Last Minute Diwali Sweet Treat : Chocolate Burfi

This post brings you a Diwali (Deepavali) special recipe for my readers from my mom's kitchen, something that's ready in 30 minutes with easily available ingredients. So if you are like me, a totally last minute person, who is sometimes completely unprepared for the festivals that suddenly come up, this is the perfect recipe for you. 

In my usual style, last evening, I kept the pan on the flame and then called my mom, "How do you make your chocolate cake?". In my family, prior to my generation, the only cakes that were made at home were these kinda 'cakes' - or in culinary terms they would be better called 'squares' or 'fudge'. How soft or hard you want the burfi depends on how much time you allow this to be on heat. My recipe gives you an in between consistency, so it cuts into neat squares. If you want it more soft set, try to remove it from flame onto the baking sheet 5 minutes earlier. These burfis are pretty much trial and error, and are a little trickier than baking cakes, but they are fun experience with a fair bit of arm workout, which we all could do with, given how much we end up gorging on during the festive season. 

If you don't have cocoa powder or if you don't prefer chocolate flavour, [wondering if there are such people in the universe;)] you can avoid the cocoa and add powdered cardamom or a few saffron strands towards the end to get plain milk burfi.

So this special recipe from my mom's kitchen, especially for you! Your last minute, go-to Diwali treat recipe :) Happy Diwali from the Saffron Trail Kitchen to you and your loved ones.

For latest updates from my kitchen and to know about the workshops lined up from the Saffron Trail Kitchen, LIKE my facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/saffrontrail

Recipe for Chocolate Burfi (cake)
30 minutes
Makes 16-20 pieces, depending on the size

Ingredients
500 ml milk (3% cow's milk)
1 cup granulated sugar
4 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
1 tbsp rava (semolina, fine is better)
2 tbsp cocoa powder + 3-4 tbsp warm milk

Directions

1. Line a deep dish or a baking tray with a parchment paper or grease with a few drops of ghee and keep aside. A size of 8x4" will do, but if you have a bigger thaali / dish, make sure you don't spread over the entire surface or the burfis will be very thin and fragile.
2. In a heavy bottomed pan, place the milk, sugar, ghee and rava. Bring to boil on a high flame with constant monitoring and stirring. Once it comes to a boil, reduce flame and allow to simmer with reasonably constant stirring to make sure the milk does not burn or catch at the bottom of the pan, or doesn't boil over.
3. After stirring and simmering for around 20 minutes, the milk will turn much thicker, roughly the consistency of dosa / pancake batter. Whisk the cocoa powder in warm milk and pour into the thickening milk with constant stirring.
4. In another 5-8 minutes (continue stirring), the mixture will turn much thicker leaving the sides of the pan. At this point switch off flame, because it will continue to thicken in the residual heat.
5. Pour / transfer the mixture over the greased parchment, taking care to spread over a smaller area if you want thicker burfis.
6. Let this cool for 15 minutes after which you can cut into squares / rectangular bars with a sharp knife or a pizza cutter.
7. Store in airtight container and consume in 3-4 days. Keeping them in the fridge makes them too hard and I personally don't like them cold.

They make excellent homemade gifts on Diwali on any other festival. You could easily double the recipe, using 1 litre of milk. That will take around 45 mins-1 hour to thicken and prepare into burfis.

More Diwali treats from the archives:

Okkarai
Teratti Paal - Milk fudge
Dudhi Halva - bottle gourd fudge
Baked Karanji
5 minute microwaved besan laddoo
Eggless mawa cake
Khaja

Last Minute Diwali Sweet Treat : Chocolate Burfi

Posted by admin

This post brings you a Diwali (Deepavali) special recipe for my readers from my mom's kitchen, something that's ready in 30 minutes with easily available ingredients. So if you are like me, a totally last minute person, who is sometimes completely unprepared for the festivals that suddenly come up, this is the perfect recipe for you. 

In my usual style, last evening, I kept the pan on the flame and then called my mom, "How do you make your chocolate cake?". In my family, prior to my generation, the only cakes that were made at home were these kinda 'cakes' - or in culinary terms they would be better called 'squares' or 'fudge'. How soft or hard you want the burfi depends on how much time you allow this to be on heat. My recipe gives you an in between consistency, so it cuts into neat squares. If you want it more soft set, try to remove it from flame onto the baking sheet 5 minutes earlier. These burfis are pretty much trial and error, and are a little trickier than baking cakes, but they are fun experience with a fair bit of arm workout, which we all could do with, given how much we end up gorging on during the festive season. 

If you don't have cocoa powder or if you don't prefer chocolate flavour, [wondering if there are such people in the universe;)] you can avoid the cocoa and add powdered cardamom or a few saffron strands towards the end to get plain milk burfi.

So this special recipe from my mom's kitchen, especially for you! Your last minute, go-to Diwali treat recipe :) Happy Diwali from the Saffron Trail Kitchen to you and your loved ones.

For latest updates from my kitchen and to know about the workshops lined up from the Saffron Trail Kitchen, LIKE my facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/saffrontrail

Recipe for Chocolate Burfi (cake)
30 minutes
Makes 16-20 pieces, depending on the size

Ingredients
500 ml milk (3% cow's milk)
1 cup granulated sugar
4 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
1 tbsp rava (semolina, fine is better)
2 tbsp cocoa powder + 3-4 tbsp warm milk

Directions

1. Line a deep dish or a baking tray with a parchment paper or grease with a few drops of ghee and keep aside. A size of 8x4" will do, but if you have a bigger thaali / dish, make sure you don't spread over the entire surface or the burfis will be very thin and fragile.
2. In a heavy bottomed pan, place the milk, sugar, ghee and rava. Bring to boil on a high flame with constant monitoring and stirring. Once it comes to a boil, reduce flame and allow to simmer with reasonably constant stirring to make sure the milk does not burn or catch at the bottom of the pan, or doesn't boil over.
3. After stirring and simmering for around 20 minutes, the milk will turn much thicker, roughly the consistency of dosa / pancake batter. Whisk the cocoa powder in warm milk and pour into the thickening milk with constant stirring.
4. In another 5-8 minutes (continue stirring), the mixture will turn much thicker leaving the sides of the pan. At this point switch off flame, because it will continue to thicken in the residual heat.
5. Pour / transfer the mixture over the greased parchment, taking care to spread over a smaller area if you want thicker burfis.
6. Let this cool for 15 minutes after which you can cut into squares / rectangular bars with a sharp knife or a pizza cutter.
7. Store in airtight container and consume in 3-4 days. Keeping them in the fridge makes them too hard and I personally don't like them cold.

