S'mores Brownies

Cookbook Countdown Specials : Bake is a baking event, which I'm co-hosting with Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray.  This is a "spin-off" from our on-going monthly Cookbook Countdown. Cookbook Countdown Specials : Bake is for baking desserts ; pastries, cakes, cookies, pies, tarts, breads. While the monthly Cookbook Countdown is to use from one selected cookbook each month, for CC Specials : Bake, you may use any baking cookbooks of your choice, either from one single cookbook or from numerous books. The link is open from July to end September. You may link your post here. Do join us, everyone is welcome!

To link to Cookbook Countdown Specials : BAKE, click here

To link to Cookbook Countdown #9, click here

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I am not a fan of marshmallows but both my son and daughter likes it. I wanted to make this S'mores Brownies, and was looking for a particular brand of marshmallows which I sometimes buy, and great in bakes, but could not find it in the few supermarkets that I went to. So I grabbed a pack of those available, and use them to bake these brownies. 

The marshmallows barely melt and it was quite disappointing as they are looking forward to melting gooey marshmallows on top of the brownie. From now on, I'll just stick to the usual brand of marshmallows that I always buy.

Recipe calls for graham crackers which are lightly crushed to be added to the brownie batter, but I have omitted that and replaced with dried cranberries instead. And I have also reduced the amount of both the white and brown sugars.

The brownies are moist, very chocolaty and even though the marshmallows barely melt, they are quite soft, so that is not so bad after all!  I like the dried cranberries in the brownies. These brownies are best enjoyed with a glass of cold milk.

S'mores Brownies
(adapted from "Home Baked Comfort", by Kim Laidlaw)
makes 12 brownies
1 cup (8 oz/250gm) unsalted butter
10 oz (315gm) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup (8oz/250gm) granulated sugar (1/2 cup)
3/4 cup (6oz/185gm) firmly packed light brown sugar (scant 1/3 cup)
4 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp kosher salt
1-1/3 cups (5-1/2oz/170gm) cake flour
3 tbsp natural cocoa powder
about 6 graham crackers, roughly crushed with your hands (omitted)
about 12 jumbo marshmallows

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350F (180C). Generously butter a 9-by-13-inch (23-by-33-cm) baking dish.

In a saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring often, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the sugars. Whisk in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Whisk in the vanilla and salt.

Sift the flour and cocoa over the chocolate mixture and, using a rubber spatula, stir in until just blended. Stir in the graham crackers. Pour into the prepared dish and spread evenly. Top evenly with the marshmallows.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out almost completely clean, 30-35 minutes. Let cool in the dish on a wire rack, then cut into big, gooey squares.

I'm linking this post with Cookbook Countdown Specials : Bake
 hosted by Kitchen Flavours and Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray

Best-Ever Bourbon Brownies

Cookbook Countdown is a monthly cooking/baking event, which I'm co-hosting with Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray.  Everyone is welcome to join us. How does it work? To summarize, you may select a cookbook from your own cookbook collection, to cook or bake from each month. That selected book shall be your cookbook of the month. You may cook any recipes and as many recipes as you want from your selected book of the month. This is a fabulous way of using your cookbooks at least once! For more information on how to join Cookbook Countdown, please click here. 

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Cookbook Countdown #2 : Recipe No. 4 : Best-Ever Bourbon Brownies

from my selected cookbook for this month, Better Homes and Garden : Baking

Everyone needs a brownie every now and then! 

These brownies are not too sweet. I did not brush the top of the brownies with bourbon when the brownie has done baking. I've added 2 tablespoons of the bourbon into the batter instead. I've used dark chocolate and I can taste the slight bitterness of the chocolate with the aroma of the bourbon, very nice. The crumbs are soft and moist with a little cake-like texture. 

Bittersweet chocolaty brownies served with a  scoop of vanilla ice cream, so yummy!

Recipe comes with the Bourbon Frosting which is spread over the brownies. I have however, omitted the frosting, as we wanted to eat the brownies with vanilla ice cream. For the Bourbon Frosting recipe, please refer to the link (Better Homes and Garden website) provided in the recipe below. 

