Bakin' Brownies

   In honor of the holidays I decided to bake Peppermint Stick Brownies for my family and friends! In many different areas around the world you can almost guarantee the presence of brownies in parties for people of all ages. Thanks to the book Cookies Cookies Cookies By Shelli McConnell I figured out a way to bake brownies for my family and friends and add a little holiday spin on them!

A sample of how the final product
will turn out to be 

Ingredients Needed:

• 1 & 1/2 cups all purpose flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1 & 1/4 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup margarine or butter
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 
• 1 cup milk
• 3/4 cup mint-flavored chocolate pieces 
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans 
• Fudge Frosting 
• 1/2 cup broken peppermint sticks or coarsely crushed striped round peppermint candies 

Recipe 

Step 1: Pour and stir together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Step 2: In a large sauce pan combine the sugar, margarine or butter, and cocoa powder. Place sauce pan over medium heat and stir constantly until margarine or butter is melted. Remove from heat.

Step 3: Add eggs and vanilla into the same sauce pan from step 2. Use a wooden spoon and lightly beat just till combined (don't overbeat).

Step 4: Add the milk and the newly formed chocolate mixture alternately (adding in the two new substances in small amounts while switching between the two). Beating after each addition. 

Step 5: Stir in chocolate pieces and walnuts or pecans. Spread batter into a greased baking pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-28 minutes or till a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Step 5: Stir in chocolate pieces and walnuts or pecans. Spread batter into a greased baking pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-28 minutes or til wooden tooth pick inserted near center comes out clean.

 Step 6: Cool brownies in pan or wire rack. Frost with Fudge Frosting. Sprinkle with crushed peppermint. Cut into desired bars.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Step 6: Cool brownies in pan or wire rack. Frost with Fudge Frosting. Sprinkle with crushed peppermint. Cut into desired bars.

Want your brownies to have even more holiday spirit then it already does? Shelli McConnell has created a way for that very thing to be possible, "here's a secret, mint-flavored chocolate pieces are nestled in the center of these chocolaty brownies" (McConnell 16). My loved ones fell in love with the sweet surprise that was found in every delicious peppermint stick brownie, and because of that I can promise that your loved ones will too! 

Did you bake anything special for your loved ones in honor of the holidays?

If so what did you bake? Did your family enjoy it?

Happy Holidays Everyone!

McConnell, Shelli. Meredith Corporation. Des Moines: Meredith Corporation, 1992. Print.

トリプルチョコレートチップクッキー (TRIPLE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES) <(^.^<)

                         


                          Hi, welcome to this blog. Enjoy my journey into cooking and baking.
                             
           I love cookies, and I love chocolate. When I saw this recipe, it was a match made in heaven.
          In the cookbook "The taste of home cookbook" by Readers Digest, Paula Zsiray's recipe says "My daughter was awarded first prize in the cookie division of a local Chocolate Festival with this                                  recipe. We think the scrumptious cookies are a winner, too!" (Page 545)  
                                  These cookies butter be good. (Ha get it? Butter? No? Okay...)

                                                                        YOU'LL NEED:

                                             -1 cup or 6 ounces of semisweet chocolate chips                                                                                          -1/4 cup butter, preferably softened                                                                                                           -1 and 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour

                                                        - 6 tablespoons of canola oil
                                                        -3/4 cup packed brown sugar
                                                        -1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
                                                         -1 cup white chocolate chip
                                                        -1/4 teaspoon baking powder                                      
                                                    -1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
                                                                   -1/2 cup sugar
                                                                        -2 eggs

                                                Things are about to get sticky... literally.

                                                        This recipe yields 42 cookies                                                                        
Step 1: mix the sugars with the butter and oil and beat them together until it looks like wet brown sugar
                 
Step 2: add the eggs and the vanilla extract to the mix and beat the new mixture until it looks like a nice brown gooey soup
                     
Step 3: take the flour, baking powder, and cocoa powder and sift it together

Step 4: take half of the dry mixture and mix it in the wet batter (preferably hand mixed at this point)

Step 5: take the other half of the dry mixture and dump it in the batter
         
Step 6: now fold in the semisweet chocolate chips and the white chocolate chip in the batter

OVEN INSTRUCTIONS:
-preheat oven to 350° F
-spoon the cookies on a baking sheet
-bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes depending on how you like your cookies

                                                                           (Step 1)

(Step 2)

(Step 4) 

(Step 6)

(baking the cookies)

(Final product)

I liked these cookies because it was so chocolatey, and was really easy to make. The recipe states that it'd make 42 cookies, but I only had 29. I think this is because I like my cookies a medium size, while their cookies look like they were just a small dollop when they put it in the oven. If you want the full amount, you should use a spoonful of batter, unless you have a preferable size for a cookie. If you do make the cookie bigger, the time may increase to 15 minutes or higher. You can tell the cookie is done when the outside is crispy and the inside isn't gooey. 

I would rate these cookies 8/10 because of how I made them because the texture wasn't right for me. For difficulty, I feel like this cookie gets a 2/10 because it was really simple and was just a process of adding ingredients to a bowl and baking it afterwards. Overall, I found that this process was fun because to me, cooking and baking is a relaxant to the stress of school and other issues outside of school. 

What do you do to relax from stress?  Would you make this cookie in the future?                          Leave it in the comments below!

 C is for.... COOKIESSSSSS NOM NOM NOM :3

Zsiray, Paula. "Cookies & Bars." The Taste of Home Cookbook: From the World's #1 Cooking Magazine. Greendale, WI: Reiman Media Group, 2010.