They make excellent homemade gifts on Diwali on any other festival. You could easily double the recipe, using 1 litre of milk. That will take around 45 mins-1 hour to thicken and prepare into burfis.

More Diwali treats from the archives:

Okkarai
Teratti Paal - Milk fudge
Dudhi Halva - bottle gourd fudge
Baked Karanji
5 minute microwaved besan laddoo
Eggless mawa cake
Khaja

Chocolate Espresso Kahlua Cake

Disclaimer: This is not a healthy recipe. This is a died and gone to heaven, lick your plate clean, roll your eyes to the back of your head amazingly good chocolate cake recipe. 


Once upon a time, there was a girl who loved cake. However, not just any ordinary cake would do. Only the most decadent, moist and  sinfully  rich chocolate cake would please this girl. Only a chocolate cake that had notes of espresso in every bite and left a lingering of Kahlua liqueur on her lips.  Oh yes.  This was not any ordinary girl nor should she have any ordinary chocolate cake.

This was........

The Birthday Girl !!!

 Moi. Yours truly. Not telling you how old I am but I will say that sometime in the last few years I have gone from people telling me  "You're just a baby"  to  "Oh! Well you look good for your age." Which is almost as much of a compliment as when I get the "OH! Well you look good for having 4 children."

sigh.

This birthday girl didn't ask for diamonds or pearls, she didn't want a big birthday bash nor did she did ask for a trip to Spain (o.k. maybe I did, but I didn't expect it, just have to throw it out there).   

What she did make  perfectly  loud and clear was.................. 

Let there be cake! Kahlua Cake!

Chocolate, Espresso, Beautiful Kahlua Cake.

The End.

Did I mention that I look forward to this cake starting in early May and start talking about it in early June?

I had the props ready to go in early July.

My Birthday is August 1st.  What?

Apparently it was my "Blog Birthday" as well. Simply Healthy Family turned 4 last week. 

That calls for another piece of cake if you ask me!

Thanks for making me the best cake ever (again) mommy! xoxo

Happy Dance!

"It's my birthday, let's party, with Kahlua!"

Cake Ingredients:
1 cup strong coffee, divided
3 eggs, separated
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2-1/4 cups unbleached flour
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 cup Kahlua

Frosting Ingredients:
6 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 pound (4 cups) powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons Kahlua
3 Tablespoons hot coffee
(reserved coffee)


Directions for cake:

Make 1 cup strong coffee and refrigerate overnight.  Grease and flour 2 (9") round cake pans. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat egg whites until frothy; beat in sugar until stiff peaks form.  Set aside.

Cream butter and brown sugar in large bowl until fluffy.  Beat in egg yolks, one at a time.

Sift flour, cocoa, and baking soda together in small bowl.  Add to creamed mixture alternately with 3/4 cup cold coffee and the Kahlua (reserve remaining coffee for frosting).  Fold in the egg whites & sugar mixture till just combined. Don't over mix.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30-35 minutes or until done (when toothpick or knife inserted in center comes out clean).  

Cool 10 minutes, invert onto wire rack and cool before frosting.

Directions for frosting:

In large bowl, cream 6 Tablespoons softened butter with 1 pound (4 cups) powdered sugar and 3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder.  Add in the 3 T Kahlua and 2-3 Tablespoons of the reserved coffee (heated); beat until smooth.  

Chocolate Espresso Kahlua Cake

Posted by admin

Disclaimer: This is not a healthy recipe. This is a died and gone to heaven, lick your plate clean, roll your eyes to the back of your head amazingly good chocolate cake recipe. 


Once upon a time, there was a girl who loved cake. However, not just any ordinary cake would do. Only the most decadent, moist and  sinfully  rich chocolate cake would please this girl. Only a chocolate cake that had notes of espresso in every bite and left a lingering of Kahlua liqueur on her lips.  Oh yes.  This was not any ordinary girl nor should she have any ordinary chocolate cake.

This was........

The Birthday Girl !!!

 Moi. Yours truly. Not telling you how old I am but I will say that sometime in the last few years I have gone from people telling me  "You're just a baby"  to  "Oh! Well you look good for your age." Which is almost as much of a compliment as when I get the "OH! Well you look good for having 4 children."

sigh.

This birthday girl didn't ask for diamonds or pearls, she didn't want a big birthday bash nor did she did ask for a trip to Spain (o.k. maybe I did, but I didn't expect it, just have to throw it out there).   

What she did make  perfectly  loud and clear was.................. 

Let there be cake! Kahlua Cake!

Chocolate, Espresso, Beautiful Kahlua Cake.

The End.

Did I mention that I look forward to this cake starting in early May and start talking about it in early June?

I had the props ready to go in early July.

My Birthday is August 1st.  What?

Apparently it was my "Blog Birthday" as well. Simply Healthy Family turned 4 last week. 

That calls for another piece of cake if you ask me!

Thanks for making me the best cake ever (again) mommy! xoxo

Happy Dance!

"It's my birthday, let's party, with Kahlua!"

Cake Ingredients:
1 cup strong coffee, divided
3 eggs, separated
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2-1/4 cups unbleached flour
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 cup Kahlua

Frosting Ingredients:
6 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 pound (4 cups) powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons Kahlua
3 Tablespoons hot coffee
(reserved coffee)


Directions for cake:

Make 1 cup strong coffee and refrigerate overnight.  Grease and flour 2 (9") round cake pans. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat egg whites until frothy; beat in sugar until stiff peaks form.  Set aside.

Cream butter and brown sugar in large bowl until fluffy.  Beat in egg yolks, one at a time.

Sift flour, cocoa, and baking soda together in small bowl.  Add to creamed mixture alternately with 3/4 cup cold coffee and the Kahlua (reserve remaining coffee for frosting).  Fold in the egg whites & sugar mixture till just combined. Don't over mix.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30-35 minutes or until done (when toothpick or knife inserted in center comes out clean).  

Cool 10 minutes, invert onto wire rack and cool before frosting.

Directions for frosting:

In large bowl, cream 6 Tablespoons softened butter with 1 pound (4 cups) powdered sugar and 3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder.  Add in the 3 T Kahlua and 2-3 Tablespoons of the reserved coffee (heated); beat until smooth.  

Easy Eggless Choco-Vanilla Cookies

"If I hear "I'm hungry" one more time, I'm going to check myself into a nearby hotel and switch off my mobile phone!"