Best-Ever Bourbon Brownies
(adapted from "Better Homes and Garden : Baking", or here)
Makes 16 brownies
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter
2 tablespoons water
1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
2 to 3 tablespoons bourbon
1 recipe Bourbon Frosting
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
pecan halves, toasted (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8x8x2-inch baking pan with foil, extending foil about 1 inch over the edges of pan. Grease foil; set pan aside. In a medium saucepan combine sugar, butter, and the water. Cook and stir over medium heat just until boiling. Remove from heat.
2. Stir in 1 cup chocolate pieces until melted. Add eggs and vanilla, beating with a wooden spoon just until combined. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt. (Add in 2 tablespoons bourbon). Stir in chopped pecans. Pour batter into the prepared pan, spreading evenly.
3. Bake about 25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean and edges start to pull away from sides of pan.
4. Place pan on a wire rack. Brush top of hot brownies with bourbon. (I did not brush the top with bourbon). Cool in pan on rack.
5. Spread brownies with bourbon Frosting. Cut into bars. Top each with some of the melted chocolate and, if desired, a pecan half.

"I'm linking this post with Cookbook Countdown hosted by 

Kitchen Flavours and Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray".

p/s : I am having problems with wordpress blogs for the past two weeks. I am unable to open the link to the posts using wordpress. I apologize if you have not received any comments from me. This has never happen before, and I am wondering why. Whatever the issues are at wordpress, I hope they will resolve the problems soon. Do any of you have the same problems?

An InLinkz Link-up

Chocolate-Cherry Brownies (TWD)

Tuesdays With Dorie (TWD) is currently baking from "Baking Chez Moi", by Dorie Greenspan., and the selected recipe for this week is Chocolate-Cherry Brownies.  

This recipe uses dried cherries which is boiled in a mixture of a couple tablespoons of red wine and water until the cherries has soaked up most of the liquid, then left to cool before using. I do not have any opened bottle of red wine, so I have used kirsch instead. 

Moist, plump dried cherries after it has soaked up all the kirsch and water, smells really nice.

Just like most brownies, they are really easy to make, without the need of a stand mixer. Everything is mixed in a bowl. I used dark chocolate, most of it is melted together with the butter, and the balance is chopped to fine pieces to be mixed into the batter later. One interesting ingredient is the usage of ground black pepper. Though I can't taste it in the baked brownie, it is an interesting ingredient to be added to a brownie! I've reduced the sugar slightly, used  only 120 gm and have added a teaspoon of vanilla extract even though it is not stated in the recipe.

According to the recipe, the brownie is baked for 27-29 minutes until the top is uniformly dull. Mine took a little longer, as the centre is still shiny, soft and not cooked. It was done at 35 minutes, when a thin knife inserted in the centre come out almost clean, and the top of the brownie is dull and crisp.

I made these brownies in the evening and left it to cool in the pan overnight. They were sliced on the next day. They were easy to slice, though the next time I would cut the cherries in half, as they were quite big and plump!

These brownies are so yummy! With a layer of crisp top, the insides are moist, fudgy and so chocolaty delicious, with the melted bits of chocolates in it! I love to bite into the moist, plump cherries, which I could detect a faint fragrance of the kirsch. Chocolate and cherries, they are a perfect combination! 

I'm linking this post with Tuesdays With Dorie (TWD). 

and

Cook-Your-Books #24 @ kitchen flavours

SoNo Brownies

A couple of weeks ago, my daughter's friend came over to our house, to spend the afternoon with her. I made a simple lunch, but there's nothing to snack on later! With three teenagers in the house, I thought of baking, definitely something with chocolate, and brownies came to mind, as brownies are really easy and quick to put together, and do not take that long to bake. A quick browse thru my cookbook collection, and found this delicious recipe from "The Sono Baking Company Cookbook" by John Barricelli, a lovely book indeed.

These brownies are really quick and easy to make. Firstly, mix all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Then melt the butter in a saucepan, add in the sugar and corn syrup, then the eggs and the vanilla, whisking to combine after each addition.  Add in the dry ingredients, fold until the flours have been incorporated, then fold in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into baking pan and bake for about 30 minutes.

