Brownie Mix

Companies have made quite a bit of money by selling 'mix'es for everything. Let it be cake mix or the instant mashed potato mix. Brownie mix is no different either. It is so cheap to make it by yourself and is pretty easy too. This makes me wonder why people buy them.

To mix and keep in a jar:
(Sift all of the following ingredients except for optional additions together and place in the jar. If adding the nuts or chocolate chips, do it at the end into the jar and shake few times)
All purpose flour - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Natural Cocoa - 1/3 cup
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Baking Powder - 1/4 tsp
Optional additions - 1/2 cups chopped nuts or about 1 cup chocolate chips or toffee bits (I have added 3/4 cup of mini chocolate chips here)

Ingredients to be added at the time of baking:
Butter - 1/2 cup or 1 stick melted and cooled to room temperature
Eggs - 2 large or its equivalent egg replacer
Vanilla - 1 tsp

Instructions to accompany the jar:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 9 X 9 or 8" square pan with butter and flour. Or line with parchment paper and butter the parchment. Set aside. Melt 1 stick butter. Let it cool to room temperature. To that, add 2 large eggs and whisk very well. Add vanilla and whisk. Dump the contents of the jar to it and stir with a spoon till smooth batter is made. Do not over mix. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 20 - 25 minutes. Brownies are done when they slightly pull away from the sides and the center looks set. Toothpick test for brownies need to be done in a different way. Insert a toothpick 2" from the edge of the pan. If it comes out with very few crumbs, brownies are done. They set as they cool. Cool in the pan completely and cut when completely cool.

Notes:
You could scrape about 1/2 of a vanilla bean into the mix so that the person who is baking need not add vanilla. Or you could add a small jar of vanilla extract along with the brownie mix as part of the gift.

Enjoy.

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Molten Lava Cake (Using Cocoa powder)

I am not a chocolate lover. I do make chocolate stuff since kids love chocolate. I have made chocolate desserts for people who love it. This post was written on a request from a reader. She asked if I could bake these and post as part of the Bake-A-Thon. I made it for the post, but there is something very different about this recipe. It doesn't use chocolate bars. So, it is great for those people who cannot get good quality chocolate. And it is great for people like me who hate separating eggs. This uses whole eggs. If you ask me what is the hardest part of baking, my answer would be separating the eggs. (Yeah, I know you are laughing at me right now, but that is the truth)

For those who want to know a little about how this works -
Molten lava cake is basically a brownie batter with reduced flour. You might ask how the center stays gooey. Reason is baking at high temperature which causes the crust to develop. If you bake the same batter for longer time at 350 F, you will get a brownie instead of a molten lava cake. I don't even know why they call it a cake when it is just a brownie. There is no leavening agent in it for it to raise like most of the cake recipes. So, that is my rambling about the science behind this.

One year back - Eggless Almond Date Cake
Two years back - Barley Dosa
Adapted from - Martha Stewart
Ingredients:
Butter - 8 TBSP or 1 stick melted and cooled plus more for the ramekins or muffin pans.
Sugar - 1/3 cup + 9 TBSP (1/3 cup+1/2 cup+1 TBSP) plus more for the pans.
Unsweetened natural cocoa - 3/4 cup + 2 tsp (You can just use 3/4 cup)
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Eggs - 3 large
All purpose flour - 1/3 cup
Vanilla - 1 tsp
Confectioner's sugar for dusting (optional)
Whipped cream or ice cream to serve with

Method:
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Butter 5 - 6 ramekins or muffin cups generously with butter and coat with sugar. In a bowl, whisk together cocoa powder with butter. In another bowl, whisk eggs and sugar till foamy. Add Vanilla to the egg and sugar mixture and mix. Add the egg and sugar mixture to the cocoa and butter mixture. Stir gently to incorporate. Add flour and salt and stir together well. Divide between the ramekins or muffin cups filling almost full (more than 3/4 full should be good). Place the ramekins on a cookie sheet or a baking pan. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes or until the center doesn't jiggle when shaken gently. Remove from the oven and let it rest 10 minutes. Invert on to the serving platter and serve with whipped cream or ice cream. You could dust with confectioner's sugar if you wish. I wanted everything to be visible and confectioner's sugar can hide a lot of details. You can serve it in the ramekin if you like it that way.

Notes:
I did not have bittersweet chocolate at home. If you want to use that, you could use 8 Oz of that (or semisweet chocolate) and then use only 4 TBSP of butter. Sugar needed would be just 1/3 cups. I calculated and converted 8 Oz of bittersweet in terms of cocoa, sugar and butter.

Today is day 12 of the Bake-A-Thon.  My fellow bloggers doing this are - Preethi, Veena, Priya. Accredited online colleges are an option for busy people who want to hone their cooking skills.

Enjoy.