 That's me telling my four year old, who tells me he's hungry every 15 minutes and the minute I rustle up something, he conveniently forgets about his hunger and runs off to rebuild a Lego castle for the 500th time. But yesterday, I went out for a beautiful wine evening at The Sheraton #socialhour- it's when people at Sheraton Hotels around the world come together for a toast at the decided time. What's more, the wine served at each hotel across the world is from the same winery, for that week. After multiple cabernet sauvignons & rieslings, a good night's sleep at my cousin's place & breakfast with a wonderful friend at the legendary Veena Stores, I'd had enough of me time and couldn't wait to get back home to my mischief monger boy. So today, when he said "I want cookies, mummy" - my guilt pushed me faster than a runaway train to start the oven and then think of something to bake on the spur of the moment.


It started with creaming some butter & sugar, added flour and one thing led to the other. I ended up with these oh-so-cute brown & cream cookies. When I posted the pics on Twitter & Saffrontrail FB page, I was goaded into doing this quick post on how I made them. I'm sorry I'm unable to provide very exact measurements, I hope it's very close to the quantities I've used. Anyway cookies aren't as unforgiving as cakes, so they should turn out okay! They only take 20 minutes, and I promise it will make your child (or the inner child in you) smile :-)

Recipe for Half & Half Cookies
Takes under 30 minutes
Roughly 30 cookies of ~ 2" diameter

Ingredients
4 heaped tbsp soft unsalted butter (if salted, reduce the salt by a pinch)
1/2 cup sugar + 1/2 tsp sea salt - pulsed in mixer for few seconds
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract or powder
1/2 cup all purpose flour (maida)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (atta)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp cocoa powder
few tsp cold water 
1-2 tsp cold milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven at 180 C.
2. Line a big baking tray with tin foil or parchment.
3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar-salt mix with a spoon for 2 minutes, adding in the vanilla extract, until well combined.
4. Sift the flours and baking powder together on a sheet of paper or mix it with a fork in a bowl and add it to the creamed mix.
5. Mix well until it forms a dough, adding 1-2 tsp of cold water or milk to bind, if required.
6. Divide roughly in half. Keep one half aside. To the other half, add the cocoa powder, a few drops of cold milk and knead gently to make a smooth but stiff dough (or you cant slice them).
7. Now you'll have two rounds of dough, one white and one brown.
8. Divide each into two logs, to get two white logs and two brown logs.
9. Join one white log and one choco log and roll into a log on a clean smooth surface. It's not necessary, that the white and brown parts are exactly half and half, don't stress out over this-just make sure each log as some white and some brown.
10. At this stage you could refrigerate for 15 mins or so and then slice into 1.5 cm thick slices or go ahead without chilling.
11. Place each slice on the baking tray leaving some space between each cookie.
12. Bake at 180C for 10-12 minutes, until the white parts start turning golden. At this point they will still be very soft, so don't overbake. They will crisp up as they cool
13. For chewy cookies, remove them a little earlier.

Note
You can bake as many as you want at a time and freeze the remaining logs / slices to bake as and when required. You dont need to thaw the dough. Slice frozen dough and bake as it is in a preheated oven-adding 1-2 minutes extra for fresh cookies on demand :)

What people who tried this have to say!

Cookie making debut. Made choco-vanilla cookies for the wife and kids. instagram.com/p/ZdS0Gnpeog/
— Obstetrix (@ScissorTongue) May 18, 2013

@saffrontrail wow luks super.. hey i made the kung fu panda cookies today.. turned out well :) thks for making my kid happy too :)
— sowmya (@vishalsowmya) May 17, 2013

Easy Eggless Choco-Vanilla Cookies

Posted by admin

"If I hear "I'm hungry" one more time, I'm going to check myself into a nearby hotel and switch off my mobile phone!"

 That's me telling my four year old, who tells me he's hungry every 15 minutes and the minute I rustle up something, he conveniently forgets about his hunger and runs off to rebuild a Lego castle for the 500th time. But yesterday, I went out for a beautiful wine evening at The Sheraton #socialhour- it's when people at Sheraton Hotels around the world come together for a toast at the decided time. What's more, the wine served at each hotel across the world is from the same winery, for that week. After multiple cabernet sauvignons & rieslings, a good night's sleep at my cousin's place & breakfast with a wonderful friend at the legendary Veena Stores, I'd had enough of me time and couldn't wait to get back home to my mischief monger boy. So today, when he said "I want cookies, mummy" - my guilt pushed me faster than a runaway train to start the oven and then think of something to bake on the spur of the moment.


It started with creaming some butter & sugar, added flour and one thing led to the other. I ended up with these oh-so-cute brown & cream cookies. When I posted the pics on Twitter & Saffrontrail FB page, I was goaded into doing this quick post on how I made them. I'm sorry I'm unable to provide very exact measurements, I hope it's very close to the quantities I've used. Anyway cookies aren't as unforgiving as cakes, so they should turn out okay! They only take 20 minutes, and I promise it will make your child (or the inner child in you) smile :-)

Recipe for Half & Half Cookies
Takes under 30 minutes
Roughly 30 cookies of ~ 2" diameter

Ingredients
4 heaped tbsp soft unsalted butter (if salted, reduce the salt by a pinch)
1/2 cup sugar + 1/2 tsp sea salt - pulsed in mixer for few seconds
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract or powder
1/2 cup all purpose flour (maida)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (atta)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp cocoa powder
few tsp cold water 
1-2 tsp cold milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven at 180 C.
2. Line a big baking tray with tin foil or parchment.
3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar-salt mix with a spoon for 2 minutes, adding in the vanilla extract, until well combined.
4. Sift the flours and baking powder together on a sheet of paper or mix it with a fork in a bowl and add it to the creamed mix.
5. Mix well until it forms a dough, adding 1-2 tsp of cold water or milk to bind, if required.
6. Divide roughly in half. Keep one half aside. To the other half, add the cocoa powder, a few drops of cold milk and knead gently to make a smooth but stiff dough (or you cant slice them).
7. Now you'll have two rounds of dough, one white and one brown.
8. Divide each into two logs, to get two white logs and two brown logs.
9. Join one white log and one choco log and roll into a log on a clean smooth surface. It's not necessary, that the white and brown parts are exactly half and half, don't stress out over this-just make sure each log as some white and some brown.
10. At this stage you could refrigerate for 15 mins or so and then slice into 1.5 cm thick slices or go ahead without chilling.
11. Place each slice on the baking tray leaving some space between each cookie.
12. Bake at 180C for 10-12 minutes, until the white parts start turning golden. At this point they will still be very soft, so don't overbake. They will crisp up as they cool
13. For chewy cookies, remove them a little earlier.

Note
You can bake as many as you want at a time and freeze the remaining logs / slices to bake as and when required. You dont need to thaw the dough. Slice frozen dough and bake as it is in a preheated oven-adding 1-2 minutes extra for fresh cookies on demand :)

What people who tried this have to say!

