Crazy Blonde Brownies

My favorite dessert is brownies. They are my Achilles Heel. A couple years ago I use to be able to eat an entire pan without shame or guilt. Lucky for my waistline and thighs I can stop after one and feel satisfied.

This recipe for these Crazy Blonde Brownies comes from the folks at King Arthur Flour. I have read numerous food blogs that have tried out recipes or products and all have received rave reviews. One review going as far as stating, "It's from King Arthur Flour so I already know it's going to be a winner." With reviews about their recipes like this I was convinced I had a winning recipe on my hands.

After giving these Crazy Blonde Brownies a try I am now a loyal supporter of all things King Arthur Flour. These brownies are rich, moist, chocolatey, and have an amazing bite from the toasty walnuts. A brownie worthy of sinking your teeth into. I can't wait for a brownie craving to hit again so I can make these again.

Crazy Blonde Brownies

King Arthur Flour

Makes about 2 dozen 2 inch squares

Stars of the Show:

• 1/2 cup butter or vegetable shortening - I used butter.
• 2 cups brown sugar, lightly packed
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup King Arthur 100% Organic White Whole Wheat Flour
• 3/4 cup King Arthur Unbleached All- Purpose Flour - I used all White Whole Wheat Flour.
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
• 1 cup butterscotch, cinnamon, caramel, macadamia, or chips of your choice - I used chocolate chips since it's what I had on hand.
• 1 cup diced pecans or walnuts - I used walnuts.

And Action:

Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch pan and preheat your oven to 350°F. Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the brown sugar, and stir until the mixture is smooth.

Remove the pan from the heat, pour the butter-sugar mixture into a medium-sized bowl, and allow it to cool to lukewarm. Whisk in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the vanilla extract and salt.

Whisk the flours and baking powder together, then add the dry ingredients to the sugar mixture, stirring to combine. Finally, fold in the chips and nuts.

Spread the mixture evenly in the pan, and bake the brownies for 30 to 35 minutes, until they're light brown on the edges and top.

Irresistible Brownies

I can't explain it. Sometimes I feel like I HAVE to have chocolate. Last night was one of those nights. No, I'm not on "evil". (Mr. Sideline Chef's cutesy name for Mother Nature's visit.) I'm sure the craving for brownies came about after scanning through my Flat Belly Diet! Cookbook and realizing that it was the ONLY recipe in the cookbook that I had all of the ingredients on hand to make. It was meant to happen. These brownies wanted to be made.

Brownies don't make an appearance in our house often for one reason and one reason only... I have NO willpower when a pan of hot-out-of-the-oven brownies are made. I will eat the entire pan without shame. I knowingly make brownies with the understanding that I will be throwing all of my sweat sessions and "diet" plans out the window. I self sabotage willingly. Shamelessly.

"These are diet brownies so I can feel less guilty about eating the entire pan," I tell Mr. Sideline Chef.

"Will you at least save me these two brownies?" He says pointing to the last two brownies in the last row before I went back for them.

Sure enough, this morning the evidence of the empty brownie pan sits on the counter with only the crumbs and knife left and my jeans a little bit tighter in the waist. Worth every bite.

Irresistible Brownies

Flat Belly Diet! Cookbook

Makes 8 Servings

Stars of the Show:

• 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa, sifted if lumpy
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 large egg and 1 large egg white
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

And Action:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8"x8" or 9"x9" baking pan  with cooking spray.

Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

Combine the brown sugar, oil, egg and egg white, and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Whisk until smooth. Pour into the flour mixture and stir until blended. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts. The batter will be stiff.

Spread the batter in a thin layer in the baking pan. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes or until the edges are firm and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean with a few moist crumbs. Place pan on a rack to cool. Cut into 8 bars.

Nutritional Information Per Serving:

MUFA: Walnuts

Calories: 305

Protein: 5 g

Carbohydrates: 31 g

Fat: 22 g

Saturated Fat: 2 g

Cholesterol: 26 mg

Sodium: 73 mg

Fiber: 2 g

Be sure to check out my giveaway for a 12 pack of Element Bars!

