OREO Chocolate Chip Pudding Blondies

You would think that with all the Oreo recipes I've been posting lately that I'm quite fond of these cream-filled, chocolate-flavored cookies. Ah, but you would be wrong, because while I do like to use them as crusts for pies, cheesecakes, and in other desserts, I'm not too crazy about them on their own. So why the plethora of Oreo-based desserts, you ask? Because all the well-intentioned recipients of said desserts are enamored with consuming these cookies in everything.

Oreo Truffle Brownies

Many adults have fond, childhood memories of being awakened on Saturday mornings by comforting smells of a special, homemade breakfast lovingly made by a parent or caregiver. In the southern part of the United States, a special breakfast may be comprised of bacon, buttermilk biscuits (and sausage gravy), pancakes, coffee, and/or orange juice.

Reese's Peanut Butter Egg Double Chocolate Brownies

It's funny how I made these brownies almost exactly a year ago. I know it was about a year because Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs were on sale in time for Easter, and I decided to use these eggs in a brownie recipe that I had made 2 or three times previously.

Brownie Bites/Cupcakes?

My Blog Site: Sandie from Inn Cuisine (a lovely blog by the way) e-mailed me and told me that she was unable to leave comments on my blog when I had the other theme, so I am in the process of changing things around (She just e-mailed me again and told me she is still having trouble! :( UF!). As you can see, there is still a lot to be done, so be patient with me. If you are unable to leave a comment on my blog, please send me an e-mail or something so that I can try to fix things. I've spent almost an entire day doing it, and I need to grade, gather data for my dissertation, and look for a summer job haha.
Now, the brownie bites. My adviser suggested that I thank the Spanish/Portuguese (and one Italian professor who is now my co-chair) linguistic faculty via e-mail for not kicking me out of the PhD program (all that said in my words of course haha). I told a colleague about her suggestion, and my colleague said that the protocol is to pass out "Thank You" cards! I didn't know about this custom, so when I learned about how formal it was, I decided to go beyond what was expected by not only passing out cards, but also baking up something yummy for the faculty.
I debated on trying a dessert I've never posted before on this blog, but I wanted to make something easy and something I knew tasted really good. That is how I decided on making this King Arthur Flour Brownies again but in small bite form. After the bites were done, I poured on some leftover ganache I made for another chocolate mousse cheesecake I made for my friend.

I made some with cupcake liners and some without.

The bites were a hit. My now ex-committee chair (she is still on my committee, though. Short, boring story) expressed her love of the bite a lot more vocally than the other profs haha. I then decided to tell her about my food blog and gave her my website address. I hope she visits!
In bite form, these brownies didn't form as crackly a top as they do in regular form. They were still very good. They tasted even better with homemade whipped cream on top. On eone of them, I put on ganache and then whipped cream! OMG! Amazing!! Too bad I had run out of ganache at that point. I plan to make these brownie bites/cupcakes again. Try them with both toppings for the full effect. Do I call these cupcakes? Brownie cakes? *scratches head in 'confusement'* hehe.

Last but definitely not least, to all of my professors, I say,
THANK YOU! ¡GRACIAS! GRAZIE! OBRIGADA!

Brownie Bites
adapted by King Arthur Flour

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cups Dutch-process cocoa (I used regular cocoa this time around)
1 tsp salt (I used Kosher)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp espresso powder (optional, but recommended)
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 cups chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a muffin pan if not using liners. [If using liners, spray them with Baker's Joy or cooking spray because brownie batter sticks a lot more than cake batter.]

In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, or in a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat (or microwave) briefly, just until it’s hot (about 110°F to 120°F), but not bubbling; it’ll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.

The last photo of the bowl is after microwaving the butter/sugar mixture again. Notice the difference in texture from the previous photo.

While the sugar heats a second time, crack the 4 eggs into a bowl (or stand mixer), and beat them with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla till smooth. Add the hot butter/sugar mixture, stirring until smooth.
Add the flour and chips (optional), again stirring until smooth. Note: If you want the chips to remain intact in the baked brownies, rather than melting in, let the batter cool in the bowl for about 20 minutes before stirring in the chips.
Spoon the batter into a lightly-greased muffin pan or greased cupcake liners. Bake the brownies for about 15 minutes (30 minutes if regular sized brownies), until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and the center should look very moist, but not uncooked. Remove them from the oven and cool on a rack before cutting and serving.