Cookie making debut. Made choco-vanilla cookies for the wife and kids. instagram.com/p/ZdS0Gnpeog/
— Obstetrix (@ScissorTongue) May 18, 2013

@saffrontrail wow luks super.. hey i made the kung fu panda cookies today.. turned out well :) thks for making my kid happy too :)
— sowmya (@vishalsowmya) May 17, 2013

Healthy Almond-Coconut Chocolate Thumbprint cookies ~ gluten free

Some days things just don't pan out the way I planned them to. Actually, that seems to be the norm rather than the exception lately. And by lately I mean since I had my first child 18 years ago. Holy crap! I have an 18 year old?!!  Anyway, this weekend I had to work on Saturday and was supposed to be off at 3p.m. and then planned on doing a little shopping at my favorite adds and ends Home store for kitchen props, plates, bowls, napkins etc. then go to Sprouts and then go home make a yummy dinner and possibly get some decent shots to put on the blog. 

At 2:35 p.m. however we get a call that we need to do an emergency tracheotomy on a patient. How rude. What's more, the Dr. didn't have an assistant so I got to double as a first assist and it was a difficult case, couldn't get the trach tube in because the patient had a mushy trachea. So now I'm tired and a bit cranky and it's 4:45p.m. So much for my nice afternoon. So much for making dinner. Pei Wei saves the day!

Fast forward to Sunday...... I was excited to try and recreate one of my favorite childhood breakfasts, cottage cheese pancakes. If you've never had them, don't wrinkle your nose till you've tried them. They are so good! The cottage cheese actually adds a bit of sweet creaminess to the pancakes, almost like a cream cheese crepe. I wanted to try to make them healthier by omitting the flour and tried using almond meal instead. Epic fail! The first batch crashed and burned, literally. The second batch was oily and burned.

Back to the drawing boards. 

Enter these cookies. Every problem or catastrophe can be solve with a good cookie and these are even fairly healthy! Bonus!

PREP TIME    15 MINUTES     BAKE    15 MINUTES     YIELDS   18-20 SMALL COOKIES

Ingredients: 

2 cups almond meal (almond flour w the skins un-removed) 

1 tablespoon flax meal (ground flax seed) 

1/4 cup coconut oil 

1/4 cup local honey  

1 teaspoon real vanilla extract 

1/2 teaspoon almond extract 

1/4 teaspoon sea salt 

1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes 

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate (chips or bar)

Preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

In a medium bowl mix together the coconut oil, honey, vanilla and almond extract. 

Gradually stir in the almond flour, flax meal and sea salt, and mix well until a uniform dough is formed. 

Scoop the dough by tablespoons and use your hands to roll into smooth balls. Roll the balls in the coconut flakes to coat. Place the balls onto the lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart, and use your thumb to press into the center of each cookie, creating a well for the chocolate. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes till lightly browned. Remove from oven, let cool. 

Meanwhile, in a small ceramic or microwave safe bowl add chocolate chips or chopped up bar. Microwave on medium power for 90 seconds. Stir. Microwave another 90 seconds or until melted.

Spoon chocolate into the center of the cookies and let cool. 

These cookies are also wonderful with a bit of fruit preserves in the middle, my favorite is apricot!

I am submitting this post to Tasty Tuesday's

Healthy Almond-Coconut Chocolate Thumbprint cookies ~ gluten free

Posted by admin

Some days things just don't pan out the way I planned them to. Actually, that seems to be the norm rather than the exception lately. And by lately I mean since I had my first child 18 years ago. Holy crap! I have an 18 year old?!!  Anyway, this weekend I had to work on Saturday and was supposed to be off at 3p.m. and then planned on doing a little shopping at my favorite adds and ends Home store for kitchen props, plates, bowls, napkins etc. then go to Sprouts and then go home make a yummy dinner and possibly get some decent shots to put on the blog. 

At 2:35 p.m. however we get a call that we need to do an emergency tracheotomy on a patient. How rude. What's more, the Dr. didn't have an assistant so I got to double as a first assist and it was a difficult case, couldn't get the trach tube in because the patient had a mushy trachea. So now I'm tired and a bit cranky and it's 4:45p.m. So much for my nice afternoon. So much for making dinner. Pei Wei saves the day!

Fast forward to Sunday...... I was excited to try and recreate one of my favorite childhood breakfasts, cottage cheese pancakes. If you've never had them, don't wrinkle your nose till you've tried them. They are so good! The cottage cheese actually adds a bit of sweet creaminess to the pancakes, almost like a cream cheese crepe. I wanted to try to make them healthier by omitting the flour and tried using almond meal instead. Epic fail! The first batch crashed and burned, literally. The second batch was oily and burned.

Back to the drawing boards. 

Enter these cookies. Every problem or catastrophe can be solve with a good cookie and these are even fairly healthy! Bonus!

PREP TIME    15 MINUTES     BAKE    15 MINUTES     YIELDS   18-20 SMALL COOKIES

Ingredients: 

2 cups almond meal (almond flour w the skins un-removed) 

1 tablespoon flax meal (ground flax seed) 

1/4 cup coconut oil 

1/4 cup local honey  

1 teaspoon real vanilla extract 

1/2 teaspoon almond extract 

1/4 teaspoon sea salt 

1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes 

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate (chips or bar)

Preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

In a medium bowl mix together the coconut oil, honey, vanilla and almond extract. 

Gradually stir in the almond flour, flax meal and sea salt, and mix well until a uniform dough is formed. 

Scoop the dough by tablespoons and use your hands to roll into smooth balls. Roll the balls in the coconut flakes to coat. Place the balls onto the lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart, and use your thumb to press into the center of each cookie, creating a well for the chocolate. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes till lightly browned. Remove from oven, let cool. 

Meanwhile, in a small ceramic or microwave safe bowl add chocolate chips or chopped up bar. Microwave on medium power for 90 seconds. Stir. Microwave another 90 seconds or until melted.

Spoon chocolate into the center of the cookies and let cool. 

These cookies are also wonderful with a bit of fruit preserves in the middle, my favorite is apricot!

I am submitting this post to Tasty Tuesday's

Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter

There's this joke about Pinterest on how everything is only good to see, and nothing ever gets translated into real life. That's not entirely true. I've come across some brilliant fitness ideas, recipes, fashion ideas on the multiple boards. This recipe is another beautiful discovery from one of the food boards. Very few ingredients and minimal time taken means it's simple enough to make each time a bottle gets empty, elegant enough to be a part of a gourmet gift basket or a simple gift for family and friends. You do need a mixer or a food processor though. It will make many nutritious yet yummy sandwiches for kids (and adults). The evening I made this, I was afraid I will lick this clean straight from the mixer. Scary! 

