple-Cupcakes

Winter has finally arrived. The snow has mostly melted but it is still very cold outside.
Eating healthy is always a good thing but even better when it's cold, right?

So let's assume that baking (or rather: eating) cupcakes with apples, fresh ginger and peanuts is healthy.
Because it is, isn't it?

Besides the health-aspect, I picked these cupcakes because the combination of peanuts and apples is hard to resist. Isn't apple jelly the best thing you can put on your peanut butter sandwich? I sure think so. (My mom won't even touch a peanut butter sandwich unless there's apple jelly on top...)

Oh, but before we start with the recipe, let's pretend you haven't read the title and introduction of this post. Because I made a little rebus or picture puzzle for you. 

I know it's a tough one but what did I bake this week?

 Congrats, well done! Peanut-Apple-Cupcakes it is!

Peanut-Apple-Cupcakes

Adapted from Cupcakes which my cousin-in-law Karmen gave me for Christmas

Makes 12 cupcakes:

vanilla pulp of one vanilla bean (or vanilla extract)

200 g (1.8 stick or 7 oz) butter, at room temperature

160 g (0.8 cup) sugar

4 eggs

200 g (1.6 cups) flour

2 heaped teaspoons baking powder

pinch of salt

2 apples, peeled and roughly grated

1 piece of fresh ginger (about 2 cm/0.8 in), peeled and finely grated

1 lime

Frosting: 

3 tablespoons peanuts

150 g (1.3 stick or 5.3 oz) butter, at room temperature

150 g (7 oz) cream cheese

2 tablespoons peanut butter

4 tablespoons powdered sugar

• Preheat oven to 180 °C (360°F).

• Mix together vanilla pulp, butter and sugar until creamy.

• Add eggs one at a time.

• In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. Sift over butter mixture and combine quickly.

• Mix apples and ginger with lime juice and zest. Fold into batter.

• Fill in prepared muffin pan and bake on middle rack for 25 minutes. Take out of pan after a couple of minutes to cool off completely.

• For the frosting, chop and roast peanuts. 

• Stir together butter, cream cheese, peanut butter and powdered sugar. 

• Top cupcakes with frosting and sprinkle with roasted peanuts.

My modifications:

I didn't roast the peanuts and added them to the cupcake batter together with the apples and ginger. I just felt that there should be a bit of peanut flavor in the cupcakes as well, not just in the frosting. So I didn't sprinkle anything on the frosting.

I also just chopped the apples and ginger, as opposed to grating them. (And yes, only because I was too lazy...) But since I chopped them pretty finely, you are not biting on big chunks of apple or ginger when eating the cupcakes.

6 cupcakes went straight to the freezer, without frosting. So I only made half of the frosting for the remaining 6 cupcakes.

What is your favorite "healthy" baking recipe?

1/52: Nut Cake

Happy 2012! Let's get this cake'n'bake party started, shall we?

The thing is, before Christmas there was a lot of baking going on. Yes, all over the world but also specifically in this household. Ten different Christmas cookies, one 'Stollen' (typical German Christmas cake/bread), and one cake for coffee time on Christmas eve. The cookie tins are still filled with the last bits and pieces, so cravings for new sweet baked goods have not appeared until (and including) today.

But since this blog was waiting for its first post, I decided to start with something simple. Easy. Quick. Made from ingredients still at home from the Christmas baking extravaganza. So this is it.

Nut Cake

adapted from Swedish Cakes and Cookies which was given to me by my Swedish friend Katarina a couple of years ago. Thanks again, Katta!

• 125 g (1/2 cup) butter, softened
• 160 g (2/3 cup) sugar
• 2 eggs
• 75 g (3/4 cup) ground nuts
• 110 g (2/3 cups) flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

My modifications:
Since I only had eggs size small, I used 3 instead of 2.
Ground almonds and grounds hazelnuts were left from Christmas so I used a mix of 40 g almonds and 35 g hazelnuts. I also added 50 g of almond slivers that needed to be used up.

• Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F).
• Beat the butter and sugar until light.
• Add one egg at a time and beat well.
• Combine the dry ingredients and fold into the batter.
• Pour into 1 liter (4 cup) loaf pan or 8 inch round cake pan.
• Bake on a low oven rack for around 30 minutes.

 

I moved my cake to one of the top racks for the last 5 minutes, since the top hadn't baked much. I even added 10 more minutes on the middle rack after which it was perfect.

This really was simple, easy, and quick, don't you think?
Nevertheless moist, tasty, and a real crowd-pleaser, I would say.
And a good way to start the New Year after all that Christmas indulgence...