These brownies are so good! Very moist, soft, tender, and chocolaty good! A hit with the kids! And a request to make this again. :)

SoNo Brownies
(adapted from "The Sono Baking Company Cookbook", John Barricelli)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar (scant 3/4 cup)
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Set the oven rack in the middle position. Preheat the oven to 350F. Coat an 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray, or brush generously with softened butter; set aside.
2. In a bowl, whisk the flour with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.
3. In a saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the sugar and corn syrup and whisk to combine. Whisk in the eggs one at a time, whisking until well blended after each addition. Whisk in the vanilla.
4. Add the dry ingredients and fold until the flour has been incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
6. Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack, then cut into 2-inch squares.

I'm linking this post to :

Cook-Your-Books #12 @ Kitchen Flavours

Cream Cheese Brownies : Bake-Along #58

Bake-Along is back after a month's rest! For this week, we are baking Cream Cheese Brownies, selected by Lena, to bake together with Zoe and all our friends who wish to bake-along with us. This recipe is taken from Nigella Lawson's, "How To Be A Domestic Goddess".

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This is a straightforward brownie, where the chocolate is melted together with the butter in a saucepan, and in another bowl, the eggs are mixed with the sugar and vanilla extract. Add this mixture to the chocolate-butter mixture, then fold in the sifted flour. Mix everything to combine, batter will be rather gooey. Pour half of the batter into a lined and greased 9" square pan, and now the interesting part is the cream cheese. The cream cheese is sliced to thin slices and place them over the batter in the pan in one layer. Slicing the cream cheese is not as easy as it seems, it was actually quite difficult to slice them thinly, I ended up with thick slices and flatten them out with my fingers! Maybe it would be better if the cream cheese is left in the freezer for half an hour or so to harden them up before slicing. The other half of the batter is then poured over the cream cheese slices and bake for about 20 minutes until the top is pale and dry, and the centre is still slightly sticky. I baked mine for 23 minutes.

These brownies are very nice. It has a very fudgy, soft and moist texture, with delicious chocolaty taste, and a thin layer of crust at the top with a layer of creamy, salty cream cheese in the centre. However, on the next day, it gets more moister and fudgy, with almost no crust visible, as the crust has turn very moist and kinda blend into one fudgy slice!

Want a slice?

Cream Cheese Brownies
(adapted from "How To Be A Domestic Goddess", Nigella Lawson)
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar (I use 1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
7 ounces cold cream cheese
(9-inch square pan, greased and lined with parchment or wax paper)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt the chocolate and butter over medium-to-low heat in a heavy-based saucepan. While you're waiting for it to melt, idly beat the eggs in a bowl with the sugar and vanilla. Measure the flour into another bowl and add the salt. When the chocolate mixture has all but completely melted, take the pan off the heat. The bits of unmelted chocolate or butter will continue to dissolve if left. Leave for a bit longer to cool slightly before beating in the eggs and sugar. Finally, add the flour and beat until smooth. 

Pour half the mixture into the pan, slice the cream cheese as thinly as you can and top the brownie mixture in the pan with these thin slices. Pour over the remaining half of brownie-gunge, using a rubber spatula or whatever to make sure each bit of cheese is covered. Then put in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes : the top should be slightly paled and dry, but a cake tester poked within should reveal a still-sticky center. Cool for about 10 minutes before cutting into little squares, and eat warm or cold, though the cooler they are the easier they'll be to lift out. Reckon on a first, botched slice : cook's treat.

Makes 8-10

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To join our blog hop, bake this brownie and link your post to our Bake-Along linky.

Please visit my baking buddies, Lena from Frozen Wings and Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids, and all our friends who has baked along with us in the linky below :

For our next Bake-Along, we will be baking based on a theme, which is "Theme : Marbled Butter Cake". Bake any marbled butter cake of your choice, and link your post to the our blog-hop linky which will start on 20th March right up to 29th March. Everyone is welcome! 

A friendly reminder when linking to our blog hop :

1. Please mention Bake-Along event in your own post linking direct to any of the hosts' post (Joyce, Lena or Zoe)

2. Please link only new and current post, related to the current bake or theme provided by us. Unrelated post will be deleted.

