Delicious Brownies

I made these babies the other day.

Then, two days later, I made them again to make sure I hadn’t been dreaming before and they really tasted like heaven.

And they did.

Again.

Just like heaven!

When it comes to their structure, they have it all. They are something between cakey and fudgy, slightly more on the fudgy side, with just a little chewiness to them. When I think about it (which is a little difficult after eating so many), these brownies have a strong potential to satisfy just about anyone. So any camp you are in – the cakey, fudgy or chewy one, these are great for you!

Now let me just run to the kitchen to grab another one before I show you how I was making them…

…Okay, thanks for your patience, I’m back now. YUM!

This is the list of ingredients.

 
 

1. To make your own Brownies, first preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C).

 
2. Line the bottom and two sides of a 13 x 9-inch (33 x 22 cm) baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the two sides. Butter the paper and set the pan aside.

Lining a baking pan this way is just gorgeous. It allows you to remove the baked stuff out of the pan in the most easy way. I find it the best invention right after wheel. Yes, that’s exactly what I think!

 
 

3. In a small bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

 
 

Just like this.

I was a naughty girl and didn’t sift the cocoa. But next time I will, I promise!

 
 

4. Now chop the chocolate roughly.

Or just brake it. Or just throw it against your counter top and watch it break into a million pieces (sorry, I just got slightly carried away).

 
 

5. Now place the chocolate and the butter into a heatproof bowl and set it over a pot of simmering water.

The bottom of the bowl shouldn’t be touching the water since what we want to do here is just gently melt these two ingredients.

 

6. Heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth, for about 3 minutes. Then remove the bowl from the pot.

 
 

7. Add sugar and mix to combine.

 

8. Then add the eggs and, again, mix to combine.

 
 

9. Finally, add the flour mixture and mix just until moistened (do not overmix).

 
 

10. Transfer the batter to your prepared pan. Using and offset spatula or just a spoon, smooth the top.

 

11. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the batter/brownies comes out clean (or with a few moist crumbs attached).

 

12. Cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Using the paper overhang, lift brownies out of the pan and transfer to a rack to cool completely (still on the paper).

 

13. On a cutting board cut into squares.

 
 

Yum-yum!

Enjoy, dear friends!

 

And if, by any chance, you end up with some leftovers, store them in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 2 days.

 

(This recipe was loosely adapted from Martha Stewart. It takes about 1 hour to prepare and yields 24 2-inch/5cm squares.)

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How I Wrapped The Cookie Lollipops

Lately I’ve made some yummy cookie lollipops.

In case you wonder how to wrap a cookie lollipop I’ll show you.

It’s really easy!

All you need is a piece of cellophane, some transparent duct tape, some lovely colorful ribbons and a pair of scissors.

That’s all.

1. First you cut a rectangle out of the cellophane.

My cookies were 3- inches (7 cm) wide and had 7-inches (15 cm) long sticks put in them.

For these measurements I used a 7×6 inches (17×15 cm) cellophane rectangle.

Place the lolly onto the cellophane – with its front side facing downwards.

2. Fold the left side…

3. … then the right side and seal it with a strip of the duct tape.

4. Then fold the top side of the cellophane rectangle and use some duct tape again to seal it.

5. Now we’ve created a nice little sleeve for our lovely cookie (I wanted the sleeve to be a little shorter here so I cut it a bit).

6. To give it the last touch tie the ribbon around the stick tightly.

You can even make a bow if you feel like it.

Lovely!

I’m sure everyone will be amazed by your wonderful cookie lollies!

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Cookie Lollipops!

Would you like a cookie lollipop?

Have one, I’ve got many.

Aaaa, you want to have your own ones.

OK then…  I’ll show you how to make them…

~~~

This is what you need:

1 1/2 cups (340 grams) unsweetened butter, room temperature

1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar

2 eggs

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon salt

5 cups (650 grams) all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface

food coloring, in various colors

~~~

1. First we need the butter and the sugar.

Place these ingredients into the bowl of your electric mixer…

2. … and mix them together for about two minutes.

3. Now we add the eggs and the vanilla extract and beat again until it’s light and fluffy.

4. Add the teaspoon of salt and mix again.

5. And then add the flour gradually. Slowly, slowly, we don’t want all kitchen covered in flour.

Mix until all of it has been incorporated.

6. Turn the dough onto your work surface and gather it into a ball.

Divide it into smaller balls – one for each color.