I usually make my own peanut butter, but the two additional ingredients definitely add a gourmet twist to good ol' peanut butter. Coconut oil, used in South India for centuries, got a bad rap over the last few years for being a saturated fat (solidifies at room temp) but it's back in the ranks of healthy food. Organic cold pressed coconut is being consumed raw by the tablespoon by many a Hollywood star. Make sure you use a good quality coconut oil for this. It is of course optional, but it adds LOADS of flavour to the butter. 

Homemade Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter 
Makes 1 medium jar
Time taken: 5-10 mins
Adapted from NeverHomemaker

Ingredients
1 cup of roasted skinned peanuts (use ready roasted variety to save time)
1/2 tsp salt (avoid if using salted roasted peanuts)
50-100 grams of dark chocolate, chopped or use 1/4 cup chocolate chips
1 tbsp cold pressed coconut oil (or any edible coconut oil)

Equipment required
A food processor or mixer

Directions

1. In a food processor or mixer, blend all of the above until it turns into a fine paste. Scrape down the sides of the jar 2-3 times and run the mixer for a total of 2-3 minutes until everything comes together to a buttery consistency.
2. With a silicone spatula, scrape everything into a clean dry glass bottle.
3. The butter solidifies in the fridge. When left out it is a nice spreadable consistency and I prefer to leave it out. Prepare a small quantity at a time so that there's no chance of spoilage.

Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter on Homemade No Knead Sandwich Bread

Use this to make sandwiches or eat with sliced apples or pears. Fruit with peanut butter is one of the healthiest snacks for adults and kids alike.

Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter

Posted by admin

There's this joke about Pinterest on how everything is only good to see, and nothing ever gets translated into real life. That's not entirely true. I've come across some brilliant fitness ideas, recipes, fashion ideas on the multiple boards. This recipe is another beautiful discovery from one of the food boards. Very few ingredients and minimal time taken means it's simple enough to make each time a bottle gets empty, elegant enough to be a part of a gourmet gift basket or a simple gift for family and friends. You do need a mixer or a food processor though. It will make many nutritious yet yummy sandwiches for kids (and adults). The evening I made this, I was afraid I will lick this clean straight from the mixer. Scary! 

I usually make my own peanut butter, but the two additional ingredients definitely add a gourmet twist to good ol' peanut butter. Coconut oil, used in South India for centuries, got a bad rap over the last few years for being a saturated fat (solidifies at room temp) but it's back in the ranks of healthy food. Organic cold pressed coconut is being consumed raw by the tablespoon by many a Hollywood star. Make sure you use a good quality coconut oil for this. It is of course optional, but it adds LOADS of flavour to the butter. 

Homemade Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter 
Makes 1 medium jar
Time taken: 5-10 mins
Adapted from NeverHomemaker

Ingredients
1 cup of roasted skinned peanuts (use ready roasted variety to save time)
1/2 tsp salt (avoid if using salted roasted peanuts)
50-100 grams of dark chocolate, chopped or use 1/4 cup chocolate chips
1 tbsp cold pressed coconut oil (or any edible coconut oil)

Equipment required
A food processor or mixer

Directions

1. In a food processor or mixer, blend all of the above until it turns into a fine paste. Scrape down the sides of the jar 2-3 times and run the mixer for a total of 2-3 minutes until everything comes together to a buttery consistency.
2. With a silicone spatula, scrape everything into a clean dry glass bottle.
3. The butter solidifies in the fridge. When left out it is a nice spreadable consistency and I prefer to leave it out. Prepare a small quantity at a time so that there's no chance of spoilage.

Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter on Homemade No Knead Sandwich Bread

Use this to make sandwiches or eat with sliced apples or pears. Fruit with peanut butter is one of the healthiest snacks for adults and kids alike.

Oreo Brownies - It doesn't get more sinful than this

I'm not a fan of Oreo cookies at all. I once even tweeted that they taste like sweetened cardboard and I found a lot of people agreeing with my sentiment. For me, the best cream biscuit will always be Britannia Bourbon. It was my favourite treat as a kid, we waited for someone to get it home as it was never a frequent buy. Now, I have all the freedom to eat Bourbon biscuits with tea every afternoon, but my diet consciousness prevents me from doing so. 

But yes, once in a while, I love to indulge in the joy of eating my favourite biscuit. OOPS, I nearly forgot that this post is about Oreo Brownies. These brownies actually redeem the Oreo cookie for me. The catchy ad line in Hindi "Twist Karo, Lick karo, Dunk Karo" has suitably appealed to my 4 year old, who thinks of Oreo has a great treat (thankfully, treat only). So I decided to bake these for his birthday party, both for the parents and kids. I baked them a couple of days in advance and put them in the out of reach refrigerator so it wouldn't get raided well before the party :) And they were MUCH loved by everybody.

The Oreo patterns on top of the brownie not only make them look stunning, different, but also add a great texture when you bite into them. Let me tell you a secret, the cookies are both inside and on top of the brownie. Inside they become soft and chewy and on the top they turn crisp. 

Try them with your favourite chocolate cream biscuits - Dark Fantasy or Bourbon for the same effect. These are not 'healthy' brownies. Insanely rich, wicked, FULL of chocolate, very little flour - these are meant to be shared with a crowd. The recipe says 16 pieces, but feel free to cut each square further into half. It's *that* decadent. If you are home alone on a weekend, feeling blue in the mood and you bake a whole tray of this - you are not going to stop at one, and then you'll blame 'that Saffron Trail blogger' for busting your weighing scales. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Recipe for Oreo Brownies

Makes 16 x 2"square pieces

Recipe source 

Printable version of recipe

You'll need:

8" square baking pan

165 grams unsalted butter

200 grams dark chocolate (chopped finely)

4 eggs

16 Oreo cookies, cut into quarters

3/4 cup light brown sugar

3 tbsp flour

1 tbsp cocoa powder

Pinch of salt (omit if using salted butter)

How to make:

1. Line a 8x8 square pan with parchment paper, coming up to the sides, for easy removal once baked. Grease with butter, keep aside.
2. Preheat oven at 180 Celsius. 
3. In a heavy bottomed pan, melt butter on a low heat. Once nearly melted, remove from flame. It will melt fully in the residual heat. Add the finely chopped chocolate to this and stir till the chocolate fully melts in the heat of the melted butter. Keep aside.
4. In a large bowl, whisk the 4 eggs with a balloon whisk or electric whisk until nearly tripled in volume.
5. Add half the sugar along the sides so as not to knock out the air from the eggs. Whisk gently until incorporated. Repeat the same with remaining sugar until the sugar no longer feels grainy to touch in the egg mixture.
6. Add the chocolate-butter mixture to this. Whisk gently to combine well.
7. Add 1/3rd of the quartered Oreos to the batter.
8. In a small bowl, mix with a fork- the flour, cocoa and salt and add this to the above mixture. Whisk well to combine everything together.
9. Pour this into the greased parchment.
10. Top this with the remaining Oreos arranged in a single layer all over.
11. Bake in the middle of a 180 C oven for 40 minutes, until a tester poked into the center comes out nearly clean.
12. Remove from oven and rest for 10 minutes. Pull out with the parchment intact and cool on a wire rack for 2-3 hours or overnight. Cut into 2" squares (16 pieces) and peel off parchment. Refrigerate for a few hours for a great texture.

