The only major change I’m working on is whether I want to add the coffee or not. The original recipe calls for 1-1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder or 2-3 teaspoons instant coffee crystals and I’m not sure if that will work as well with white chocolate as it does with chocolate.  However, for this first batch, I added the coffee (1-1/2 tsp coffee grounds) since it would be an easy fix the next time around.  Update: Do not use coffee!  It was too powerful and totally overwhelmed all of the brownies.  A coffee drinker even said it wasn’t tasty.

As for the chocolate, I initially used 8 ounces of white baking chocolate, but while you could tell it was white chocolate, I didn’t think it was strong enough, so I’m adding another 2 ounces to the recipe.  Although, I am wondering if the strength of the white chocolate would increase if the coffee is taken out.  Coffee is strong after all.  Either way, I don’t believe adding more white chocolate would be a bad thing, whether it is 2 ounces or 4.

Something I did unintentionally, and I’m actually happy about, is I reduced the amount of butter that is used.  The original recipe calls for 10 tbsp, but for these, I stuck to one stick of butter (8 tbsp) and the chocolate wasn’t as liquidy as the original recipe – at this stage.  There was definitely a different look to it and I think adding the extra 2 tbsps would not have made it turn out well.  Granted, this may change once I actually taste the brownies, but considering how the chocolate looked when I pulled it from the microwave, I’m not upset I miscalculated that.

Side note: Adding nuts to the top is totally optional. Whenever I include nuts within the recipe, I like to have them on top so it’s easily recognizable that it’s not something for anyone with nut allergies.  Also, I’ll get a better picture once I cut.

Ingredients:
10 ounces white chocolate
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1-1/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
tiny drops almond extract
3 large eggs
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (extra half to a full cup for cake-like brownies)
3/4 cup toasted pecans (optional)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 325F. Adjust an oven rack to a lower-middle position.
2. Line an 8 inch square metal baking pan with foil or parchment paper.
3. Mix and bake brownies according to type desired – Fudge-like or Cake-like.
4. Cool brownies in pan on a wire rack. When cool enough to handle, use the foil or parchment to pull the brownies from pan. Completely cool brownies on rack, at least 3 hours for fugdey and 1 hour for cakey. Be patient, or the brownies won’t cut into nice squares and you’ll have a mess on hand. … Cut and enjoy!!!

Fudge-Like brownies
Put chocolates and butter in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high, stirring every 30 seconds, until chocolate is almost melted. Remove from microwave, and stir to melt remaining bits of chocolate. Alternatively, you can melt the choco/butter/coffee combo over a pan of simmering water: put a heat-proof bowl over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water, and stir until everything is melted. Remove from heat.

Whisk in sugar, salt, baking powder, and extracts into the chocolate mixture. Then whisk in the eggs, one at a time, mixing each one completely before adding the next one. After adding the eggs, whisk the mixture until smooth and glossy. Add flour; whisk until just incorporated. Do not over mix. Stir in the nuts.

Pour batter into the prepared pan; flatten the top with a spatula. Bake until a toothpick poked into the center comes out with wet crumbs, 55 to 65 minutes. Start checking at 40 minutes, oven may vary.

Cake-Like Brownies
Melt chocolate using the above instructions. Let rest. Combine both mixtures together. Sift flour, salt, baking powder together. Then fold in/add that to the choco/butter mix. That should be all the ingredients but the nuts.

Pour batter into the prepared pan; flatten the top with a spatula. Bake until a toothpick poked into the center comes out with clean, 45 to 55 minutes. (If your oven is notorious for overheating, start checking around 35 minutes.)

Making brownies from scratch hasn’t always worked for me.  I’m still trying to find a good recipe and I think this is it.  Not only was it ridiculously easy, but I had all the ingredients in my pantry.  Well, I didn’t have the two chocolates, but that’s because the last type I used was white, but I do typically have bar chocolate in the cupboards.  So this is one I could definitely keep on hand for whenever Jesse or I get the chocolate craving.

Plus, I totally see possibilities for turning these into either Dark Chocolate or White Chocolate brownies.  I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m thinking if I change the semi-sweet chocolate to dark or white, that it could work.  For the white, I may have to change the unsweetened as well, but I’m going to have to try it first.  It’s a good thing I’m going to my mother’s soon…now that I found a recipe to play with, I am so totally going to do it.