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Applesauce Brownies

What makes brownies so famous?
Is it the richness? Or is it because they are so gooey?
Lot of butter, eggs and sugar and very less flour is the formula for a nice brownie. Right?
May be not. This recipe doesn't have too many eggs or fat. But equally good. Want to see how it is done? Read on..

One year back - Cumin Onion Bread sticks
Adapted from - Mott's Applesauce Recipe Collection
Ingredients:
Sugar - 1 cup
Vegetable or Canola Oil - 1/3 cup (Original recipe had 1/2 cup butter)
Eggs - 2 large
Applesauce - 1 cup (Unsweetened. Decrease sugar by 1/4 cup if using sweetened)
Vanilla - 1 tsp
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Unsweetened natural cocoa - 1/4 cup (Dutch process will work fine too)
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Chopped nuts - 1/2 cup (I used toffee bits) - optional

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 9" square pan or an equivalent (11 X 7 is same as 9" square). Set aside. In a bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt. Set aside. In another bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, eggs and applesauce till all are combined. Add vanilla and whisk one more time. Dump the dry ingredients into wet and whisk to combine. Stir in the nuts if using or chocolate chips or toffee bits. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until the sides have started pulling away from the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with either no crumbs or very few. Cool in the pan on the rack and slice when completely cool. Dust with confectioner's sugar if desired.

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Beetroot Brownie Bites

If you are one of those who likes to try out new things to eat if and only if they looked pretty, this post and recipe is not for you. This not so pretty looking brownie bite is in fact very good to eat, but just not too appetizing to look. Beauty of these lie not just in taste but in the fact that they aren't too rich like a traditional brownie. When my kids went for the second one, I told them that it has beets in them. They said "beets are yummy" and happily ate another.

Cook beets and try to feed them sometimes. They won't even touch it. "It is red mommy", "It made marks on my hands mommy", "I am not hungry mommy", "Is there anything else to eat please?" are some of the sentences that one can hear.

One year back - Cantaloupe Granita
Adapted from - Zucchini Brownies on allrecipes.
Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Natural Cocoa - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 2/3 cup
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Baking Soda - 3/4 tsp
Beetroot shredded - 1 cup (one medium peeled beetroot)
Vegetable oil or canola oil - 1/4 cup
Applesauce - 1/4 cup (Unsweetened)
Vanilla - 1 tsp
Chocolate chips - 1/4 cup (I used mini - optional)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a 24 cup mini muffin pan with paper cups. You could bake this in a 8" square pan too. In a bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, cocoa, sugar. Add chocolate chips if using and stir. To this bowl, dump grated beetroot, applesauce and oil. Add vanilla and stir with a wooden spoon. Divide between the 24 cups. You will have to use a heaped TBSP for each cup. Bake for 13 - 15 minutes till the batter is set and the toothpick inserted in the center comes out with few crumbs. Cool on the wire rack in the pan for 5 minutes and then turn on to the wire rack to cool completely. Dust with confectioner's sugar if desired or pour a glaze.

These are very nice brownies. Best way to make kids get some veggies too. Low fat and low sugar make it guilt free to a certain extent. But, I could taste the veggie in the end product. If you don't like it, then this recipe is not for you. I had to stop my kids from eating these too many. And my kids are picky eaters.

Notes:
This is not too sweet a brownie. If you like it sweeter, increase the sugar to 3/4 cup. You can double the recipe and bake in a 13 X 9 pan for about 25 - 30 minutes. They might look like muffins, but are not at all muffin type. They are moist, sticky to a certain extent.

This is my entry to 'Kid's Delight - Mini Bites' started by Srivalli and guest hosted by me here on Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen.

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Cashew Brownies

People run marathons and some walk them. I definitely cannot run a marathon, but certain can walk one. Since I am into blogging, I joined a group of fellow bloggers who are on a 'Blogging Marathon' for a week. When I came to know about this on Srivalli's blog, I thought 'Why Not?'. I blog atleast 4 days a week anyway. Stretching it to 7 days for one week is not a big deal. She had set up some themes and the toughest part of it is to stick to the theme for one full week. I have chosen 'Sweets'. You will be seeing a lot of cakes, cookies and other sweet stuff. It is not that I don't know or like to make Indian sweets. It is easier for me to get rid of all the high calorific baked goods than the Indian sweets among neighbors and my kids' school staff.