Chocolate Chip Blondies (Not Heath Bar Blondies)

These were supposed to be Heath Bar Blondies, but I had only 5-10 toffee bits left in my possession. Yes, exactly 5-10 bits. So, I had to sub in chocolate chips because I didn't want to go to the store again.

Despite the absence of toffee bits, these blondies were so so so so good, which leads me to my next point. Baking can be a rewarding and gratifying skill; however, at the same time, it can be a curse in disguise!

Case in point - I was sitting at my desk minding my own business when a sudden craving for sweets hit me. I started searching my bookmarks for sweets and rediscovered this recipe from Lovin' From the Oven, jumped up from my seat, and made them. And only 15-30 minutes later, my sweet cravings dissipated with every bite of the warm blondie.
Anyway, try out these blondies. Freeze some of them, and eat one as an award after a 30/60-minute workout :D. Enjoy!

P.S. I will be blogging about a healthy dish I made for my mom while she was here. It was really good! Thanks for your well-wishes about my mom's visit; we had an awesome time. I miss you already, mom!

Heath Bar/Chocolate Chip Blondies

Lightly adapted from Lovin' From the Oven
who adapted it from 3 B's.. Baseball, Baking, and Books

1 cup AP flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped Heath Bars (I used 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x8 pan with cooking spray and line pan with foil or parchment paper for easy removal. Spray the foil or parchment paper with the cooking spray.

Cream together the brown sugar and melted butter. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until blended. Stir in the Heath Bars (or whatever addition you prefer) and pour into a greased 8x8 pan.

Bake for 30-35 minutes. Allow the blondies to cool completely before cutting.

Photo Advice: If taking photos of the blondies, I suggest refrigerating them for at least an hour before cutting into them. Cut off the edges of the brownies for neater-looking blondies.

KAF Brownies

As promised, here are the brownies I made during my Indian feast with my friend. This recipe originates from King Arthur's website, but I spotted the recipe on Sing For Your Supper a few months ago. Since then, I have made these brownies many of times before. I have made them for my students and my colleagues as well. Everyone loves these fudgy brownies. Just like I do for cookies, I try not to fully cook these brownies to increase the fudge, creamy factor even more.

However, since in these photos, the brownies are cold, you can't see how fudgy they are after being heated up a bit. They are still very good three days later. I usually half the recipe and bake them in an 8" x 8" square pan. I enjoy the process of mixing the melted butter with the sugar. It produces a beautiful, yellow, shiny, thick mixture and is done to yield a crackly top on the brownie.

If you're out of chocolate chips or bars of chocolate and love fudgy brownies, these are the brownies for you. However, if you do have chocolate, you could always add the chunks or chips to the batter to make them even more intense. I used mini chocolate chips this time, and they melted into the brownie. However, I usually don't add chocolate chips/chunks to the brownies, and they still taste rich and delectable. Enjoy!

KAF Brownies

adapted by Sing For Your Supper and King Arthur Flour

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cups Dutch-process cocoa (I used regular cocoa this time around)
1 tsp salt (I used Kosher)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp espresso powder (optional, but recommended)
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 cups chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9″ x 13″ pan.

In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, or in a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat (or microwave) briefly, just until it’s hot (about 110°F to 120°F), but not bubbling; it’ll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.

While the sugar heats a second time, crack the 4 eggs into a bowl (or stand mixer), and beat them with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla till smooth. Add the hot butter/sugar mixture, stirring until smooth.

Add the flour and chips (optional), again stirring until smooth. Note: If you want the chips to remain intact in the baked brownies, rather than melting in, let the batter cool in the bowl for about 20 minutes before stirring in the chips.

Spoon the batter into a lightly-greased 9″ x 13″ pan. Bake the brownies for about 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and the center should look very moist, but not uncooked. Remove them from the oven and cool on a rack before cutting and serving.