Note to self : Dear Nandita, Ditch the diet plans. Make these with Bourbon biscuits for your birthday!

Feedback from those who tried this recipe:

Oreo brownies just out of the oven. Thanks for the inspiration and the recipe @saffrontrail twitter.com/livetimefe/sta…
— 5x7 (@livetimefe) December 24, 2012

The sinfully delicious Oreo Brownies. Thanks @saffrontrail for the recipe :) twitpic.com/cr37zn
— ParavaMunima (@Muneema) May 17, 2013

Oreo Brownies - It doesn't get more sinful than this

Posted by admin

I'm not a fan of Oreo cookies at all. I once even tweeted that they taste like sweetened cardboard and I found a lot of people agreeing with my sentiment. For me, the best cream biscuit will always be Britannia Bourbon. It was my favourite treat as a kid, we waited for someone to get it home as it was never a frequent buy. Now, I have all the freedom to eat Bourbon biscuits with tea every afternoon, but my diet consciousness prevents me from doing so. 

But yes, once in a while, I love to indulge in the joy of eating my favourite biscuit. OOPS, I nearly forgot that this post is about Oreo Brownies. These brownies actually redeem the Oreo cookie for me. The catchy ad line in Hindi "Twist Karo, Lick karo, Dunk Karo" has suitably appealed to my 4 year old, who thinks of Oreo has a great treat (thankfully, treat only). So I decided to bake these for his birthday party, both for the parents and kids. I baked them a couple of days in advance and put them in the out of reach refrigerator so it wouldn't get raided well before the party :) And they were MUCH loved by everybody.

The Oreo patterns on top of the brownie not only make them look stunning, different, but also add a great texture when you bite into them. Let me tell you a secret, the cookies are both inside and on top of the brownie. Inside they become soft and chewy and on the top they turn crisp. 

Try them with your favourite chocolate cream biscuits - Dark Fantasy or Bourbon for the same effect. These are not 'healthy' brownies. Insanely rich, wicked, FULL of chocolate, very little flour - these are meant to be shared with a crowd. The recipe says 16 pieces, but feel free to cut each square further into half. It's *that* decadent. If you are home alone on a weekend, feeling blue in the mood and you bake a whole tray of this - you are not going to stop at one, and then you'll blame 'that Saffron Trail blogger' for busting your weighing scales. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Recipe for Oreo Brownies

Makes 16 x 2"square pieces

Recipe source 

Printable version of recipe

You'll need:

8" square baking pan

165 grams unsalted butter

200 grams dark chocolate (chopped finely)

4 eggs

16 Oreo cookies, cut into quarters

3/4 cup light brown sugar

3 tbsp flour

1 tbsp cocoa powder

Pinch of salt (omit if using salted butter)

How to make:

1. Line a 8x8 square pan with parchment paper, coming up to the sides, for easy removal once baked. Grease with butter, keep aside.
2. Preheat oven at 180 Celsius. 
3. In a heavy bottomed pan, melt butter on a low heat. Once nearly melted, remove from flame. It will melt fully in the residual heat. Add the finely chopped chocolate to this and stir till the chocolate fully melts in the heat of the melted butter. Keep aside.
4. In a large bowl, whisk the 4 eggs with a balloon whisk or electric whisk until nearly tripled in volume.
5. Add half the sugar along the sides so as not to knock out the air from the eggs. Whisk gently until incorporated. Repeat the same with remaining sugar until the sugar no longer feels grainy to touch in the egg mixture.
6. Add the chocolate-butter mixture to this. Whisk gently to combine well.
7. Add 1/3rd of the quartered Oreos to the batter.
8. In a small bowl, mix with a fork- the flour, cocoa and salt and add this to the above mixture. Whisk well to combine everything together.
9. Pour this into the greased parchment.
10. Top this with the remaining Oreos arranged in a single layer all over.
11. Bake in the middle of a 180 C oven for 40 minutes, until a tester poked into the center comes out nearly clean.
12. Remove from oven and rest for 10 minutes. Pull out with the parchment intact and cool on a wire rack for 2-3 hours or overnight. Cut into 2" squares (16 pieces) and peel off parchment. Refrigerate for a few hours for a great texture.

Note to self : Dear Nandita, Ditch the diet plans. Make these with Bourbon biscuits for your birthday!

Feedback from those who tried this recipe:

Oreo brownies just out of the oven. Thanks for the inspiration and the recipe @saffrontrail twitter.com/livetimefe/sta…
— 5x7 (@livetimefe) December 24, 2012

The sinfully delicious Oreo Brownies. Thanks @saffrontrail for the recipe :) twitpic.com/cr37zn
— ParavaMunima (@Muneema) May 17, 2013

My Diwali Gift to you : Triple Decker Brownies

I was looking for something blow-your-socks off sinful to make this Diwali to take to a friends' place tonight and also for the kids in my complex for the Diwali Party. And thank you, Pinterest, for leading me to the right place. I found this piece of awesomeness on this blog and one look at her pictures is enough to set you drooling. 

I've baked brownies tons of times and they are the two go-to recipes you'll find on my blog. But this one is from another planet. Bottom layer of cookie dough, middle layer of Choco Cream cookies (Oreo / Dark Fantasy / Bourbon) and top layer of brownie. So, while this looks complicated, if you've baked cookies and any sort of cake or brownie, you can do this. All you need is to buy a few packets of Oreos or any other rich cream filled biscuits.

