Tried and True Recipe: Favorite Brownies
Whenever a recipe allows me to spend fifteen minutes prepping, thirty minutes baking, zero to three minutes cooling, and all done with a 13x9 pan, well, let's just say that the recipe print out or cookbook page quickly becomes crumbled and stained by multiple use. I love this type of recipe because advance planning is not necessary and I wind up with a dessert in under an hour. Oh, and don't forget that 13x9 pan tagline. I don't know why but whenever I see the 13x9 pan as recommended hardware in the recipe, everything seems so much more doable.
Now onto my promised Tried and True Recipe for today. Tried and True Recipes (TNT) are those great, no-fail recipes you reach for again and again. I am doing a TNT series here on this blog where I will post one of my family's TNT recipes every other Sunday. See my previous posts:
Actually, this time I will be sharing two recipes, each being a recipe for a brownie. And yes, they come together in no time and 13x9 pans are in your future.
The recipes are called "Best Butterscotch Brownies" and "Four-Way Fudge Brownies." Sounds yummy, huh? So you can better picture them in your mind. . .
I could take credit for these moist, chewy, fudgy, butterscotch-y brownies, but I shouldn't. My sister Catherine baked these and did a mighty fine job. They tasted better than usual!
What I really like about these butterscotch brownies is that no butterscotch chips are used. Brown sugar and butter heated together is what gives them their flavor. To me, butterscotch in chip form leaves a metallic aftertaste so not too fond of them. Another highlight for these brownies is how well they travel. Great lunchbox choice.
I tried a lot of different chocolate brownies before I found the Four-Way Fudge Brownies recipe. With a lot of the recipes I found the chocolate to be prominent, but the brownie's chewiness was always an issue. They always turned out more crisp than I wanted them to be. Up until last year when I found the Four-Way Fudge Brownies, I thought boxed brownies were the best. Yeah, I was that far from brownie bliss.
Onto the recipes!
Best Butterscotch Brownies
(click here for printable version)
source: www.cdkitchen.com
Ingredients:
2 cups light brown sugar
1-1/2 sticks butter, melted
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
Directions:
Melt sugar and butter together. Cool. Add eggs. Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and vanilla together. Add to other mixture. Mix well. Bake in greased 13x9 pan at 350F for 30 minutes.
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Four-Way Fudge Brownies
(click here for printable version)
source: Better Homes and Garden cookbook, out of print
Ingredients:
1 cup butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, cut up
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1-1/3 cups flour
Directions:
Grease a 13x9 pan and set aside. In a medium saucepan, melt butter and chocolate over low heat. Remove from heat. Stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat lightly by hand just until combined. Stir in flour.
Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake brownies in a 350F oven for 30 minutes.
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Next TNT recipe will be posted on March 10!
Tried and True Recipe: Blueberry Pancakes
Here's the premiere post of my brand new blog series: Tried and True Recipes. TNT recipes are those great, no-fail recipes that you reach for again and again. See my previous post to learn more.
Homemade blueberry pancakes have been a staple for my family for years. They are the pinnacle of Sunday brunches and most recently, Friday lunches, as we abstain from meat on this day of the week. Add the fact that we grow and freeze our own blueberries and you have one spectacular pancake. We typically reach for the Bisquick mix to make pancakes, but last year I found a wonderful pancake recipe from Annemarie's famous Betty Crocker cook book from 1950. According to Pinterest, this is one popular cook book! Recipe follows photos. . .
Blueberry Pancakes
(click here for printable recipe)
Ingredients:
1 egg
1-1/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. sugar
2 tbsp. soft butter
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 to 1/3 cup frozen blueberries
Directions:
In a bowl, combine eggs, milk, and baking soda. Beat until foamy. Beat in flour, sugar, butter, baking powder, and salt. Make sure you don't over beat. Pour frozen blueberries in (don't bother rinsing them unless you see ice), and stir gently with a spoon.
Heat griddle and grease with butter. Here's a tip on how to grease: take a stick of butter straight from the fridge and unwrap it at one end. Using the other end as a handle, slide the butter stick over the entire surface of the griddle. Place butter back in fridge until you have to grease again. Using a ladle, pour batter on hot griddle. Test and adjust amount of batter you need for a pancake in your preferred diameter. (Hey, every family is different. Some like it big, others small!) Once the pancakes' edges are firm and you see large bubbles in the middle, it is time to flip. First, use a large spatula to cut and separate the pancakes that are touching, then flip!
As soon as the other side is brown the pancakes are ready to eat. You can have them right off the griddle or you can place them in a warm, glass baking dish and put them in a warm oven. They will be still nice and butter-melting-warm when it's time to eat!
Yield: 16 4" pancakes.
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Next TNT recipe will be posted on February 24!
New Tried and True Series
I've been mulling over in my mind an idea I came up with a couple weeks ago. In a nutshell, it is a series of blog posts where each post will have the slogan: "Tried and True Recipe." Or "TNT" for short. So what makes a tried and true recipe? For me, a TNT recipe is one that I grab for first whenever I think of making that particular dish. I remember watching Melissa D'Arabian (host of Ten Dollar Dinners on Food Network), a couple years ago and she used to say, "This is a good recipe to have in your back pocket." In other words, a great, no-fail recipe that has proved his worth in the past and acts like a culinary swiss army knife. Aka family favorites. Aka comfort food. Aka tried and true recipe. Aka TNT recipe.
Years ago when Sabbath Supper was just starting out, I used to post each week what I cooked/baked on Sunday afternoon. That's where the name came from! For this new series, I will be scheduling a post every other Sunday morning with a TNT recipe to share with you. So you can sip your coffee and read at the same time. :) A written (and printable) recipe will be shared along with any tips that will help make my recipe a TNT recipe for you.
The first post in this series will be going public this coming Sunday, February 10th.
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Some other news: I thought I should fill you in on some recent news of mine. First I will give you some background info! Last summer I started to sell homemade baked goods at Magicland Farms (my family's roadside farm market), under the Michigan Cottage Food Law. I was selling bar cookies, brownies, blueberry muffins, sugar cookies, cupcakes, and more throughout the summer and fall months. All of them were really popular and I had a hard time keeping up with the demand! Thank goodness we had air conditioning because I don't think I could have made it through hot summer baking without it!
Later in the year I started selling my baked goods at craft shows and forming my own business called Becky's Sweet Delights Bakery. (See website here.)
Last month I managed to obtain a job at a local camp and will be working part time as Food Service Staff. In all likelihood, I will need to cut off any bakery pursuits for this year which is a sad thing considering how new it is. On the bright side, it will always be there for me to lean back on and it is something I know I will enjoy. I am very excited to start working at the camp; my training will be starting at the end of February so I don't have to wait very long at all! Pray for me and my new endeavor!
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