I may have made one mistake when I made these.  I’m not usually a fan of coffee in my baked-goods, but it wasn’t a lot so I gave it a whirl. The mistake may have been how much I put in.  I neither have espresso powder or instant coffee crystals.  Jesse prefers the ground coffee grounds and that’s what I used for the brownies.  Thankfully, I used the smaller measure amount (1-1/2 tsp), so hopefully it won’t come out too strong or weak.  We’ll have to see.

Side note: Adding nuts to the top is totally optional. Whenever I include nuts within the recipe, I like to have them on top so it’s easily recognizable that it’s not something for anyone with nut allergies.  Also, I’ll get a better picture once I cut.

Ingredients:
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
10 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder or 2-3 teaspoons instant coffee crystals
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract or (Chocolate Extract if you have it)
tiny drops almond extract*
3 large eggs
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (extra half to a full cup for cake-like brownies)
3/4 cup toasted pecans (optional)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 325F. Adjust an oven rack to a lower-middle position.
2. Line an 8 inch square metal baking pan with foil or parchment paper.
3. Mix and bake brownies according to type desired – Fudge-like or Cake-like.
4. Cool brownies in pan on a wire rack. When cool enough to handle, use the foil or parchment to pull the brownies from pan. Completely cool brownies on rack, at least 3 hours for fugdey and 1 hour for cakey. Be patient, or the brownies won’t cut into nice squares and you’ll have a mess on hand. … Cut and enjoy!!!

Fudge-Like brownies
Put chocolates, butter, and instant coffee/espresso in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high, stirring every 30 seconds, until chocolate is almost melted. Remove from microwave, and stir to melt remaining bits of chocolate. Alternatively, you can melt the choco/butter/coffee combo over a pan of simmering water: put a heat-proof bowl over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water, and stir until everything is melted. Remove from heat.

Whisk in sugar, salt, baking powder, and extracts into the chocolate mixture. Then whisk in the eggs, one at a time, mixing each one completely before adding the next one. After adding the eggs, whisk the mixture until smooth and glossy. Add flour; whisk until just incorporated. Do not over mix. Stir in the nuts.

Pour batter into the prepared pan; flatten the top with a spatula. Bake until a toothpick poked into the center comes out with wet crumbs, 55 to 65 minutes. Start checking at 40 minutes, oven may vary.

Cake-Like Brownies
Melt chocolate and coffee together using the above instructions. Let rest. Combine both mixtures together. Sift flour, salt, baking powder together. Then fold in/add that to the choco/butter mix. That should be all the ingredients but the nuts.

Pour batter into the prepared pan; flatten the top with a spatula. Bake until a toothpick poked into the center comes out with clean, 45 to 55 minutes. (If your oven is notorious for overheating, start checking around 35 minutes.)

Anyway, I got to thinking and realized that this should work out well. The first thing I will say, get yourself a mini-muffin pan.  I have the Pampered Chef version and love it.  The reason I say to get one of these is because it’s actually a really smart move if you’re a chocoholic like my family is.  Not only do the portions come out equal, but they are just the right size to give you a taste without gorging yourself on them.  Granted, if you eat a dozen of them at a time, then you’re going to gorge yourself; but with the mini-muffin pan, you can have a dozen and not fill like a pig too.  Plus the size is perfect for little toddler hands.

I would also look at getting a food chopper because this is what made this recipe even remotely possible and easy.  I’m not normally a fan of them, but the pampered chef one is fabulous.  Not only does it break down into three separate pieces to wash, but all of it can go into the dishwasher. This was my biggest hangup about owning one, but now that I have it, I’m using it more and loving the results.  I never would have thought about chopping up peanuts and throwing them into the brownie batter without this thing.  I’m so going to try chopping up pretzels and throwing those into the next batch of brownies I make.

But back to the actual recipe.  These more or less came out tasting like chocolate banana bread and they are fabulous.  I have never thought of adding any additional ingredients to the brownie batter before and now I’m so thinking about different combinations I can try.  This is a really easy recipe for anyone who can make your standard out-of-the-box brownies and it gives it a little more of a kick.

Update (4.19.09): My sister was asking me about cook times earlier and I should mention that the cook times below are for the mini-muffin pan.  If you plan on using any of the regular sizes, I would follow the directions on the brownie mix and adjust as needed. If you find a time that works really well, let me know please.  Thanks!

Ingredients:
1 pkg brownie mix + ingredients for cake-like brownies
2 bananas, mashed
1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Chop the peanuts using a food chopper.
2. In a bowl, mix together the bananas, oil, eggs and water (which is required for the brownie mix). Mix (or blend) until everything is smooth and then add the brownie mix. Mix (or blend) until everything is smooth again and then mix in the peanuts.
3. Spoon out the batter into the mini-muffin pan until each slot is 3/4 full.
4. Bake for 13 minutes.

