Banana Fudge Brownies

If you like fudgy brownies, you have to try these! The mashed up bananas I added to the batter make them incredibly moist. And the fruit flavor is a perfect balance to the sweet from sugar and chocolate.

The recipe is simple too, easy enough for kids, and a good lesson too, not just on cooking but on how to avoid food waste. I made these when I had two soft, older bananas — no one was going to eat them out of hand and they weren’t enough for banana bread.

Makes a memorable treat on Valentine’s Day.

Banana Fudge Brownies

• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate (1 cup of chips)

• 1/2 cup butter

• 1 cup sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 medium bananas, cut into small pieces

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8" or 9” square baking pan. Melt the chocolate and butter together in the top part of a double boiler over barely simmering water. When the ingredients have melted, blend them thoroughly. Remove the pan from the heat and separate the top part of the double boiler from the bottom. Combine the sugar and eggs in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer set at medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until the mixture is as thick and pale. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and vanilla extract and stir to blend them in. Add the chocolate mixture and blend it in thoroughly. Fold in the banana pieces. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Let the brownies cool in the pan. Cut into 16 pieces.

Makes 16

Valentine's Day Chocolate Fudge Brownies

I have told my husband not to buy me chocolate candy for Valentine's Day.

Sure, I love the thought, not to mention the taste (he knows how much I love buttercrunch!!!!!!).

But really, I need to NOT EAT candy for a variety of reasons including the number I see on the scale when I weigh myself each morning.

For Valentine's Day I am going to make brownies, which will be sufficient for the two of us to celebrate with a piece or two, then give the rest away to a friend of mine who loves sweets.

Then it will all be gone, we will have had a delicious, but calorie-limited Valentine's Day and that will be that until the next occasion.

 

Valentine's Day Chocolate Fudge BROWNIES

• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 1/3 cup butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8" square baking pan.  Melt the chocolate and butter together in the top part of a double boiler set over barely simmering water. When the ingredients have melted, blend them thoroughly and remove the pan from the heat. Combine the eggs and sugar in a large bowl and beat them 2-3 minutes or until the mixture is thick and pale. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and stir this mixture into the chocolate mixture. Stir in the vanilla extract and nuts, if used. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool the brownies in the pan. Cut them into 16 squares.

Makes 16

Saint Cupcake’s Brownie Cookies

Saint Cupcake’s Chocolate Cookies

Why bother with any other recipe this Valentine’s Day? That’s what I realized. These cookies, which I baked last weekend, were so good that my husband devoured almost the entire batch. He did leave some for a couple of workmen who happened to be at our house making some repairs on the oven. But I am about to make another batch. Or two. So I know I will have some available.

I got the recipe from Sprinklefingers, a tumblr blog I follow. The woman who writes the Sprinklefingers blog is an energetic, interesting person who lives in Portland, Oregon, and has this fabulous bakery called Saint Cupcake (actually there are two bakeries now). I say fabulous because the photos and the menu of goodies looks fabulous. I’ve never been there or met the woman, Jami Curl, who owns it and writes the blog. The place and the woman are clear across the country from me.

But I do know that all the posts are interesting and the recipes wonderful.

So the other day I tried her recipe for Chocolate Brownie Cookies. All I can say is: these are not to be missed. The cookies are awesome. Perfect for Valentine’s Day. Or any other day actually.

I made one batch of the larger cookies, one batch of the smaller. I prefer the smaller (then you don’t feel so guilty eating two).

I changed the way Jami’s recipe is written to conform to the way I write recipes, so maybe I should say it is adapted. But the ingredients and instructions are exactly the same. Maybe I should have this blurb like they do on TV when they say a movie has been edited to be formatted for your TV screen.

Saint Cupcake’s Brownie Cookies

• 4 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

• 2 large eggs plus one large egg yolk

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (or grease the sheet lightly). Melt the butter and chocolate together in the top part of a double boiler. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to let ingredients cool. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder together in a bowl and set aside. Beat the eggs, egg yolk, sugar and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium speed until well blended, about 5 minutes. Fold the cooled chocolate mixture into the egg mixture until thoroughly blended. Add the flour mixture and vanilla and blend them in thoroughly. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes. Use a 2-ounce scoop to form a rounded mound and place on the prepared cookie sheet. Leave space between the cookies for expansion. Bake for 15-17 minutes. OR, use a smaller (one-ounce scoop) and bake for about 10-12 minutes. Cookies should be cracked, with moist looking ingredients inside the cracks.

Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies

If desserts were football, who would win the Superbowl: brownies or chocolate chip cookies? 

Brownies seduce you from the first dizzying perfume they give off as they bake to the last caress of tender crumbs on your lips. They are edible magnets of melted chocolate mixed with just enough ingredients to give them some form. Brownies are winners for sure. 

But chocolate chip cookies! Mmmm. Buttery and tender, with a compelling crisp edge and oozy half-melted, half-firm chocolate melting on your tongue. Aren’t they the champions of all cookies, outshining all others? The classic you call on when you want to be on top of your game?

At a bake sale, which outsells the other, brownies or chocolate chip cookies?

If you serve either or both, brownies or chocolate chip cookies, are any left over and if so, which ones?

Maybe it’s time to find out. Serve both on Superbowl Sunday. Or on Valentine’s Day. Or anytime. Here’s a recipe for Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies. But there’s another recipe for classic fudge brownies here and click on the link above for a recipe for the best chocolate chip cookies ever. 

Then let me know which won.

Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1 cup butter

2 1/2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped nuts

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13-by-9-inch baking pan. Put the chocolate and butter together in the top part of a double boiler set over barely simmering water. Stir 3 to 4 minutes or until the chocolate has melted. When the butter and chocolate have melted and are blended, stir in 2 cups sugar and 3 eggs. Whisk ingredients thoroughly.

Add the flour, salt, nuts and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and stir in the ingredients with a large wooden spoon. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla until thoroughly blended. Place blobs of the cream cheese mixture over the top of the chocolate batter. Cut through the cheese, making swirls and designs with the chocolate.

Bake about 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool. Cut into bars with a sharp knife dipped into hot water. Refrigerate brownies. Makes 32 to 40 brownies.

So which wins the Superbowl of desserts, brownies or chocolate chip cookies?

Dark Chocolate Brownies

Can you eat just one piece of chocolate? My brother Jeff can. He eats one piece every day. He says it satisfies his craving, that he doesn’t need more than his little daily nibble.

This is quite a statement coming from someone who can’t hold back at all when it comes to bread. 

But I am sure Jeff will be thrilled to know about this article, which speaks to the benefits of chocolate, specifically dark, bittersweet chocolate. 

It sounds almost too good to be true. But, at least according to what I read here, there’s evidence that dark chocolate fights cancer, heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure. It has antioxidants and flavanoids that fight free radicals and may protect us from aging too quickly and from Alzheimer’s disease. And it also may help improve your vision.

Holy cow! Get me some of this stuff now!

My mother always said my brother Jeff was smart.

Of course the article does say not to overdo the chocolate thing. Be more like Jeff. Just a small portion each day.

So maybe just one piece of these brownies every day? (Freeze the leftovers)

Btw, these would be nice for Valentine’s Day. Or anytime, really.

Dark Chocolate Brownies

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate

8 ounces unsalted butter

3 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped nuts or semisweet chocolate chips, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking dish. Melt the chocolate and butter together in the top part of a double boiler set over barely simmering water. Stir, remove the top part of the pan from the heat and let cool. Beat the eggs and sugar together in a mixer at medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until the mixture is thick and pale. Add the chocolate mixture and vanilla extract and blend them in thoroughly. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt, add to the batter and blend thoroughly. Fold in the nuts or chocolate chips, if used. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs clinging. Let cool and cut.

Makes 16-20 pieces

Chocolate Chip Brownies

School’s out. Make brownies.

If you have a kid or a grandkid, make brownies with the kid or grandkid. That way you get delicious dessert, delicious photos and delicious memories.

This picture shows my granddaughter Nina, almost 4, after making a batch of our favorite chocolate-chip brownies. Her brother and cousins weren’t at my house so she had the beaters, spatula, wooden spoon and bowl all to herself.

Check out the jewelry. She was wearing her finest plastic rubies, sapphires and diamonds.

Here’s the recipe;

Chocolate Chip Brownies

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 large eggs

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking pan. Put the chocolate and butter in the top part of a double boiler over barely simmering water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter have melted. Stir to blend the ingredients thoroughly. Remove the top part of the double boiler from the bottom pan and set it aside to cool. Combine the eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat them with an electric beater set at medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until thick, light and well-blended. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and blend ingredients thoroughly. Stir in the vanilla extract. Add the chocolate-butter mixture and blend ingredients thoroughly. Stir in the chocolate chips. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 28 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the brownies in the pan. Cut into 16 squares. Makes 16