3. Feel free to display our Bake-Along badge in your post.

and

I'm linking this post to Cook Like A Star, All-Stars Anniversary Party, hosted by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids, Mich of Piece of Cake and Joyce of Kitchen Flavours.

(click on any of the hostess blog for further info and to link your posts)

All-Stars Anniversary Party featured chefs :  Ina Garten, Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson, Curtis Stone, Ree Drummond, Bill Granger, Masterchefs, Martha Stewart, Delia Smith, Donna Hay

click on the link to get the codes :
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An InLinkz Link-up

Cheesecake Brownies

It has been quite a while since I last made any brownies. I made these brownies a few weeks ago, during that time, I have been baking lots of breads, and the kids are delighted with these brownies, seems like a real treat after all those bread-baking! LOL! This wonderful brownies is from "Cake" by Rachel Allen, her latest book on cakes baking. It is a beautiful book with lots of photos and recipes that are easy to follow.

The brownie base is topped with a mixture of cream cheese, egg yolks and sugar, which are beaten till smooth, then drop by the teaspoonfuls on the brownie batter in the prepared pan. Using a knife, swirl both mixtures together for a marbling effect. Bake for 30-35 minutes and let cool in pan on rack.

Cut into 16 squares to serve.

I love swirls in bakes, do you?

These Cheesecake Brownies has a lovely moist texture. Yummy!

(my changes in blue)
Cheesecake Brownies
(adapted from "Cake", Rachel Allen)
makes 16 brownies
100 gm (3-1/2 oz) butter, cut into cubes
100 gm (3-1/2 oz) dark chocolate, in drops or broken into pieces
125gm (4-1/2 oz) caster sugar (90 gm)
pinch of salt (omit, since I've used salted butter)
3 eggs, beaten
75 gm (3 oz) self-raising flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder
100 gm (3-1/2 oz) dark chocolate, in chips or chopped into pieces

For the cheesecake mixture :
200 gm (7 oz) cream cheese
2 egg yolks
75 gm (3 oz) caster sugar (50 gm)

20cm (8 in) square cake tin with 5cm (2in) sides

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F), Gas Mark 4. If the cake tin has a removable base, butter the sides and line the base with a square of baking parchment, otherwise line the base and sides of the tin.

Place the butter and chocolate in a saucepan and melt over a low heat. Stir just until smooth, then remove from the heat and beat in the sugar and salt, followed by the eggs. Sift in the flour and cocoa powder, add the chocolate chips and stir in. Tip the batter into the prepared tin and spread out using a spatula.

In a clean bowl, beat all the ingredients for the cheesecake mixture together until smooth. Dot heaped teaspoonfuls of this mixture across the top of the brownie batter in the tin, then use a skewer or knife to swirl the two mixtures together, right across the tin and up to the edges.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the middle of the cake still wobbles slightly when you gently shake the tin - a skewer inserted into the centre should come out with a little moisture on it. Remove from the oven, place on a wire rack and allow to cool completely in the tin before carefully removing the cake and cutting into squares to serve.

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I'm linking this post to :

Cook-Your-Books #9 hosted by Kitchen Flavours

Coconut Checkerboard Brownies : Free and Easy Bake-Along #28

Time for our Bake-Along #28! For our bake this week, I have chosen Coconut Checkerboard Brownies to bake along with Lena, Zoe and our wonderful baking friends. Ever since I got this book, Bon Appetit Desserts, this is one of the recipes that I've bookmarked and is looking forward to bake! I love coconuts in baked desserts and have never tried it in a brownie before, sounds delicious, and it is delicious!

Delicious Coconut Checkerboard Brownies

I baked this yesterday afternoon actually, this time, it was really last minute! LOL! I have good reason, have not been feeling too good lately but am OK now.  This brownie does take a little extra work, but it is worth it. Firstly the bottom chocolate layer is made by melting the chocolate and butter. The recipe calls for unsweetened chocolate, but I use the bits and pieces of leftover chocolates from my previous bakings, a mixture of semi-sweet chocolate and dark chocolate. The melted chocolate mixture is then mixed with egg, sugar, flour. About 1-1/4 cups are then spread onto the greased cake pan, cover with aluminium foil and refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours. Reserve the balance, cover and refrigerate. So advance planning is required to make this brownie.