Yield: about 6 dozen brownie bites

Variation: Substitute pretzels for the bananas.  I haven’t tried this yet, but I am so going to.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 squares (2 oz) unsweetened chocolate, melted
1/2 cup flour

Chocolate Glaze
2 tbsp butter or margarine
Chocolate chips

Mint Frosting
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tbsp softened butter
1 tbsp milk
½ tsp peppermint extract
Green food coloring

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl of mixer beat butter, sugar, vanilla, eggs and chocolate until well blended. Stir in flour.
3. Spread in greased 8-inch square baking pan. Bake for 25 minutes (or until top is firm).
4. Cool, then spread with Mint Frosting. Let stand until set (may refrigerate). Drizzle with Chocolate Glaze. Chill until firm.
5. Mint Frosting: Beat until smooth 1-cup confectioners’ sugar, 2 tablespoons softened butter or margarine, 1-tablespoon milk, ½ teaspoon peppermint extract, and a dash of green food coloring.
6. Chocolate Glaze: In small saucepan over low heat melt 2 tablespoons butter or margarine. Add tablespoons of chocolate chips and stir to melt and smooth. (I have also melted the butter in the microwave and then added the chocolate and stirred). If the chocolate is too thick, add a little more butter.

Ingredients
50 Light Caramels (14oz. bag)
2/3 cup evaporated milk
3/4 cup chocolate chips, melted
1 pkg. German Chocolate Cake Mix
3/4 cup margarine, melted (1-1/2 sticks)
3/4 cup chopped nuts (optional – we didn’t add them)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour 9×13 pan.
2. Melt caramels over low heat with 1/3 cup of evaporated milk. Set aside.
3. Combine cake mix, 1/3 evaporated milk, margarine, and nuts. Stir until dough sticks together. Press 1/2 of dough into pan (reserve the rest for the top).  Bake for 6 minutes.
4. Remove from oven and spread melted chocolate chips over cooked dough. Spread caramel mixture over chocolate chips. Bake 15-18 minutes. Cool slightly and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

The recipe turned out alright, but there were a few things the recipe said should happen that I did have to modify as I went. The first being the cooking time. Now this is kind of important and I’m not sure what went wrong. According to the recipe, it should only bake for 20-22 minutes. Yet, I had the brownies in the oven for a good 40 minutes before they came out according to the recipe. Of course, this meant that the edges were a little darker and crispier than intended, but I’m not sure if it was due to my pan or the recipe creator’s concept of time. The recipe calls for the large bar pan that Pampered Chef sells, and if it’s the one I’m thinking it is, it’s also a piece of stoneware, which might mean that the brownies would take a shorter amount of time to cook. If that’s true, then using my glass cake pan probably increased the time. So, I’m not changing the time in the directions simply because I’m not sure why there’s a difference.

One thing I completely forgot about that may have made a big difference, I’m not sure if I made cake-like brownies or fudge-like brownies. If I made the fudge-like brownies, then I think I can see why it took longer to bake. The brownie mix box didn’t give me the two different ingredient list, so I think I’m going to try a different brand than Ghiradella, just to see if this was what made the difference in cooking times.

The other change I noticed was the “drizzling chocolate”. Microwaving the chocolate and caramel pieces (I used Rollo’s) did melt the mixture, but it really didn’t make it into something that could be drizzled. So I ended up heating the mixture on the stove with a little milk thrown in. Once I did this, the drizzling effect was easy. That is one thing I am going to change in the directions. Instead of microwaving the 1/2 cup chocolate and caramels for a minute (stirring every 20 second intervals), I’m just going to say to heat it up on the stove until it’s melted.

For the rest of the recipe, it was actually really good. I got the Ghiradella Dark Chocolate brownie mix and who were the brownies tasty. I’ve never thought of adding brown sugar to brownies before, but I like what it did. I haven’t come across any of the hidden surprises yet, but I’ve been snacking along the edges. Overall, though, I like this and I would make it again. I might play with it a bit though.

Edited to Add: So since I’ve posted this review, I’ve become a little more informed on some of the products mentioned in this recipe and I figured out why this recipe was weird.  The large bar pan is a piece of stoneware that is more like a cookie sheet than a cake pan.  So actually, my review is good for anyone who doesn’t have this piece of stoneware.

