Mint Brownies

Happy Birthday

Heath!

This treat is for you!

Truth be told… I have no idea if you like mint or brownies, but since it’s your birthday (and St. Paddy’s day) I thought I’d dedicate this treat to you. I know you try to keep your sweets to a minimum so I cut these very small (1 inch squares). This way, if you can resist eating more than one, the sugar effects would be minimal. On the other hand, I also know you like to exercise so if you do happen to eat more than one, you have a good excuse to hit the pavement and work off your spoils.

From what I was told, these brownies were amazing and by far the most eaten out of the array I had made for a baby shower earlier this week. I can’t tell you first hand what they tasted like because I couldn’t eat a single one. Not even a taste to see if my mint ratios were correct! Do you have any idea how difficult it is to bake/cook when you take snitches of what you are preparing? It’s hard and I hope you only ever have to take my word for it. Set aside the challenge of getting the recipe just right, it’s torture for the food loving soul. (I wonder if I could start a book series based on that title- you know to play on the other multimillion dollar book franchise about a warm broth for the whatever loving soul…I think my book would do better though because I think people like to torture themselves.) Anyway, I’ll address that particular problem (about not being able to eat the food I prepare) later. For now, enjoy your Birthday/St. Patrick’s Day Sweet.

Oh and now for a little baking explanation. I found these little beauties off of the website scrumptious photography and yes, I am aware that her photography skills are far superior than mine...I’m over it. After much deliberation, I decided to change a few things with the recipe. To start, I didn't feel her pictures were "minty" enough, so I one-and-a-halfed the mint layer portion of the recipe. (recipe below reflects the change). Since I didn’t have any peppermint extract or crème de menthe on hand I used lorAnn’s Oils Crème de Menthe Flavor. Which, I’m told is a stronger concentration than either of the other flavoring methods mentioned and for best results should be done to taste (hard to do when you can’t taste-so I used my brother and his wife to help me out). I used close to ½ a dram for my recipe.

The other thing I changed was the addition of a drippy ganache (which I can never spell correctly and neither can spellchecker) and an Andes Mint as garnish. I was going for "WOW" factor and/or pretty presentation. I’m not sure I achieved either, but the brownies were gobbled up so that must say something. 

MINT BROWNIE RECIPE

-brownies adapted from: scruptiousphotography.com / joyofbaking.com

-ganache adapted from: annies-eats

Brownie Layer:

½ cup unsalted butter, but into pieces

4 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used Scharffen Berger 99%)

1 ¼ cups granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

½ cup all purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

Mint Layer:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup confectioners (powdered) sugar

1 tablespoon heavy cream

¼ to ½ a dram (1-2 ml) lorAnn Oils Crème de Menthe flavor

2 drops liquid green food coloring

Chocolate Ganache:

2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

¼ cup heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Garnish

Andes Mints, cut in half on the diagonal

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C) and place the rack in the center of the oven. Have ready a 8 x 8 inch (23 x 23 cm) square baking pan (avoid glass) that has been lined with parchment paper across the bottom and up two opposite sides of the pan, like a sling. Set aside.

Brownies:

In a stainless steel (heatproof) bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar and vanilla extract. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well (with a wooden spoon) after each addition. Stir in the flour and salt and beat, with a wooden spoon, until the batter is smooth and glossy and comes away from the sides of the pan (about one minute). Pour the brownie batter evenly into the prepared pan. 



Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes or until the brownies start to pull away from the sides of the pan and the edges of the brownies are just beginning to brown. A toothpick inserted in the center of the brownies will come out almost clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to completely cool.

Mint Layer:

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat all the ingredients until smooth. Add a few drops of green food coloring if you want the frosting green. If the frosting is too thick, add a little extra cream. (The frosting should be just thin enough to spread.) Spread the frosting evenly over the cooled brownie layer. Place in the refrigerator for about 5-10 minutes or until firm. Cut brownies into individual pieces and arrange ½ an inch apart on a cookie tray covered with parchment paper. (this is so you can drip the ganache off the sides)

Chocolate Ganache:

Place the chocolate in a medium bowl.  Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until simmering.  Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let sit 1-2 minutes. Whisk until the mixture is smooth and homogenous.  Blend in the corn syrup and vanilla. Pour the glaze into a pitcher or measuring cup and let cool for 3 minutes.  (Do not let the glaze cool longer or it may become difficult to drip over the brownies.)  Dip a small spoon into the ganache and with the backside of the spoon dab the ganache onto each brownie square ensuring that the top is covered and the glaze drips over the sides. Place Andes mint on top of ganache for garnish and refrigerate the brownies until the glaze is set, at least 1 hour.  

Bring back to room temperature before serving.

Gwenevere

When Almost Counts

Horseshoes, hand grenades and…

It has been said that “almost” only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

I’d like to add Pseudo Peanut Butter cookies to the list.

You see, together, Boy and I create the “short stick” when it comes to the DNA code that allows a body to safely ingest foods such as [the Iraq] milk, eggs, cheese nuts and legumes. Not a problem really, except that all three of our kids, drew the short stick.

To dine out we must then tolerate some minor inconveniences like:

1.     Only being able to order 1 item off the Taco Bell menu

2.     Never going to Chick-Fil-A (which houses the best indoor play place in Indy)

3.     Having to verify with every waitress, if butter is premixed with the veggies or if milk was used in that breading on the chicken nuggets and of course if the deserts were processed on equipment shared with the contaminants we are trying to avoid and blah blah blah blah blah.