The coconut layer is made by processing the flaked coconuts with the sugar until fine, and the rest of the ingredients are added in, mix until well blended. Cover and refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours. At the end of 3 hours, place dollops of the coconut mixture and the reserved chocolate batter by the tablespoons, over the firm batter in the cake pan. Scatter some flaked coconuts over the coconut batter, cover the the pan securely with aluminium foil and baked for 40-45 minutes at a low temperature of 325F, remove foil and continue baking for a further 40 minutes. Mine was done at 35 minutes. Cool brownie in pan on wire rack.

The brownie smells incredibly nice while baking, due to the almond and vanilla extract and the coconuts! When it was warm, I sliced and ate a piece, it was good. It tastes even better later in the night, when the brownie has really cool, the taste of the chocolate is more intense and moist. The cheese part is soft and moist and the coconut deliciously chewy. Make this a day ahead and enjoy it the next day or later in the day when the flavours have all come together. Yum!

 Overall, a delicious, lovely brownie!

Please visit Lena and Zoe and all our friends who are baking along with us in the linky below. For our next Bake-Along, we will be baking based on a theme, this time we are going savoury with Chicken Pie! Treat your family with some chicken pie and join us by linking your post in the blog-hop linky which will start from 26th July until 1st August. 

A friendly reminder when linking to our blog hop :

1. Please mention Bake-Along event in your own post linking direct to any of the hosts' post (Joyce, Lena or Zoe)

2. Please link only new and current post, related to the current bake or theme.
3. Feel free to display our Bake-Along badge above in your post.

I'm sharing this with :
Cookbook Sundays hosted by Couscous & Consciousness
Recipe Box hosted by Bizzy Bakes

Coconut Checkerboard Brownies
(adapted from "Bon Appetit Desserts, by Barbara Fairchild)
Coconut Batter
7-ounce sweetened flaked coconut
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup canned sweetened cream of coconut (such as Coco Real or Coco Lopez)
2 ounces Philadelphia-brand cream cheese, cut into 1-inch cubes, room temperature
1 extra-large egg
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1/8 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
pinch of salt


Chocolate Batter
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
3-1/2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 extra-large eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups (packed) golden brown sugar (I use 1 scant cup)
3/4 cup sifted unbleached all purpose flour (sifted, then measured)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt


Coconut Batter : Measure 1/3 cup flaked cocount; cover and set aside. Place remaining coconut and sugar in processor, finely chop. Add cream of coconut and cream cheese to processor and blend well. Add egg, almond extract, lemon juice, and salt and blend well, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of bowl. Transfer to bowl. Cover and refrigerate until very firm, about 3 hours.


Chocolate Batter : Butter a 9x9x2-inch metal baking pan. Melt butter with chocolate in heavy small saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth. Pour into medium bowl. Cool to lukewarm. Whisk in eggs and vanilla. Whisk sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt in small bowl; sift over chocolate mixture. Mix until blended and smooth. Spread 1-1/4 cups chocolate batter in prepared pan (cover and refrigerate remaining batter). Cover pan tightly with aluminium foil. Refrigerate batter until very firm, about 3 hours.


Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 325F. Alternate 1 tablespoon remaining chocolate batter and 1 tablespoon coconut batter over chocolate layer, filling pan completely. Sprinkle reserved 1/3 cup flaked coconut over coconut mounds; press gently to adhere. Cover pan tightly with foil.


Bake 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake until tester inserted in center of 1 chocolate mound comes out almost clean, about 40 minutes. Cool brownies completely in pan on rack.


Do Ahead : Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover brownies tightly and store at room temperature.


Cut into squares.


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Brownie Buttons : Free and Easy Bake-Along No. 16 - Theme : Brownies

I am late for my own Bake-Along "Brownie" posting. I was absent for a week as there was some personal matters that I have got to attend to and now that everything is fine, I can't help thinking about baking something! So here's my brownie!