Recipe for Triple Decker Brownies / Oreo Brownies / Cookie - Fudge Brownies

Makes 16 pieces

Time taken : Prep time around 30 minutes, Baking time : 35 minutes

Recipe Source : What's Gaby Cooking

Ingredients

For the Brownie Layer:

150 grams unsalted butter (left on counter top or straight from fridge is also fine)

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup all purpose flour (maida)

1/2 tsp salt

3 tbsp coffee liquor or decoction

On medium heat, in a big saucepan, melt butter. Once slightly melted, take off heat and stir to melt it fully. Add cocoa powder, sugar and whisk well till incorporated.

Remove from the stove, it should not be too hot. Whisk in eggs quickly along with vanilla.

Finally add flour and salt, coffee liquor, whisk well - for 3-4 minutes and keep aside.

For Cookie Dough Layer :

100 grams softened unsalted butter

1/4 cup brown sugar or powdered jaggery

3/4 cup white sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour (maida)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

In a large bowl, using hand mixer, cream butter and sugars for 3-4 minutes.

Add vanilla extract, egg and whisk again for a minute or so.

Add the flour, salt and fold in with a silicon spatula.

In the end fold in the chocolate chips.

Oreo Layer : 

Roughly 20 Oreo or Dark Fantasy cookies, if you get double stuffed Oreos, choose those, with the Vanilla filling as the white stands out in the dark brownie. I used a mix of choco filled and vanilla filled cookies, but next time will stick to vanilla alone.

Assembly

1. Line a 9X9 inch pan with parchment or aluminium foil. Butter or grease with oil.
2. For Cookie Layer : Put the cookie dough on the greased lining of the tin and spread it well to the corners, in a uniform layer.
3. Oreo Layer : Place the cookies side by side covering the cookie dough entirely. Break the cookie in half, if you want to cover a little bit of extra space.
4. Brownie Layer : Top the Oreos with the Brownie batter smoothening it out right upto the edges with a silicon spatula.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until tester comes out clean.
6. Remove from over and cool outside removing it along with parchment / foil on a cooling rack - for one hour.
7. Cut into 16 squares.
8. Serve as it is, slightly warm or with vanilla ice cream.

If you liked this post, you could follow the Saffrontrail Facebook page for more frequent updates and pictures.

My Diwali Gift to you : Triple Decker Brownies

Posted by admin

I was looking for something blow-your-socks off sinful to make this Diwali to take to a friends' place tonight and also for the kids in my complex for the Diwali Party. And thank you, Pinterest, for leading me to the right place. I found this piece of awesomeness on this blog and one look at her pictures is enough to set you drooling. 

I've baked brownies tons of times and they are the two go-to recipes you'll find on my blog. But this one is from another planet. Bottom layer of cookie dough, middle layer of Choco Cream cookies (Oreo / Dark Fantasy / Bourbon) and top layer of brownie. So, while this looks complicated, if you've baked cookies and any sort of cake or brownie, you can do this. All you need is to buy a few packets of Oreos or any other rich cream filled biscuits.

Recipe for Triple Decker Brownies / Oreo Brownies / Cookie - Fudge Brownies

Makes 16 pieces

Time taken : Prep time around 30 minutes, Baking time : 35 minutes

Recipe Source : What's Gaby Cooking

Ingredients

For the Brownie Layer:

150 grams unsalted butter (left on counter top or straight from fridge is also fine)

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup all purpose flour (maida)

1/2 tsp salt

3 tbsp coffee liquor or decoction

On medium heat, in a big saucepan, melt butter. Once slightly melted, take off heat and stir to melt it fully. Add cocoa powder, sugar and whisk well till incorporated.

Remove from the stove, it should not be too hot. Whisk in eggs quickly along with vanilla.

Finally add flour and salt, coffee liquor, whisk well - for 3-4 minutes and keep aside.

For Cookie Dough Layer :

100 grams softened unsalted butter

1/4 cup brown sugar or powdered jaggery

3/4 cup white sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour (maida)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

In a large bowl, using hand mixer, cream butter and sugars for 3-4 minutes.

Add vanilla extract, egg and whisk again for a minute or so.

Add the flour, salt and fold in with a silicon spatula.

In the end fold in the chocolate chips.

Oreo Layer : 

Roughly 20 Oreo or Dark Fantasy cookies, if you get double stuffed Oreos, choose those, with the Vanilla filling as the white stands out in the dark brownie. I used a mix of choco filled and vanilla filled cookies, but next time will stick to vanilla alone.

Assembly

1. Line a 9X9 inch pan with parchment or aluminium foil. Butter or grease with oil.
2. For Cookie Layer : Put the cookie dough on the greased lining of the tin and spread it well to the corners, in a uniform layer.
3. Oreo Layer : Place the cookies side by side covering the cookie dough entirely. Break the cookie in half, if you want to cover a little bit of extra space.
4. Brownie Layer : Top the Oreos with the Brownie batter smoothening it out right upto the edges with a silicon spatula.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until tester comes out clean.
6. Remove from over and cool outside removing it along with parchment / foil on a cooling rack - for one hour.
7. Cut into 16 squares.
8. Serve as it is, slightly warm or with vanilla ice cream.

If you liked this post, you could follow the Saffrontrail Facebook page for more frequent updates and pictures.

Insanely Good Chocolate Almond Brownies

These brownies were baked twice over the weekend. These are the sort that make people have a bite and go 'swooooon' or fall in love with you, or both. If you've been a follower of my blog, you know that I rarely use superlatives. I had blogged another simple brownie recipe a few years ago and I called them 'Easiest to make brownies' - so when I call these 'insanely good' you must know that I am not kidding you. I have resolved to bake these only for others as I, for one, can't seem to stop at a few bites because the taste of this is like nirvana to my soul.

It's quite ridiculously good by itself but serving it warm with cold vanilla ice cream is like the literal icing on the cake. Unlike cakes that come with a lot of ways they can go wrong, this one, if you follow the recipe, is quite foolproof and everyone needs one good brownie recipe that can say "Thanks", "Sorry", "I love you", "I want to be your most favourite person" or even, "I want you to become fatter than me", etc. You know what I mean...these brownies can speak volumes when words fail you :)

Before you think I'm that sort of culinary genius who comes up with brownie recipes that can lead to world peace, please hold that thought. This is adapted from Dorie Greenspan's recipe from her book, Baking: From My Home to Yours, with some tricks from baking forums to overcome the problems I faced with the first batch I baked. 

If you've baked brownies with butter before and after baking, you might have found that all the butter oozed out of the brownie. Not that this will affect the taste or texture once the brownie is chilled enough in the fridge, but there is a technique by which you can avoid it. This often happens when the flour in the recipe is very less like the one here (just 1/4 cup of flour), so when you incorporate all the ingredients, you need to stir well to emulsify the mix so that the butter is well blended into the rest of the mix. I used this trick in the second batch and it turned out just perfect.

