Snickers Brownies

A couple of weeks ago I read a thread on a food blog about baking with sweets. The general opinion that one of the easiest recipes to add sweets too was chocolate Brownies or Blondies.
So last week I bought a selection of different sweets and stashed them at the back of the cupboard, so they weren't in view every time I opened the cupboard.

Snickers Brownies

• 150g butter, chopped200g dark chocolate, chopped3/4 cup caster sugar2 eggs, lightly beaten1 cup plain flour, sifted1/4 cup self-raising flour, sifted2 x 60g Snickers chocolate bars, cut into 1cm cubes
  1. Grease a 3cm-deep, 18cm x 28cm (base) slice pan. Line with baking paper, allowing a 2cm overhang at long ends.
  2. Place butter, dark chocolate and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 5 minutes or until chocolate has melted. Set aside for 15 minutes to cool. Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan assisted.
  3. Whisk eggs and then flours into chocolate mixture. Fold in Snickers. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Smooth top. Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out with crumbs clinging. Cool in pan. Serve.
  
  

Fudgy Coconut brownies

When Paul works away from home he takes his Man tin, Abi bought it for him as a joke after watching the Micheal mcintyre Man Drawer Sketch.
So this man Tin carries his home comforts when he is working away from home, including sweets, chocolate and coffee sachets.

Recently I have been baking a lot over the weekends and Paul has now started to take away some baked goods, they don't fit in the man tin but he does make room is his case for an extra box.
One of his extended "hotel family" asked if i'd ever made Coconut brownies, I googled some recipes and gave them a try, this recipe is from the BBC Good Food website, which I always consider to be a reliable source, but I was amazed by the amount of Sugar in this recipe, but If like me your trying to lose the extra lb.'s from Christmas, just make sure when you try this recipe you eat the results in moderation, don't panic as the finished Brownies do freeze well, but don't let the sugar content stop you making the brownies as they are awesome.

Ingredients

• 100g cocoa
• 250g butter
• 500g golden caster sugar
• 4 eggs , beaten
• 100g self-raising flour
• 100g desiccated coconut   { I used 50g desiccated coconut & 50g shredded toasted coconut }
• 1tsp Coconut essence
• Icing sugar , to dust (optional)

1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. 
2. Line the base of a 21cm square tin with baking parchment.
3.  Put the cocoa, butter, coconut essence and sugar in your largest saucepan and gently melt, stirring so the mixture doesn't catch. 
4. When the cocoa mixture is melted and combined, cool slightly, then stir in the eggs, little by little, followed by the flour and coconut.
5. Tip into the tin and bake for 45 mins on a middle shelf - check after 30 mins and cover with another piece of baking parchment if the crust is browning too much. I used my top oven { not fan assisted } & the brownies took 55 minutes to cook
6. Cool in the tin, then carefully lift out and cut into squares.
7. Lightly dust with Icing Sugar.

These are a really heavy indulgent brownie that i think is more like a pudding brownie than a cake and would be lovely served Warm with Cream or Ice cream

Chewy Peanut Butter Brownies

In my mind Brownies had to be Chocolate, well I guess until recently I have never really given the brownie much thought, just that I liked them. A few weeks ago I heard someone talking about Peanut Butter Brownies, umm I thought and why not give them a try, after all I like Brownies & I love peanut butter.

I googled the recipe and came across this one on all recipes.com

The measurements for the recipe are in cups, I just love the simplicity of baking from an american recipe.

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Peanut Butter { I used crunchy, but the choice is yours }

1/3 Cup Soft Margarine

2/3 Cup White Sugar

1/2 Cup light Brown Sugar or Light Muscavado

2 Eggs

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Cup Plain Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C ). Grease a 9x9 inch square baking pan.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together peanut butter and margarine. 
3. Gradually blend in the brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, and vanilla; mix until fluffy. 
4. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the peanut butter mixture until well blended.
5. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in preheated oven, or until the top springs back when touched. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes until the sides shrink from the edge of the pan and turn onto a wire cooling rack until, and cut into 16 squares.

These brownies are beautiful, but I felt something was missing, don't mis-understand me they tasted great, but they could taste better & the needed something on the top to decorate them slightly.

2nd Batch

Whilst I was in the kitchen this morning Paul made a 2nd batch and added 50g chopped salted peanuts & 2 tbsp of MSK Maple Caramel Sauce.

Sara's Chocolate brownies

This is the easiest and cheapest Brownie recipe I have ever come accross! 

Melt together:

3 1/2 oz butter

4 heaped desert spoons cocoa


Remove from heat and stir in:

8 oz granulated sugar

2 eggs

then add:

3 oz self raising flour


Line tin approx 8" square with greaseproof.

Pour in & bake @ 180 c for 25 minutes

(usually doesn't need 2 cook quite as long and usually better to use a slightly smaller tin because then it's not so thin!)

Weight Watchers better brownies

These Weight Watchers brownies are sweetened with apple sauce and flavoured with cocoa powder, making them a big treat with little calories.

Ingredients

• Low fat cooking spray
• 75g (2 3/4oz) self raising flour
• 50g (1 3/4oz) unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 2 egg whites
• 175g (6oz) caster sugar
• 6 tbsp unsweetened apple sauce
• 2 tbsp sunflour oil
• 2 tsp vanilla essence
• 15g (1/2oz) chopped walnuts

Method

1. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4/180oc/fan oven 160oc. Spray a 20cm (8 inch) square non stick baking pan with the low fat cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder and salt, stirring together to mix.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, egg whites, sugar, apple sauce, oil and vanilla essence.
4. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture, stirring until just blended. Take care not to over mix, or the brownies will not rise.
5. Transfer the cake mixture to the baking pan and sprinkle with the walnuts.
6. Bake in the centre of the oven until just set- about 25 mins. A toothpick or skewer inserted in the centre of the cake should come out clean.
7. Cool in the tin for 15 mins, then cut into 12 rectangles.

Weight Watchers points per serving: 2
Weight Watchers points per recipe: 26 1/2