This is a fairly easy brownie to make, really quick, it was done in about 20 minutes. It has a moist and soft cake-like texture. Do not skip the white choc coating, I think it taste better with the white chocolate.

If you have not visited my baking buddies Lena and Zoe, do hop over to their blogs and see their lovely brownies. Also please do visit our other baking friends delicious brownies,  in the linky below. For our next Bake-Along, we will be baking Cherry Vanilla Teacake with Vanilla Sugar, from Bon Appetit Desserts cookbook, or you may get the recipe here.  We will post it on 30/01 and our linky will stay open for 5 days, please do join us. See you!

Brownie Buttons
(adapted from "Baking From My Home To Yours" by Dorie Greenspan)
Grated zest of 1/2 orange (optional)
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
2-1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar (I use scant 1/3 cup, loosely packed)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg


For the glaze (optional)
2 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped


GETTING READY :

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter two miniature muffin pans, each with a dozen cups, and place them on a baking sheet.

If you're using the orange zest, combine the zest and sugar in a small bowl, rubbing them between your fingertips to blend, set aside. Whisk together the flour and salt.

Melt the butter, chocolate and brown sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over very low heat, stirring frequently with a heatproof spatula and keeping an eye on the pan so nothing overheats or burns. When the mixture is smooth, remove from the heat and cool for a minute or two.

Stir the vanilla, egg and the zest, if you're using it, into the chocolate mixture. When the mixture is well blended, add the flour and stir only until it is incorporated. You should have a smooth, glossy batter.

Spoon the batter into 16 of the muffin cups, using about a teaspoon of batter to fill each cup three-quarters full. Put 1 teaspoon of water in each empty cup.

Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, or until the tops of the buttons spring back when touched. Transfer the pans to racks to cool for 3 minutes before carefully releasing the buttons. Cool to room temperature on the racks.

TO MAKE THE OPTIONAL GLAZE :

Melt the chocolate in a small heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir constantly and don't leave the chocolate for even a minute - white chocolate scorches easily. As soon as the chocolate is smooth, remove from the heat.

One by one, dip the tops of the buttons into the chocolate, twirling the buttons so that you get a little swirl at the center of each one and the excess chocolate drips back into the bowl. Refrigerate the buttons for 15 minutes to set the glaze.

kitchen flavours notes :
Watch out for the baking time, mine was done in about 10 minutes.

Rocky Road Brownie And Award

These brownies are really good. It is  first baked, with the topping scattered over the top during the last 5 minutes of baking. What's not to love about brownies, especially when chocolates and marshmallows comes together, heavenly!

I doubled up the recipe using the recommended 9" baking pan. The brownie bakes beautifully, it is only about 1-1/2 inches high. Except for the sugar, I only use half the sugar called for, and it is just perfect. The ingredients for the topping remains the same amount, as I used the 9" square baking pan as advised, though I did add a little more marshmallows and walnuts. 

I baked this doubled recipe for 30 minutes and a further 6-7 minutes after the marshmallow, chocolate chips and nuts topping are scattered over the top.

Once baked, let it cool for 10 to 15 minutes or so, then by all means, indulge, you don't have to wait for them to cool down completely! These taste really good when it is still warm with the marshmallows soft and gooey and the chocolate soft and melting!

Rocky Road Brownies
(adapted from "Cookies &' Treats" Favourite Brand Names)
Makes 1-1/2 dozen brownies
1 cup miniature marshmallows 
1-1/4 cups Hershey's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine 
1 cup sugar (for double recipe, remain as 1 cup sugar)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Heat oven to 350F. Grease 9-inch square baking pan.
2. Stir together marshmallows, chocolate chips and nuts; set aside. Place butter in large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH (100% power) 1 to 1-1/2 minutes or until melted. Add sugar, eggs and vanilla, beating with spoon until well blended. Add flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt, blend well. Spread batter in prepared pan.
3. Bake 22 minutes. Sprinkle chocolate chips mixture over top. Continue baking 5 minutes or until marshmallows have softened and puffed slightly. Cool completely. With wet knife, cut into squares.