Recipe for Chocolate Almond Brownies
Makes 16 two inch squares
Skill level: Easy-Moderate easy

Ingredients
100 grams butter plus 1 tbsp butter - chopped into 8-9 pieces [8 tbsp butter]
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp coffee liquor (optional)
1/4 cup all purpose flour (maida)
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
Pinch of salt
1 tsp instant coffee powder (use 2 tsp if you are not using coffee liquor)
1/2 -3/4 cup sliced almonds or chopped almonds [Substitute with walnuts for walnut brownies]
1/2 cup choco chips or your favourite dark chocolate bar chopped into bits

Directions

Centre a rack in the oven and preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius / 325F
Lightly grease with butter an 8" square tin / baking tray, line with baking paper / parchment paper.
Grease this with butter properly and keep aside.
In a large microwave safe bowl, place the chopped butter and microwave for 50 seconds to a minute until it's just melted.
Let this butter cool down for a bit, meanwhile get all the other ingredients.
In a small bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon powder, salt, coffee powder with a fork.
To the melted butter, add the cocoa powder and stir very well with a silicon / rubber spatula mixing them well together.
To this, add the eggs, one by one, mixing them well into the mixture. No need to beat and incorporate air into this. Mix in the sugar.
Add the vanilla extract and coffee liquor. Liquor is optional but it does take the taste to a whole new level.
Now, add the flour-cinnamon-salt-coffee mix to this and stir well for 2 minutes or so in a round motion to emulsify the mix well (so that butter doesn't ooze out after baking).
Final step is to add the nuts and chocolate bits. Fold them in and scrape the brownie batter into the parchment lined baking tin.
Bake for 25 minutes until the top appears papery.

Do not ignore the following instructions to get perfect pieces
Remove from oven and cook in the baking tin itself on a rack, for at least 30 minutes.
Slice into 16 squares (2 inches X 2 inches each) - remove from lining paper, place on a tray and chill for 2-3 hours minimum for a fantastic fudgy texture.

Thank you, my dear N&A for allowing me to borrow this book and keep it with me for long enough to get inspired to bake with one stick butter. 

Dorie Greenspan calls these brownies Tribute-To-Katherine-Hepburn Brownies. If you want to know the connection between Katherine Hepburn and these brownies, check here.

If you want to have sneak peeks into my kitchen, regular updates on the goof-ups  great stuff i cook, well before it appears on the blog, do stalk follow my Facebook page : http://www.facebook.com/saffrontrail

Insanely Good Chocolate Almond Brownies

Posted by admin

These brownies were baked twice over the weekend. These are the sort that make people have a bite and go 'swooooon' or fall in love with you, or both. If you've been a follower of my blog, you know that I rarely use superlatives. I had blogged another simple brownie recipe a few years ago and I called them 'Easiest to make brownies' - so when I call these 'insanely good' you must know that I am not kidding you. I have resolved to bake these only for others as I, for one, can't seem to stop at a few bites because the taste of this is like nirvana to my soul.

It's quite ridiculously good by itself but serving it warm with cold vanilla ice cream is like the literal icing on the cake. Unlike cakes that come with a lot of ways they can go wrong, this one, if you follow the recipe, is quite foolproof and everyone needs one good brownie recipe that can say "Thanks", "Sorry", "I love you", "I want to be your most favourite person" or even, "I want you to become fatter than me", etc. You know what I mean...these brownies can speak volumes when words fail you :)

Before you think I'm that sort of culinary genius who comes up with brownie recipes that can lead to world peace, please hold that thought. This is adapted from Dorie Greenspan's recipe from her book, Baking: From My Home to Yours, with some tricks from baking forums to overcome the problems I faced with the first batch I baked. 

If you've baked brownies with butter before and after baking, you might have found that all the butter oozed out of the brownie. Not that this will affect the taste or texture once the brownie is chilled enough in the fridge, but there is a technique by which you can avoid it. This often happens when the flour in the recipe is very less like the one here (just 1/4 cup of flour), so when you incorporate all the ingredients, you need to stir well to emulsify the mix so that the butter is well blended into the rest of the mix. I used this trick in the second batch and it turned out just perfect.

Recipe for Chocolate Almond Brownies
Makes 16 two inch squares
Skill level: Easy-Moderate easy

Ingredients
100 grams butter plus 1 tbsp butter - chopped into 8-9 pieces [8 tbsp butter]
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp coffee liquor (optional)
1/4 cup all purpose flour (maida)
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
Pinch of salt
1 tsp instant coffee powder (use 2 tsp if you are not using coffee liquor)
1/2 -3/4 cup sliced almonds or chopped almonds [Substitute with walnuts for walnut brownies]
1/2 cup choco chips or your favourite dark chocolate bar chopped into bits

Directions

Centre a rack in the oven and preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius / 325F
Lightly grease with butter an 8" square tin / baking tray, line with baking paper / parchment paper.
Grease this with butter properly and keep aside.
In a large microwave safe bowl, place the chopped butter and microwave for 50 seconds to a minute until it's just melted.
Let this butter cool down for a bit, meanwhile get all the other ingredients.
In a small bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon powder, salt, coffee powder with a fork.
To the melted butter, add the cocoa powder and stir very well with a silicon / rubber spatula mixing them well together.
To this, add the eggs, one by one, mixing them well into the mixture. No need to beat and incorporate air into this. Mix in the sugar.
Add the vanilla extract and coffee liquor. Liquor is optional but it does take the taste to a whole new level.
Now, add the flour-cinnamon-salt-coffee mix to this and stir well for 2 minutes or so in a round motion to emulsify the mix well (so that butter doesn't ooze out after baking).
Final step is to add the nuts and chocolate bits. Fold them in and scrape the brownie batter into the parchment lined baking tin.
Bake for 25 minutes until the top appears papery.

Do not ignore the following instructions to get perfect pieces
Remove from oven and cook in the baking tin itself on a rack, for at least 30 minutes.
Slice into 16 squares (2 inches X 2 inches each) - remove from lining paper, place on a tray and chill for 2-3 hours minimum for a fantastic fudgy texture.

Thank you, my dear N&A for allowing me to borrow this book and keep it with me for long enough to get inspired to bake with one stick butter. 

Dorie Greenspan calls these brownies Tribute-To-Katherine-Hepburn Brownies. If you want to know the connection between Katherine Hepburn and these brownies, check here.

If you want to have sneak peeks into my kitchen, regular updates on the goof-ups  great stuff i cook, well before it appears on the blog, do stalk follow my Facebook page : http://www.facebook.com/saffrontrail