Consequently,

we don’t go out much and

our kiddos don’t get a lot of junk food.

Like they need the empty calories anyway right?

RIGHT!

Oh wait except, I love to bake and I love to eat what I bake and that means I have to do my cooking after the kids are in bed and then HIDE when I get the chance to eat it (because it’s rude to eat in front of others when they can’t enjoy it with you).

Although I have found great joy in eating an entire batch of cookies all by myself, a greater joy is found when I share. With this idea in mind, I have tried to tweak some of my favorite recipes so that my kids can get in on some of the sweet action too. Some recipes are a work in progress but the pseudo peanut butter cookies are good to go.

Sure, a refined palette will be able to detect the differences but to kids who have never experienced the wonder that is “peanut butter”, these cookies are close enough.

Any closer and they’d all be receiving VIP ‘treatment’ at the nearest ER.

If you want the recipe here it is.

I sincerely hope none of you need it. 

Anaphylactic reactions are a challenge no one should have to live with

and my sympathy goes out to all who do.

Pseudo Peanut Butter Cookies

(for the peanut/egg allergy child you may know)

INGREDIENTS:                                                DIRECTIONS:

½ cup shortening                                                1. Combine shortening, sunbutter and sugars until fluffy (This

½ cup sunbutter (pseudo peanut butter)              mixture will not get as fluffy as traditional cookie dough -

½ cup white sugar                                                    but should get pretty close.)

½ cup brown sugar                                             2. Add vanilla and egg replacer. Mix until combined.

1 tsp vanilla                                                           3. Finally add sifted dry ingredients.

2 ENER G egg replacers (or 2 eggs)                 4. Shape dough into 1” balls and roll in sugar. Place on a

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour                                    greased cookie sheet and press down with a fork.

½ tsp salt                                                               5. Cook at 375 degrees for 6-7 minutes (less for softer cookies).

1 tsp baking soda                                                      Immediately remove from cookie sheet onto a cooling rack

Bread of Life

Bread of Life

John 6:35

"And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: 

he that cometh to me shall never hunger; 

and he that believeth on me shall never thirst."

If inspiration, truth and enlightenment come from an unlikely source does it mean that God in not the only source of inspiration, truth and enlightenment or could it mean that the source, although unlikely, still comes from God?

I have found inspiration, truth and enlightenment from a wide variety of sources, some of which would seem highly unlikely. The Laurel’s Kitchen Bread Book: A guide to Whole-Grain Breadmaking, by Laurel Robertson, is one such unlikely source.

Is this sacrilege? To those who doubt I reference Matthew 7:18 and ask, “How can the acquisition of a skill, which can be used to nourish life, be anything but good?”

While you think about it. Chew on this: one of my favorite recipes from within its pages, 100% Whole Wheat Buttermilk Bread.

Consider yourself warned, to make this bread you may need to get a copy of the book and study it a little. You may even need to rely on the wisdom of someone else who has already studied its pages or has gained an understanding of yeast breads through experience in baking it ☺. I’m available to help if needed.

Stick with it soon enough you’ll understand the language of whole wheat yeast dough too.

May our search for knowledge never cease.

Enjoy the Bread of Life!

100% Whole Wheat Buttermilk Bread

(Recipe from, The Laurels Kitchen Bread Book,

Adapted by Gwenevere for a stand mixer.

I knead by machine unless the power is out.)

INGREDIENTS:

2 teaspoons active dry yeast
½ cup warm water

¾ cup very hot water
¼ cup honey
1 ¼ cup cold buttermilk

5 ½ cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons salt

2-4 tablespoons butter

DIRECTIONS:
In a large mixing bowl combine flour and salt.

In a small bowl combine yeast with ½ cup warm water. Mix until all yeast is dissolved and there are no lumps.

In a medium bowl, combine hot water and honey. Mix until honey is dissolved. Once honey is dissolved add cold buttermilk. The temperature should be slightly warm.

With the flat beater attached and the mixer on, pour the yeast and buttermilk mixture in with the four and salt. Test the dough to see whether more flour or more water is needed and adjust accordingly (page 40). The bread is lightest if the dough is slightly soft. Once you have reached the consistency you desire, switch the flat beater with your dough hook and commence kneading.

Knead for about 7 minutes on low or medium low. After 7 minutes add the butter in cold chips until well combined. Continue with kneading until dough is elastic. (page 42-46)

Once kneading is done, shape dough into a round and place in an ungreased large bowl that can be sealed with a lid or covered with a plate. Let dough rise, covered, at 70 degrees for an hour to and hour and a half.

Once dough is ready (see page 47) deflate the dough (page 48) shape the dough back into a round and place it back in large ungreased bowl and cover for another 30 to 45 minutes. Once the dough is ready (back to page 47 and/or page 49) deflate the dough again, divide it into two equal halves and then reshape each half into a round. Cover the rounds with a bread cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.

While dough is resting, grease 2 standard loaf pans (8x4) liberally with shorting. Once dough is ready, shape the dough into loaves (p. 52 & 53). Cover pans with bread cloth and let rise (proof) for 30 to 45 minutes. After proofing is complete, place bread in a prepared 350 degree oven and cook for 45 minutes to an hour. You know when bread is done when you tap on the bottom and can hear a hollow sound (p. 57)