UeaT

Hello UeaTers,

If you want to spend the weekend baking, we really recommend that you try Giovanna’s winning brownie recipe. After all, it is U of T’s favorite brownie, as voted by you! It is a simple recipe, with simple local ingredients, and the brownies turn out perfect every time!

We asked Giovanna why she chose local ingredients. Here is what she had to say: “I'm always inclined to lean towards local ingredients in my cooking at home, though I was unsure how to make something local when the main ingredient was chocolate” (for those who don’t know, Ontario doesn’t have cacao trees which produce chocoate). So Giovanna decided to stick with all the traditional ingredients and throw in some maple syrup.

Giovanna’s favorite brownie memory is when she introduced brownies to her friends and colleagues in Hungary (do they have maple syrup in Hungary?). And her favorite brownie flavor is...chocolate of course! “The whole point of a brownie is the excess of delicious gooey chocolate”. Well said Giovanna!

During exams, stop by a cafe near you and pick up Giovanna’s brownie. It is soft, gooey, fudgy, chocolate, mapley, and so dreamy. “It may not be especially healthy, but it's delicious and is made from real ingredients!”, explains U of T’s brownie expert. “And if you've never baked before, I think these brownies are a great way to start. It's quite simple (essentially just mix the ingredients together and bake), and you'll get great brownies, and enough to share!” Perfect for the holidays!

Ingredients:

4 oz ChocoSol Baker's Chocolate (or any other local baker’s chocolate) 10 tbsp Butter 1 cup Sugar 6 tbsp Hart House Maple Syrup (or any other local maple syrup) 1/2 cup Flour 1 tsp Salt 2 tsp REAL Vanilla Extract 3 Eggs 1/2 cup Toasted Chopped Walnuts (you can skip the walnuts if you have nut allergies)

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F.
2. Melt butter & chocolate in a microwave or double boiler.
3. Mix in the sugar, maple syrup and vanilla.
4. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Important: don't overmix.
5. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and salt.
6. Mix the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture. Again, don't overmix.
7. Gently mix in the walnuts.
8. Butter an 8 by 12 pan (or something similarly sized) and pour in the batter.
9. Bake for about 1/2 hour, often a bit more (timing will vary depending on the size and shape of your pan). They're done when a knife comes out mostly clean.

Try out these brownies this weekend, and let us know how they turned out! (leave us a comment below).

And if you are REALLY craving brownies this weekend, try out all three winning recipes!

The Healthy Brownie (by Joanne Bacon)

Ingredients:

½ stick Unsalted Butter

¼ cup Flax Seed Oil or Olive Oil

1 cup Brown or Cane sugar

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt

1/2 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

2 Large Eggs (cold)

1/2 cup Unbleached Flour

½ cup Flax Meal or Seeds

2/3 cup Walnuts or Pecans (chopped small)

Process:

1.  Line an 8-inch or 10-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides. .

2.  Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F.

3.  Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a double boiler on simmering water.

4.   Stir from time to time until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and hot.

5.  Set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot. .

6.  Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon.

7.  Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one.

8.  When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula.

9.  Stir in the nuts and flax.

10. Spread evenly in the lined pan. .

11. Bake until a toothpick or knife comes out slightly moist with batter, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack. .

12. Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board.

13. Cut into 16 or 25 squares.

14. To make them really delish you can pour ½ mixture (batter) into the baking pan, add a few marshmallows and pour the rest. Caramel or chocolate chips can be added as well!!

Here is what Joanne had to say about this recipe:

"I wanted to create a delicious brownie - one with protein, fibre and tiny pieces of nuts  - as I don’t like brownies with large nut chunks. I also wanted one that would not stick to the roof of one’s mouth, but rather would sort of crumble with true, rich chocolate flavor. My most recent success with these brownies was having family and friends (from Romania, Trinidad and Toronto) to my off the grid paradise in Muskoka and making the brownies for afternoon tea after a long walk in the woods. The fresh fall air made everything taste so much better and the brownies were a serious hit with my guests who polished off the batch I had made to last the whole weekend  - in one sitting! The best ones I ever made had a topping of whipped cream with crushed pistachios! "

And last, but not least.... 

The Sinful Brownie (by Amy Hu)

Ingredients:

¾ cup Cocoa Powder

½ cup Melted Butter

½ cup Peanut Butter

2 cups Brown Sugar

3 Large Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 cup Flour

1 cup Walnuts (coarsely chopped)

1 cup Raisins

4 squares White Chocolate, melted (for drizzling)

Process:

1.  Preheat oven to 350°F, and line a 9 by 9 inch baking pan with foil, making sure to extend the foil over the two sides to form "handles" - they make lifting the brownies out very simple and fuss-free.

2.  Grease the foil.

3.   Stir together melted butter with cocoa powder, then stir in peanut butter.

4.  Stir in sugar until well blended.

5.  Then mix in the eggs and vanilla and stir well

6.  Stir in flour just until blended

7.  Stir in ½ of the chopped walnuts and all of the raisins.

8.  Pour the batter into the pan and scatter the remaining chopped walnuts over top.

9.  Bake 20 to 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out almost (but not completely) clean. Start checking for doneness 5 minutes earlier, then in 3 minute intervals to avoid over-baking.

10. Put the pan on a rack to cool completely.

11. Lift out the cooled brownie block out of the pan using the foil handles.

12. Use a sandwich bag to drizzle melted white chocolate over top.

13. Refrigerate for 15 minutes for the chocolate to solidify, then cut into squares using serrated knife moistened with hot water. Wipe in between cuts for cleaner edges. Enjoy!

"I am a fan of fudgy, not cakey brownies. The sinful quality comes from the deeply intense chocolate flavor delivered by using cocoa powder instead of the traditional chocolate squares," explains Amy. "The addition of peanut butter provides a rich and dense undertone, and the raisins add moisture and a surprising fruity sweetness in between the chocolaty bites".

Here is Amy’s story about her recipe: "It was a freezing Sunday afternoon in November, and I’d been agonizing over the glossy pictures in my baking book for the nth time.  That’s when I made the decision: I WILL bake something now, and I WILL make the house smell like a chocolate factory just to spite Old Man Winter. 

The “chosen recipe” was for brownies, because all I needed was chocolate, sugar, butter, eggs, flour.  Except, it dawned on me quickly that I actually didn’t have any chocolate squares in the pantry, nor did I have enough butter.  At that point all my baking gear was out, and nothing was going to stop me.  So with some creative substitution, 1 cup butter became ½ cup of butter + ½ cup of crunchy peanut butter; and 4 squares of chocolate became a lot of cocoa powder.  Who knew? These two changes made out of desperation eventually became the cornerstone of my signature brownies!  The dense nutty undertone offered the perfect support to the intense cocoa flavor.  And because cocoa powder has no sugar, the brownie was sinful to the extreme, yet not too sweet.  A very “grown up” brownie, you could say.  In fact, if you bake it for a really short period of time, they can be quite “molten” and “R rated”   I’ve never had trouble finding volunteers to clean my mixing bowl!"