Brookies

I came across the concept of these many times while browsing through Pinterest. However, as many photos as there were, I could never find a recipe! 

I decided to try them as a treat to cheer up someone who loves brownies and loves chocolate chip cookies! Those are pretty basic things to love. It's kind of hard to go wrong making either. 

I think I got this down pretty well even though the baking times for these are obviously very different! I wanted to preserve the tastes of each part of the Brookie and still get them to stick together. I had no problem getting them to do just that! The result was a gooey, soft cookie and a chewy brownie that's just sticky enough in the middle. They resemble mini muffins, and that's the kind of pan I used to make them. They are deadly sweet and the perfect size of you ask me. Anything bigger and I think they'd just be too rich!

Brownie Portion:

2 squares unsweetened chocolate

3/4 stick butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup flour

Cookie Portion:

1 cup flour

1/2 Tsp baking soda

1/4 Tsp salt

1 stick butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg

1/2 pkg chocolate chips

Mix two separate batters up in a stand mixer or with bowls and an electric mixer.

I usually have no problem at all making batters like this is one bowl! I just don't see the point of dirtying so many bowls to separate wet and dry ingredients. Mix up the cookie one. Start with creaming the butter, then add in the sugar and other wet ingredients, followed by all the dry ingredients with the flour going in last and then fold in any mixings such as the chips. Set aside. 

Now mix up the brownie portion. Heat the butter and chocolate on the stove top in a small pan on low just until its completely melted. Then pour it into your mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, vanilla, and flour. Make sure that the mix isn't too warm to add in the eggs, if its cool enough, you can beat them in. 

Grease your pans well. Spoon brownie batter into the muffin pans until they are a bit more than half full. I used disposable pans, but I'm sure these are a lot easier to handle using a permanent pan. I just happened to be making them in someone else's kitchen so I bought these for the job. Bake the brownies in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. 

Remove mostly cooked brownies from the oven and allow to cool down for about 5 minutes. Cover with cookie mixture almost to the top of the tin wells. Continue to bake for 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and check for thorough cooking with a toothpick. It should come out mostly clean and definitely not goopey. 

Get yourself a big glass of milk to enjoy these with. You won't be able to resist trying one right out of the oven!

Greek Filled Chocolates

I developed this urge to make homemade candies a few years back and I can't even surely say where it came from. These types of cups are the most time consuming to make because they are done in layers and cooled in the freezer in between. I wanted to make some different candies for Greek Easter. I used white chocolate dyed a deep red, just like my eggs to mark them apart from other ones I have made. 

Basically, you mix the chocolate molds with some shortening or oil and let it heat up in a double boiler. Don't try to do this in a regular pan! Stir frequently until you have a smooth consistency that just barely starts to slide easily off a spoon. If you haven't worked with melts before, don't start with white chocolate. If you cook white chocolate too much, it will gum up really fast so I would start with a milk chocolate. You can color them whichever color you like. Most directions say to avoid water based coloring but I have honestly never had a problem with them because of the small amount used. If you are a newbie, the gel colors should be easier for you. All you do is put a small amount into your food with a tooth pick.

Once your chocolate is melted, you can either paint it onto the mold bottom and up the sides with a plastic bristled brush (thin coat) or pipe it in using a squeeze bottle and just touch up with the brush (thick coats). Then pop into the freezer for 5-10 minutes until hardened. The more oil or shortening you used, the longer it will take to harden.

Then take them out of the freezer and fill with your filling, leaving space at the top to seal. Put the molds back in the freezer to dry out. This timing will depend on whichever filling you picked. It doesn't have to be hardened, just not tacky before you seal them up. Then fill the rest up with the chocolate. Make sure the sides and top are touching chocolate on chocolate or your candies will leak. Then, lay flat in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes until they are completely hardened. They should easily just pop right out of the mold. You can store them in the freezer for years even or serve them a few hours after making. 

When defrosting them for serving, this is best done in the fridge for a few hours before they can be subjected to room temperatures. This will prevent any cracking when the filling is melting and expanding or water droplets building up on the candy, which can make the colors run. 

Like I said, I wanted my chocolates to be a homage to Greek desserts, most of which are made with honey and walnuts. I'm very opinionated about my Greek desserts. They should use walnuts, not peanuts or any other nut, EVER! The nuts should not be chopped! They should be fine like a dust. We use a hand cranked, cheese-like metal grader called a mouli. My husband swears its just a cheese grater, but whatever. It's a long and blistering process grating nuts this way but the effort pays off for the taste. No, you can't do it in a food processor! I mixed these nuts with the honey, slightly thinned in the microwave, until I had a paste and that was my filling. If you wanted the chocolates to be more like baklava, then you could add some baked phyllo crumbles. See my tutorial on working with phyllo dough here to do that. 

Honestly, this is a long process and making a dozen of these took me several hours. I'm sure most people have no urge to do this. I thought about selling these on Etsy since I've never seen any chocolates like this before. If only I could figure out how to ship them safely in the summer for a decent price. Thoughts? Suggestions? I just might sell them and save you the effort of making some...for less than $48 per six! Whoa! 

 

Recipe Inspired by Dean & Deluca

Poached Pears with Mocha Sauce

This is an indulgent fruit dessert that would please the chocolate lover in all of us. I did not core the pears because I wanted the presentation with the stems. If you do choose to core them, be sure to use a good apple corer to do the job as it is fairly impossible to do this with a knife and keep them intact. I have a good Henckels corer that I swear by for applications such as this.

 

2 Bartlett pears

2 cups water

1 Tsp vanilla extract

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1/2 Tsp nutmeg

2 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp baking cocoa

1 Tsp flour

6 Tbsp milk

1 Tbsp spreadable butter

Recipe Adapted from What 2 Cook

 

Peel pears, leaving the stems intact. Trim a tiny bit of fruit off the bottom, just enough for the pears to sit flat in a saucepan. Add the water, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and cover for 35-45 minutes, poaching pears until they are tender. Drain pears and place on dessert plates.



While pears are cooling, combine remaining ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Once boiling, stir constantly while sauce thickens (1-2 minutes) and then drizzle over pears.