Peanut Butter Streusel Brownies

I am on the fence about the way my Peanut Butter Streusel Brownies turned out. I admit it... I have never made brownies from scratch. They have always come from a box. I was asked to bring a dessert for a Thanksgiving dinner we are invited to by Mr. Sideline Chef's supervisor. Ugh! The supervisor's wife and I speak often via Facebook and she knew I was trying out these brownies and encouraged me to bring these. If the recipe turned out I'd be able to sigh a breath of relief knowing that I had one less thing to worry about that day and solely focus on my next biggest task of what to wear.

The original recipe stated to lay foil into the pan I was using and then pour my batter onto it to bake. Any other time I have made brownies before I never had to do this. Being a recipe follower and not a gut instinct follower when it comes to kitchen ventures I did what the instructions told me to do.

At the 50 minute mark my toothpick came out with a few moist crumbs. I let the brownies cool on a wire rack still on the foil for an hour. I bathed the kid while they cooled. The smell of brownies baking and cooling for 2 hours was pure torture. I would of rather been hung by my fingernails than smell them for another minute longer without getting a taste. I rushed my itty bitty to put his bath toys away, whisked him out of the bath, and slipped him into his jammies.

16 servings. 16 servings. I swear I understand serving sizes but brownies are my "Achilles Heel". I only half jokingly say that my itty bitty is made up of spicy and sweet because when I was pregnant food couldn't have been spicy enough and brownies would be made and ate in one night, boxes of cereal and gallons of milk devoured, baby shower cake for breakfast... insert Mr. Sideline Chef's disgust understanding of pregancy cravings here and add 50 pounds to my 4'11" frame. No bueno.

I got the short end of the stick when it came to the full 16 servings. What had happened was... when I went to cut into the brownies starting at, in my opinion, the best part of the brownie, the edges, I couldn't even cut through!!! The damn edges were hard as rocks. Damn it all to hell. Luckily the center was still fudgy peanut buttery deliciousness. Not my favorite part but a close second to the crisp edges. I ended up with 4 brownies. What the fudge?

Yesterday morning I sent my friend to work with a plate of the edges... not the hard parts... I went to the garage and pulled out Mr. Sideline Chef's chisel set... joking. I cut off the hard parts from those 12 servings and gave her a plate of 12 half servings to share with her coworkers. I received a text telling me everyone raved over them. If only they knew.

Another thing that didn't quite turn out but was still successful in the end, if that makes sense, the peanut butter streusel topping. The recipe stated that my topping would be crumbly. Never saw that happen. It was more of a frosting texture but was incredibly tasty. When I bit into the brownie it tasted like a peanut butter cup! Heaven!

Time for a recipe redo minus the foil, my nemesis. The recipe will be a keeper as long as without foil they turn out just right edges this time around.

Peanut Butter Streusel Brownies 

I changed the name. They called them So Good Brownies and a variation for the topping included the Peanut Butter Streusel. My name just gets to the point.

MyRecipes.com and Southern Living, August 2009

Makes 16 servings



Stars of the Show:

• 4 oz unsweetened chocolate baking squares
• 3/4 cup butter - I ran out of butter and substituted with vegetable oil.
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp salt

And Action:

Preheat oven to 350°. *Not sure if this next step is the one we should all skip or not. Testing the theory is still in progress.* Line bottom and side of an 8 inch pan with aluminum foil, allowing 2 to 3 inches to extend over the sides and lightly grease.

Microwave (I did this over the stove top instead.) chocolate squares and butter in a large microwave-safe bowl 1 1/2 to 2 minutes until smooth and melted stirring at 30 second intervals. Stir in the sugars. Add 1 egg at a time, stirring until just blended. Stir in the flour, vanilla extract, and salt.

Pour mixture into prepared pan.

Now for the Peanut Butter Streusel:

Stars of the Show:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp butter - I had to use vegetable oil and now realize this is the reason it probably didn't crumble.
• 1/3 cup chunky peanut butter
• 1/8 tsp salt

And Continuing on with the Action:

Combine the Streusel ingredients together until blended and crumbly. Sprinkle the mixture over the batter. Bake for 50-54 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely on a wire rack for 1 hour. Lift brownies from pan using the foil as handles. Gently remove foil and cut into 16 squares.