Triple Chocolate Brownies - one bowl recipe

There is no such thing as too much chocolate. Double chocolate, chocolate fudge, chocolate truffle, triple chocolate brownies and Death by Chocolate cake and DBC ice-cream etc. etc. are testimony to that sentiment. Don't you agree?

A couple of months back after baking, the chocolate truffle brownies, since I had run out of baking chocolate I went ahead and purchased some Dark, Milk and White chocolate just to keep some on hand. To be honest most of the milk chocolate is already gone, thanks to all the chocolate lovers at home 😋 

When the kids asked to bake something this weekend, I decided I will put the baking chocolate to good use. There are these most dependable no-fail recipes at joyofbaking.com. I have baked a lot of goodies from here, especially brownies. This recipe for Triple Chocolate brownies has been on my bake-again list for a long while now. It is a one-bowl recipe and very simple to bake. So the choice was made. 

Recipe (makes 25 brownies)

Ingredients:

Raw peeled Hazelnuts - 1 cup (optional) see note
Dark chocolate - 115g
Unsweetened dark chocolate - 30g

Cold unsalted butter, diced - 1/2 cup (113g)

Cocoa powder - 2 tbsp
Granulated while sugar - 1 cup

Vanilla extract - 1tsp 
Eggs - 3 large at room temperature

Flour - 3/4 cup
Salt - 1/4 tsp

Note: I used 1/4 cup of dark chocolate chips instead of the hazelnuts. 

Method:

If using hazelnuts, roast them for about 15 mins until slightly brown and fragrant. Let them cool down and chop them coarsely. 

My kids do not prefer nuts in baked goods and hence I omitted them. I used 1/4 cup of chocolate chips instead.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Line a 8" square pan with parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper and keep aside. 

Chop the dark chocolate and unsweetened chocolate finely and add them to the diced butter in a glass bowl. Microwave on low power at 30 second intervals until the butter and chocolate have melted. It is important to keep mixing the butter and chocolate for every iteration of microwaving else the chocolate can get overheated. 

Mix in the cocoa powder and sugar, followed by the vanilla extract. I just used a wire whisk this time. I did not use my hand mixer. 

Add the eggs one at time and mix in until incorporated fully. Finally add the flour and salt and mix. 

If using the nuts or chocolate chips, add in at this stage. 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Use a silicone spatula to smooth out the top. 

Bake for about 20-25 mins. At the 20 min mark, check if a toothpick inserted comes out with a few moist crumbs and stop if done. 

I felt I had over-baked the brownies. I will be sticking to 20 mins next time. 

Let the brownies cool down in the pan for about 5-10 mins and then place on a wire rack to cool. 

Slice them only when they are completely cool about an hour or so. Tough I know with kids hovering around asking if we can slice, but mommies, please stand your ground. It is worth it. 😈

Slice the brownies into 25 squares. I make 25 small squares instead of 16 large squares as it makes nice bite sized pieces. 

Verdict: About half of these were gone on the day they were baked and the rest the second day. Need I say more? 😊

Peanut butter cups

The COVID-19 situation has pushed us out of our comfort zone. Working from home has become the new normal, correction - working from home and schooling kids from home has become the new normal. And that brings about plenty of challenges. Juggling meetings while helping kids with their online classes and their homework, fixing up their meals, answering the door and for a while managing without domestic help, it is these challenges that push us to innovate. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention. 

When the lockdown was imposed, we all stocked up on essentials. I typically have supplies to last a couple of weeks, but a month's lockdown and anticipated further extensions, led me to stock up on atleast two-three months worth of provisions. And I was very apprehensive of not having the children's favourites on hand. Making my little one eat is a challenge. So I really needed to stock up on some of their favourite eats, to I could cater to their whims and fancies. 

Well for starters, I started making bread at home once a week, and kept jam, butter, nutella and other spreads handy. I had pasta sauce and a couple of pasta varieties ready in stock. Not to mention instant noodles were also in stock. 

As folks know with the stock piling and demand for packaged food increasing I was unable to get peanut butter of my choice - American Garden Creamy Peanut butter 

I went in for a different brand, considering natural unsweetened peanut butter would be a good alternative, but my elder one who is usually very adventurous with food, did not like it one bit. 

So I had to find another way to consume it. I found this recipe while looking for something to do with the that box. 

Why not make myself a nice treat with that peanut butter? It will certainly save me some time breakfast. 

Recipe (Makes about 16)

Ingredients:  

Natural creamy peanut butter (unsweetened) - 1 cup (400g) (I used Alpino peanut butter)

Organic Coconut butter - 175 g (I used Dhatu organic coconut butter)

Cocoa powder - 5 tbsp 

Method:

Line muffin cups with aluminium foil liner or paper cupcake liners. Or you can use silicone moulds, and there is no need to line the moulds.

Melt the coconut butter in a microwave safe bowl in 20 second intervals until completely melted. I melted it in the bottle in the microwave. 

Transfer the melted coconut butter to a large bowl. Stir in the peanut butter and cocoa powder. 

Using a tablespoon measure, scoop two tablespoon onto the prepared muffin cups. 

Tap the muffin cups just a bit to settle the mix, smooth on top. Pop them in the fridge for a couple of hours to set. 

Enjoy them when set. 

Store them in airtight containers in the fridge. 

One butter cup is about 215 calories. Just unmould it from the refrigerator and enjoy a quick healthy breakfast. 

Verdict: I loved the creamy richness of these butter cups. It was bitter as I had not added a sweetener, but you can add maple syrup for regular butter cups or a sugar-free sweetener as indicated in the original recipe if you want it as a keto snack. On the other hand you can use sweetened peanut butter. I have not tried the sweet version of this yet. Do let me know how it works.