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!

Peach Melba

If you've never had Peach Melba, you are doing yourself a great disservice! This was a coveted dessert for me in my youth at restaurants. My father is not a dessert guy, but he loves fruit. This is one of his favorites. Finding them on a menu is no easy task. They are fairly simple to make, and well worth the rewards!

 

I did some peach picking at Connors Farm and stocked up to make some desserts to put away. I kept a few fresh ones for the Melba. Serve with some vanilla ice cream and you will be in heaven!

 

Recipe Adapted from Epicurious

Gently scrub the outside of your peaches under running water to remove any dirt and debris. Remove the stems. Slice them down the middle, all the way around, cutting all the way through. Then place one side in the palm of each hand and rotate the sides. They should come apart very easily and expose the pit to be removed. Cover with a 2:1 ratio of water to sugar, just enough to cover the peaches, in a small stockpot. 

Bring syrup to a boil and simmer peaches 5 minutes on each side. Turn off heat and cover, leaving the peaches to poach for 60-90 minutes.

Strain the peaches out of the syrup, but do not discard! This is amazing to add to some unsweetened iced tea! You will not go wrong, so put it in a container and leave it in your fridge to enjoy.

While the peaches are boiling, add 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar to the empty saucepan. Bring to a boil and add 1 package of frozen or fresh raspberries. Simmer an additional 5-10 minutes until the raspberries begin to break apart. Cool down to room temperature and then stir in 2 Tsp lemon juice.

Pour raspberry syrup over your peaches! Enjoy!

Any additional raspberry syrup can also be used to sweeten iced tea. How will you ever choose between peach or raspberry teas?



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. 

 

Blueberry Lemon Yogurt Loaf

 Who doesn't love blueberries? ...and I love anything with lemon in it. The greek yogurt makes the loaf in this recipe that uses the poke method of making sure you always get a moist cake. It's great for breakfast or dessert.
 

Loaf:

1 1/2 cups + 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 Tsps baking powder
1/2 Tsp salt
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 Tsps grated lemon zest
1/2 Tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup blueberries

 

Glaze:
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

 

Recipe adapted from Sweet Pea's Kitchen

 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease the bottom and sides of a loaf pan with shortening. Add the 1 Tbsp of flour to the pan and flour the sides, tapping out any excess flour. Sift together the dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients and slowly add the wet mixture to the dry mixture. If using frozen blueberries, thoroughly rinse them in a colander to prevent the loaf from turning purple. Gently fold them into the mixture and pour into the loaf pan. The loaf should bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

 

Let the loaf cool for 10-15 minutes after it comes out of the oven. Using a knife or toothpick, trace edges of the loaf and place upside down on a paper towel. The loaf should fall out with little help. Completely cool on a wire rack.



While the loaf is cooling, stir together the lemon juice and sugar in a small pot under low heat. Once the mixture begins to boil, stir constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved and the syrup starts to brown. Let the mixture cool. Using the handle of a wooden spoon or large chopsticks, poke holes all over the top of the loaf, about half way deep through it. Once the sugar syrup has cooled, mix in the remaining yogurt and pour over the loaf. Allow it to harden and cool in the fridge.

 

This loaf should be stored in the fridge but, after a few hours, the yogurt glaze will harden and it can travel or sit for a few hours until being served. I personally microwave my slice for about 30 seconds before enjoying it.