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Awards!

I would like to thank Sonali of Only Fish Recipes  and Jay from Tasty Appetite for passing on the award to me. 

Sonali of Only Fish Recipes has a wonderful blog with delicious curries of fish that makes you want to go right into the kitchen to get that curry going. If you are looking for delicious fish recipes, give her blog a visit and you will keep going back for fish dishes inspirations. 

Jay from Tasty Appetite, has a wonderful blog with mouth-watering yummies. Her varieties on Indian food and desserts are really fantastic! A sneak into her site will bring you back again, definitely.

Rules:
1.Accept the award. Post it in your blog with the name of the blogger who has given u this award with a link to his/her blog.
2.Pass it on to 15 other blogger friends…. to keep the ball rolling.
3.Let the nominated blogger know about their award [leave a comment in their most recent post].

I would like to pass on the above award to the following fabulous blogs, at random order :

1. Ann from Apples and Twinkies
2. Ah Tze from Away Of Mind
3. Duxa from Cozinhadaduxa
4. Rosita from Barato y Rico
5. K from Cooking With K
6. Parsley Sage from The Deep Dish
7. Amy from uTry. it
8. Catherine from Living the Gourmet
9. Mary from Keep Learning Keep Smiling
10. Alessandra from Alessandra Zecchini
11. Cooking Gallery
12. Juliana from Simple Recipes
13. Michelle from Sweet Luvin' In The Kitchen
14. Gwen from Simply Healthy Family
15. Lena from Lemon n Spice

Please do pay a visit to these fabulous blogs. You'll make some new foodie pals and you will be glad you did!

Thank you !

Cherry, Chocolate and Kahlua Brownies

Baked this delicious brownies and while they are still warm, three quarters of it are gone in less than half an hour! My nieces and nephew came for a visit and thought I bake something chocolaty, their favorite. These brownies are perfect! I would suggest using a slightly bigger pan as when the brownies are baked, it really puffed up in the centre. And as usual, I reduced the amount of sugar used, from the original 500gm to 280gm, believe me, it is sweet enough! The brownies turned out really good, with a delightful Kahlua liquor taste, moist and chocolaty. This would definitely go on my 'to-do-again' list!

I'm sharing this with Recipe Swap Thursday at Prairie Story

Cherry, Chocolate and Kahlua Brownies

(adapted from "Brownies and Bars" by Liz Franklin)
Makes 15
Preparation Time : 1 hour, plus 30 minutes soaking
You will need a lightly buttered roasting tin or cake tin measuring 20x30cm/8x12inches

100g/3-1/2 oz dried cherries (I use dried cranberries)
4-5 tablespoons Kahlua
250g/9oz butter
500g/1 lb 2oz caster sugar (I use 280gm)
100g/3-1/2oz dark chocolate
60g/2-1/4oz cocoa powder
4 eggs, beaten
125g/4-1/2oz self-raising flour

Soak the cherries in the Kahlua for 30 minutes or so.
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
Melt the butter, sugar, chocolate and cocoa powder together. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.
Stir the eggs into the chocolate mixture and then fold in the flour. Stir in the cherries and soaking liquid.
Spoon into the prepared tin, and then bake for 35 minutes or so, until just firm but still slightly fudgy.
Leave to cool in the tin and then cut into squares. Store them in an airtight container.

Rum & Raisin Brownies

Moist and delightful. The rum makes a difference. There is this wonderful smell and a light taste of the rum, which I think is just nice, and not too overwhelming. The contents of the sugar, however, is too much, for me anyway. I cannot bring myself to mix in 500gm of sugar in a cake, brownie included! They may contain more chocolate and therefore more sugar is needed to balance off the bitter taste of chocolate, but 500gm?? I reduced it to 200gm initially, and as I melted the butter, sugar and cocoa powder, I add in more sugar gradually until the sweetness is just right, and stopped at 300gm, no more! And I have not used this much of sugar in a cake before! (feeling guilty as it is!) The result is a moist and delicious, not-to-sweet rum and raisin brownie.