And this is how to color the dough:

7. Place the dough you want to color into the bowl of your electric mixer and pour the coloring onto it (it’s fine to follow the instructions on the food color because some may be stronger than the others).

8. And mix, mix, mix just until it looks OK.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and form a ball again.

9. Wrap each ball into plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 2-3 hours.

I decided to have two bigger balls – white and red – for marble lollipops and some cookie candy canes…

… and three smaller ones – white, green and red – for lollipops with cut out shapes in them.

10. When the dough is cooled you can preheat an oven to 350 F (176 C).

11. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

As I’ve already mentioned, this time I used the dough to make three kinds of cookies – the marble lollipops, cookie candy canes and cookie lollipops with cut out  shapes.

And this is how I made the marble lollies:

12. I rolled out the white and red dough and placed one onto the other.

Then I gently formed it into a ball again and rolled it out (into the thickness of about 1/4-inch-0,6cm).

13. And now – using a round cutter (I used 3-inch/7,5 cm cutter) – cut out round shapes.

14. Transfer the cookies onto the prepared baking sheet.

Then take a stick and put it into the cookie gently – up to 2/3 of its diameter.

When the cookies bake the stick will adhere to them – isn’t that just great?

I used a 6-inch (15 cm) stick for a 3-inch (7 cm) cookie (if you have a longer stick don’t worry – they can easily be cut or broken).

These want to be baked right now.

15. Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes and remove from the oven.

Let cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes.

And here they are, beauties, out of the oven.

Yaaay!

Mmmmm, and they smell sooooo good!

Then I made some candy cane cookies – just a few.

16. Form balls from the white and red dough.

Then make ropes out of them by rolling them back and forth on a lightly floured surface.

Place one red and one white rope side by side,  press them together lightly and twist them.

17. Place them on the cookie sheet and curve top of the cookies down to form the handle of a cane.

Bake for 12-13 minutes.

18. And the third awesome lollipop cookies are very similar to the first ones.

Roll out the balls of three different colors (to about 1/4-inch – 0,6 cm thickness) and cut out rounds shapes.

Transfer the shapes onto the baking sheet.

19. Oh, just look at this, isn’t it just great?

Cut out various smaller shapes from the round cookies and and insert them into the cookies of a different color.

It’s so easy yet so wonderful.

Bake for about 12 minutes.

I like them so much…

I like them all – can’t stop looking at them (and I also can’t stop eating them – so yummy they are).

And then I went on and wrapped the lovely lollies but that’s another story for another day…

Enjoy!

(This recipe makes about 35 cookies.)

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Thumbprint Cookies

Thumbprint Cookies – you may also know them as Polish Tea Cakes or Butterballs.

Combining all things people love so much – butter, nuts and jam – they are classic and favorite cookies for any occasion.

And you know what? They are also really easy to make –  just have a look!

~~~

To prepare the Thumbprint Cookies you need:

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup (140 grams) all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (100 grams) walnuts (or hazelnuts or almonds or pecans)

1/2 cup jam (any flavor you like)

~~~

1. Preheat an oven to 350 F (176 C).

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the nuts on the sheet.

3. Toast the nuts for about 10 minutes.

4. Remove the nuts from the oven and let cool.

Then chop them finely and place them into a bowl.

Nice!

5. Now let’s make the dough.

In the bowl of your electric mixer mix the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

6. Separate the egg and add the egg yolk to the batter.

Add the vanilla extract.

And then add the flour and salt to the batter and beat until just combined.

7. On a lightly floured surface form a log from the dough and cut it into about 12 – 15 equal pieces.

8. Form a ball from each piece and refrigerate for about 30 minutes (the balls will be easier to work with when refrigerated).

9. In a bowl whisk the egg white until frothy.

10. Dip a ball into the whisked egg white…

11. … and then roll in the nuts lightly.

Place the balls onto the prepared baking sheet spacing about 1 inch (2,5 cm) apart.

12. And now the funny part!

Take one well-built thumb and make an indentation into the center of each cookie.

13. Using a teaspoon, fill the cookie with the jam (if you want to make it more neat you can use a pastry bag or – like me – a small plastic bag with one corner cut off).

14. Bake for about 13-15 minutes.

Remove from the oven, place on a wire rack and let cool.

If you are planning to make these cookies in advance, you can bake them without the jam filling (in that case, reduce the baking time by a few minutes). They can be stored for about one week and filled with jam the same day as serving.

This recipe makes about 15 cookies.

Enjoy!

(To see more of my posts click this or “Home”.)

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