Raspberry-Cream Cheese-Peanut Butter Brownie.

Please ignore the mention of "healthy baking" at the top of this blog...this is not one of those recipes. This one is decadent, rich and oh so sinful! It's chocolate, cream cheese, peanut butter, jam, all in one. A medley brownie if you will.
I got the recipe in a big baking bible book, I forget the title, and I changed it a bit to fit today's craving of choco-pb&j-cheesy treat.
It requires quite a bit of organisation so it's good to read the recipe first before getting started. Start by turning on the oven at 350. Also get a 8x8 square pan ready, sprayed with oil.
Here's the ingredients you'll need:

for the filling:
4oz. soft cream cheese
4oz. smooth peanut butter(you could use crunchy but I like smooth...)
1 egg
3 TBSP sugar
1 tsp vanilla

-beat the cheese and p.b. together until smooth, add the egg, sugar and vanilla and mix until very smooth. Set aside.

for the brownie batter:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (NOT melted!)
3/4 cup+1TBSP sugar
1 egg
3oz semi-sweet chocolate melted
2oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 cup all-purpose flour
pinch of salt

-start by melting the chocolates(in the same bowl...), once melted set aside to cool a bit.
-mix the butter and sugar together until creamy.
-add the egg and beat in.
-add the chocolates slowly and mix well.
-add the flour and salt and blend in with a wooden spoon or spatula.

Spread the batter in the pan, leaving 1 cup aside for the topping.
Spread the cheese/pb mix over.
Add a few teaspoonfulls of jam, I chose raspberry. But cherry would be good too, or strawberry, or even marmalade. Drop spoonfulls of the remaining batter on top.
Spread all that goodness around and swirl a knife through the top to make a pattern. It will look messy but the heat of the oven will take care of the final spread...
Pop it in the oven (on the midddle rack)for 35 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack and slice.

It's sooooooooooo gooooooood!!!!!

"Oh-My-God-I-Need-To-Sit-Down" Brownies.

I've been looking for a really good recipe for brownies. One that doesn't call for 1 cup of butter and 2 cups of sugar...I seached a lot of other food blogs, looked through my cookbooks, and in the end settled for, again, one of Sarah Philips' "Healthy Oven" recipe. I think I'd made them before, a long time ago because that page was a little dirty(sign of a good cook book...). But I didn't remember they were THAT good!
So after making sure I had all the ingredients I decided to go for it.
Now, let me warn you in advance, you MAY need to sit down to eat these. My knees buckled a bit...This is the Holy Grail of Brownies!



Ingredients:

4 TBSP melted butter, and cooled a bit.
2 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate( I used Baker's Chocolate, 1 square is 1 once)

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour(or all-purpose...I find pastry flour better for baking, it makes everything more moist and tender.)
1/3 cup unsweetened coca powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 egg whites
1 TBSP canola oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp instant coffee or espresso powder

1/2 cup white chocolate chips(optional, this was my idea...)

Directions:

-Heat theoven at 350F, positon the rack in the middle of the oven. Spray an 8-inch square pan with oil.
-Melt the chocolate(in the microwave is the more convenient way), and let it cool a bit.
-In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, coca powder(may need to sift it if it's too lumpy), baking powder and salt, Set aside.
-In another bowl whisk butter, sugar, egg, egg whites, oil, vanilla, instant coffee and melted chocolate until smooth (mine was a little lumpy still)
-With a rubber spatula or spoon, add in the dry ingredients. Add choclate chips...or nuts would be good in there too!
-Pour into the baking pan and smooth the top. I added a bit more chocolate chips on the top...
-Bake until the edges pull away from the pan, EXACTLY 25 MINUTES. Also, do NOT open the oven's door while it bakes because it will deflate.
-Cool in the pan on a wire rack.



-Remember...eat them sitting down...