One year back - Rieska
Adapted from here.
Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 1/2 cup
Granulated sugar - 1 cup
Butter - 1/2 stick or 4 TBSP
Unsweetened cocoa - 1/3 cup
Eggs - 2 large
Cashews - chopped coarsely 1 cup
Vanilla extract - 2 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp

Method:
Preheat the oven to 300 F. Grease a 8 inch square pan. It is better to line it with parchment paper. I didn't and it was not easy to get perfect squares. Set aside. In a microwave safe bowl, take the butter and melt it. When completely melted, add cocoa powder, sugar to it and combine. Add eggs to the same bowl and whisk till everything is blended well. Add vanilla, flour, salt and stir gently. Add in the cashews reserving couple of TBSP for topping. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle the reserved cashew pieces. Bake for 28 - 30 minutes (I checked at 30 minutes and I could've taken it out in 28 minutes) or till the brownie looks set. Do not over bake this. Cool on the wire rack in the pan. Cut into squares when completely cool. You can serve them warm but the pieces won't come out clean.

Check out all these fellow bloggers who are participating in this 7 day marathon - Srivalli, Azeema, Bhagi,  Gayathri Anand, Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Jay, Kamalika, Meena, Mina, Padma, Pavani,  PJ, Priya Mahadevan, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu, Rujuta, Santosh, Saraswathi, Savitha, Shanavi, Smitha, Sowmya, Suma, Usha, Veena.

Sending this to 'Sweet as Sugar Cookies'



Enjoy. Pin It

Vegan Banana Brownies

I had bookmarked 'Oat Flour and Beet Brownies' by Madhuram for a long time, but never made it. Probably because I don't like brownies that much. I prefer cake or a cookie over a brownie at any time. I thought of modifying that recipe to use brown rice flour for her Whole Grain Baking - Rice event. As I read the recipe and started to gather things together, it became a different recipe but a very yummy one too. This is probably one of the best brownies I have made.

Here goes my version..

Ingredients:

1. Brown Rice flour - 3/4 cup
2. Light Brown sugar - 1/2 cup packed (You could use granulated sugar instead too)
3. Mashed banana - 1 cup 
4. Unsweetened applesauce - 1/4 cup 
5. Veg or Canola Oil - 1/3 cup
6. Unsweetened Cocoa powder - 3/4 cup
7. Vanilla - 2 tsp
8. Baking powder - 3/4 tsp
9. salt - 1/2 tsp

Method:

Lightly grease an 8 inch square baking pan with vegetable oil spray. Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a bowl, combine rice flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and stir to combine. In another bowl, combine oil, mashed banana, applesauce, vanilla and brown sugar. Whisk to combine. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet mixture and fold together. Don't over mix. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth with the spatula. Bake in the preheated oven for
30 - 35 minutes or till done. Mine was done at 33 minutes. House smelled wonderful when it was baking. Let it cool completely before slicing. I made 16 small pieces out of this. Next time, I think I'll increase the mashed banana quantity and omit applesauce to have more concentrated banana flavor.

I would like to send this entry to  Madhuram's  Whole Grain Baking - Brown Rice.

Happy Baking!! Pin It

Eggless Almond Brownies

I have been making many kinds of brownies for my kids. But, I have always used eggs in them except for one recipe. I wanted to try something else but make it egg less. When I was looking for something that is healthier too, I found a recipe called 'Walnut Brownies'. My kids are sometimes funny with nuts when it is in brownies or cake. So, I did not want to use walnuts and at the same time wanted to use up an opened bag of almond powder that I had. I went on tweaking the recipe so much, it is nowhere near the original recipe, but a different recipe altogether. Here is my recipe for an Eggless Almond Brownie.

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour - 1/2 cup
• Butter - 1/4 cup melted (1/2 a stick - You can use canola oil to make it vegan)
  
• Sugar - 3/4 cup
• Almond powder - 1 cup (You can grind almonds in the grinder and measure)
• Cocoa powder - 1/3 cup (I used special dark Hershey's cocoa and hence the color is very dark)
  
• Flax seed powder - 2 TBSP mixed with 6 TBSP of warm water and whisked together.
• Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
• Almond extract - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - a pinch
• Baking soda - 1/2 tsp

Method:
Grease an 8 inch square pan with butter or vegetable oil spray. Or line with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 300 F if using glass pan or non-stick pan or to 325 F if using an aluminum pan. In a large bowl, stir the flour, salt, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder and almond powder. Pour the melted butter and the flax seed powder water mixture and stir with a wooden spoon. Batter will be very thick almost like a cookie dough. Dump it on to the prepared pan and spread evenly with a spatula. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 35 - 38 minutes at 300 F or for 30 - 35 minutes at 325 F. Place the pan on the wire rack to cool. Let it cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting. I cut it after 15 minute and it was hard to cut without too many crumbs falling. It was not very sweet, nutty in taste. I liked it that it had half the fat compared to any brownie recipe. On a side note, if you use regular hershey's cocoa (not special dark), you will end up with a little light colored brownies.

If you love almonds, check out my other recipes using almond like  Coconut Almond Cookies, Vegan Almond Cookies ,Chocolatey Almond butter bars.

Happy Baking!! Pin It