Sunday, March 2, 2008

Brownie cups gone wrong...

UPDATE- The husband, oblivious to my plight, took matters into his own hands, thinking the wrapped plate of brownies was supposed to go to his office. I spotted the missing plate, and my heart sank with an "oh no..." thought.
Apparently I worried for naught- The plate of semi-broken brownie bites didn't even last the 8 hour workday in his office. I guess they were too interested in the prospect of baked goods to notice their appearance. Ahh well.

So, along the same lines of trying to cook homemade things to keep the hubby or myself getting preservative-packed unknown junk, I try to make one batch of baked goods on the weekend for lunches and desserts through the workweek.

This week, inspired by Slow Like Honey's "Warm your heart of darkness" brownies, I decided to make a batch of single serving brownie bites. I don't usually keep M&Ms in the house, so I opted to add 1 cup of pecans and 1 cup of chocolate chips to the mix. Otherwise, i kept true to the recipe (posted below).

The 'miss,' however, comes in after these little morsels come out of the oven. Even after greasing the pan, this buggers are STICKY. Armed with a knife to free the edges, I tried to pry a few free of the muffin pan. This was easier said than done. I managed to pry out almost a dozen free of the pan, but even of those, 1/2 of them came out missing their bottoms, cracked, etc.

Despite theproblems in removing the brownies, they were indeed tasty. I suppose if I were to make this again, it'd be in a parchment lined pan, or another method that leaves them easier to pry free. Because I had a little extra batter after filling my muffin pans, I opted to fill 2 heart shaped dishes I picked up for $1 at target. While these had the same sticking problem, at a larger helping, they were perfect for sharing with the hubby with 2 forks right out of the dish.

Chocolate lover brownie bites....
Adapted from Slow Like Honey who Adapted from Sticky Chewy Messy Gooey
makes around 24 to 26 brownie cups depending on personal preference

Ingredients:
1 and ½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2 and ¼ cups granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
6 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 and ½ cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup of chopped pecans

Directions:
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray two standard 12-cup muffin tins with nonstick cooking spray.

Melt the butter and unsweetened chocolate together in a small saucepan over medium-low hear and stir until smooth. Pour the chocolate mixture into a bowl and stir in the sugars, eggs, and vanilla. Sift in the flour and salt into the chocolate mixture and stir until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and the pecans but do not overmix.

Fill each cupcake cup halfway with batter. Bake until the surface of the brownies has a glossy, crackled surface, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool just enough to handle, then remove from the cupcake cups, running a knife around the edge of each brownie to loosen it from the cup. Let it cool completely on the wire rack. Serve immediately, or store for up to 3 days in a covered container.

2 comments:

Amanda said...

sorry to hear about the troubles getting these little things out! I'm not sure if mine were cooked a little longer or if my oven temp was higher, but my brownies popped right out. The M&M's proved to be difficult as they stuck to the pan more. Did you wait for them to cook long enough? They might've needed to rest for a while

Katrina said...

Amanda- Thanks for the comment. I definatly cooked them long enough, I think they stayed in closer to 23-25 munites until I got back a clean toothpick.
I let them rest in the pans while we ate dinner, and tried to pry them out after. I was actually thinking I left them in the pans TOO long, and the cooling sugar might have acted like cement.

Ahh well. Live and learn.
Target had silicone muffin cups on sale 8 in a package for $1, so next time I might try using those.