Rum and Raisin Brownies(adapted from "brownies & bars" by Liz Franklin)
Makes 15
Preparation Time : 1 hour, plus 30 minutes soaking. You will need a lightly buttered roasting tin or cake tin measuring 20 x 30 cm/8 x 12 inches

Ingredients :50 gm /1-3/4 oz raisins
3 tbsp rum
250 gm / 9 oz butter
500 gm /1 lb 2 oz caster sugar (I only use 300gm)
100 gm / 3-1/2 oz cocoa powder
4 eggs, beaten
100 gm / 3-1/2 oz self-raising flour
100 gm / 3-1/2 oz walnuts, roughly chopped
Method :

1. Pour the rum over the raisins and set them aside to soak for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Melt the butter, sugar and cocoa powder together. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.
3. Stir in the eggs into the cocoa mixture and fold in the flour. Stir in the raisins and soaking liquid, together with the walnuts. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 35 minutes, or until just firm but still slightly fudgy.
4. Leave to cool in the tin and then cut into squares. Store in an airtight container.

Extra-Nutty Brownies

Brownies! How anyone resist the temptation of brownies! Especially if you are a chocoholic, the sight of a chocolate covered brownies is enough to make you drool! Well, drool no more, make a batch of this and savour to your hearts content. Forget about the calories, the fats, the sugars, just this once! If you feel guilty about it, then eat a slice, maybe two, giveaway the rest to your friends or a neighbour (make sure that the person you're giving to really appreciate chocolates!, otherwise it will be sitting in their refrigerator until the next "fridge-spring-clean"!!!)

These Extra-Nutty Brownies are really delicious. If you like them sticky and fudgy, follow the baking time indicated, otherwise, bake them a little longer. As for me, I like them a little bit set, more like a cake texture, but not quite! So I bake them 10 minutes longer. This recipe calls for extra nuts on the chocolate icing, but I omitted them, since both my daughter and myself are not exactly crazy over nuts. I like nuts, but too much of it, dominates the flavour and texture of the whole cake. You'll be chewing with bits and pieces of the nuts rather than the cake itself! But if you are nuts over nuts, then by all means, indulge! The choc icing is a little too sweet for me, even though I reduced the sugar. I think the next time (yes, I will definitely be baking this again!), I'm gonna try bitter chocolate topping with no sugar.

Extra-Nutty Brownies
(adapted from "brownies" by Linda Collister)
"Walnuts have a creamy, bittersweet taste that contrasts well with the sweetness of the brownie mixture. Here, there is a high proportion of walnuts to mixture, plus a fudgy walnut topping. For a deeper flavour toast the nuts for 10 minutes in the oven before adding to both the brownie and topping mixtures."

Ingredients :
100gm good quality plain chocolate
115gm unsalted butter
200gm light brown muscovado sugar (1 use 170gm)
1/2 tsp real vanilla essence
2 large free-range eggs, lightly beaten
100gm plain flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
150gm walnut pieces

Icing :
50gm good-quality plain chocolate
50gm unsalted butter
2 tbsp milk
100gm icing sugar (I use 70gm)
50gm walnut pieces

a brownie tin, 20.5 x 25.5cm, greased and base-lined

Method :

1. Preheat the oven to 180C (350F) Gas 4. Break up chocolate and put it in a heatproof mixing bowl with the butter. Set the bowl over a pan of steaming water and melt gently, stirring frequently.
2. Remove the bowl from the pan and stir in the sugar and vanilla. Add the eggs and beat well with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together as a smooth batter.
3. Sift the flour and cocoa into the bowl and stir in. When thoroughly combined stir in the nuts. Transfer the mixture to the prepared tin and spread evenly.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until just firm to the touch. Remove the tin from the oven. Leave to cool completely then carefully remove the brownie from the tin.
5. Meanwhile make the icing : melt the chocolate and butter as above. Remove the bowl from the pan and stir in the milk.
6. Sift the cocoa and icing sugar into the bowl and stir in. When thick and smooth stir in the nuts. Spread the icing over the cooled, baked brownie.
7. Once the topping is firm, cut the brownie into 20 pieces. Store in an airtight container and eat within 4 days.