Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts

Quick and easy (tasty, too!) brownies

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Last night there was a craving for something sweet in the air, and considering that I'm always in a baking mood, I decided to whip up some brownies to satisfy that craving (hey, can't let a sweet tooth go untreated, right?).  I had also been wanting to try something new, so after reading through multiple brownie recipes, I settled on a slightly modified version of Brooke's Best Brownies from allrecipes.com.  The best part was all the ingredients were already in the pantry, so no need for a quick run to the store.

They turned out to be quite tasty - nice and fudgy with a slightly-crackle top.

I started out melting the butter in my Classic Batter Bowl (I am a Pampered Chef junkie from way back) to minimize the dishes.


 Then I added in the sugar and vanilla and mixed (by hand) until combined.


Then, using a whisk, I incorporated the eggs one at a time


until well blended.  Next, I whisked together the flour, cocoa powder and salt in a large bowl



I then slowly poured the sugar mixture into the flour mixture, stirring with a spatula, until all ingredients were combined (but not over-mixed)


From there, I poured the batter into a lightly greased 9x13" pan, spread to the edges


 and baked.  Fortunately they don't take too long to bake, because that scent wafting through the place was almost too much to bear!  The finished product was worth it, though


 The original recipe I used as the basis for this were called "Best", and I don't know that these are the best brownies I've ever tasted in my life; they're a fairly basic recipe.  But what they definitely WERE, were fudgy, yummy, chocolaty, mouthfuls of goodness.  And they definitely hit the spot.


Here's my tweak on the recipe:
1 cup butter, melted
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 T vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups AP flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt

1) Preheat the oven to 350.  Spray a 9x13" pan with cooking spray.
2) Combine the melted butter, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl.  Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition, until well-blended.
3) Whisk together the flour, cocoa and salt in separate large bowl.  Slowly pour the sugar mixture into the flour mixture, stirring well to fully incorporate the ingredients, without over-beating.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly.
4) Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Let cool before cutting (if you can wait that long, and let's be honest - who can?)

Again, these are fairly basic brownies, but that's kind of what is so great about them.  In about 40 minutes from start to finish, you'll have tasty homemade brownies to share with your family.  Or not to share; don't worry, I won't tell if you don't!

McCormick Recipe Inspirations!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Over the past couple of weeks, I've had the opportunity to do some testing for the new McCormick Recipe Inspirations that you can now find in your local grocery store.  Thanks to Gather.com and McCormick, I was provided with four packets of Recipe Inspirations and was asked to prepare the recipes and share my results.  The four Recipe Inspirations I tried and reviewed were:


Here is a picture of the chicken & potatoes to whet your appetite while you read them:

Let me know if any of you try them (they have other Recipe Inspirations, as well) and what you think!

Coming up later today - my new bread obsession.  Stay tuned!

It's been awhile...

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Okay, so it's been awhile forever since I last posted, and I'm sorry!  It's been a little busy around here, and I haven't had as much time for blogging as I would have liked.  But I'm recommitting myself to finding the time to do so.  I've been very busy in the kitchen and I want to share some of the really great things I've found and tried recently.  I'm going to back up a little bit so that I can share a few things with you that I've cooked over the past couple of weeks, and then we'll be current going forward.

Thanks for those who are still hanging in there with me and checking in now and again!

Welcome to Soup's On!

Sunday, January 31, 2010

I love to cook and bake, and am always looking for new recipes and things to try. For 2010, we've decided to try one new soup each week. So each week, I will post the new recipe here. After we try it, I will post the results on how it turned out for us and share our reviews - what was good and not so good, tips on prep, possible modifications for the future. I'm hoping that some of you will choose to try it, as well, and let us know how your families liked them. And if you made any changes that you thought were great, please share those, too!

In addition to the weekly soup, I will sometimes share some additional recipes that are new to us that we try. Again, I'd love any comments on how they worked for you, or what changes you might have made.

The recipes will be ones shared from friends and family, our own creations, and maybe even a cookbook or two. If you have any great soup recipes that you would like for us to try and then post (with proper credit, of course!), we'd be happy to! Just send me a message with the recipe, and we will add it to the list.

I hope you enjoy the soups and making them as much as we are!

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