Ingredients:
1 pkg (12oz) semi-sweet chocolate morsels, divided or 2 cups chocolate chips
1 pkg (18-21oz) brownie mix (plus ingredients to make cake like brownies)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar, divided
1 cup pecans (changed from salted mix nuts)
5 rolls milk chocolate-covered chewy caramels, unwrapped, divided (40 pieces total)
Vanilla ice cream (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly brush cake pan with vegetable oil. Chop 1-1/2 cups of the chocolate morsels. In a bowl, combine the brownie mix, water, oil, eggs, and 1/4 cup brown sugar; mix well. Fold in chopped chocolate; pour batter into pan, spreading evenly.
2. Chop nuts. Combine half of the nuts and remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar; sprinkle evenly over brownie batter. Bake 20-22 minutes (could be longer) or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
3. Meanwhile, cut 16 caramels into quarters. Place remaining 1/2 cup chocolate morsels in microwave safe bowl; microwave on HIGH 1 minute or until melted, stirring after each 20-second interval. Spoon melted chocolate into resealable plastic bag; set aside.
4. Remove pan from oven and set aside to cool. Immediately press remaining 24 caramels evenly into brownie in four rows of six caramels each. Sprinkle quartered caramels and remaining nuts over brownies. Trim corner of chocolate-filled bag and drizzle chocolate evenly over brownies. Cut into squares; serve warm and with ice cream if desired.

Nutritional Information: 300 calories; 16g total fat; 4.5g saturated fat; 25mg cholesterol; 38g carbohydrate; 3g protein; 135mg sodium; 2g fiber

Since I found the recipe, I decided to make some rocky road brownies. Jesse had been going on and on about rocky road brownies, ice cream, etc all day, so I figured why not. I did make a few changes to the recipe. For instance, I doubled the amount of chocolate chips that were melted because it just didn’t seem like enough to me. However, since I doubled the chocolate, I didn’t mess with the flour and this caused it to be a little more fudgy in the middle than what I had intended. So I doubled the amount of flour as well. The fudgy center wasn’t really a bad thing, but it did change the texture a little. Regardless of this, the brownies came out really good. They were so good, that the majority of them were gone before I could get a picture of them. So this is what you get.

The one thing I will caution you about this recipe is the chocolate chips and marshmallows on top.  Too many chocolate chips is actually a bad thing for this recipe because it’ll drown out the marshmallows.  So don’t go nuts adding the chips.  Jesse doesn’t think the chips on top were needed at all, so use your own judgment on this.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
3/4 cup chocolate chips
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 marshmallows

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease an 8×8 baking pan; set aside. In a medium saucepan melt butter and 1/2 cup chocolate chips over low heat. Remove from heat. Stir in eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, beat lightly just till combined. Stir in flour and nuts.
3. Spread batter in prepared baking pan. Bake in oven for 30 minutes.
4. Immediately sprinkle 1/4 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup marshmallows evenly over brownies. Bake an additional 3 minutes or until marshmallows are just beginning to brown and chocolate is melted.

The first thing I will say about this is you need to refrigerate the York peppermint patties at least 24 hours before making this. Cutting them up was a little interesting and they all stuck together so it made sprinkling them over the top a little difficult.

When I first made these brownies (before adding the York Peppermint patties), we found that the brownies were a little too fudgy so I doubled the flour amount.  Now that I had doubled the flour amount, the brownies came out a little too cake like.  So now I’m thinking that while I do need to increase the flour amount, I didn’t need to increase it as much as I did.  The original recipe had 3/4 cups, this time around I used 1-1/2 cups, so I’m thinking that 1 cup of flour will do the trick.

Another problem we came across was the york peppermint patties.  Sprinkling them on top and then baking the brownies really didn’t work all that well.  It worked, but the patties ended up getting hard and they were’nt really that chewy.  So next time, I’m planning on mixing the patties straight into the batter and baking that way.  If that doesn’t work, then I’m going to take a step from the Rocky Road Brownies and sprinkle them on top and then bake them for 3-5 mintues after the brownies have had a chance to bake.  I may make these again this week to see if this works, but I’m not sure yet.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
3/4 cup chocolate chips
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cups all-purpose flour
8oz of York Peppermint Patties, chopped into pieces – chilled

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8×8 baking pan; set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan melt butter and 1/2 cup chocolate chips over low heat. Remove from heat. Stir in eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, beat lightly just till combined. Stir in flour.
3. Spread batter in prepared baking pan.  Sprinkle top of batter with chopped up York Peppermint patties
4. Bake in oven for 30 minutes.