Heart Shaped Brownies

I have a confession to make. I love chocolate and need it every single night. I love eating my chocolate with milk before bed. It's so 8 years old of me, but I am never going to stop. It can be chocolate truffles, cookies, cake, chocolate bars, or even a glass of chocolate milk. One treat I want to include in my nightly chocolate ritual is brownies. But I haven't been able to truly accomplish making the perfect brownie. Sometimes they are too dry or not chocolatey enough for me. Well, I finally did it folks. In honor of Valentine's Day, I made chocolate brownies that I cut using Wilton's Hearts Nesting Cutter set, dipped the heart shaped brownies in chocolate ganache and sprinkled some toppings like shredded coconut and hazelnuts.

Brownie Ingredients (adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

1 1/4 cups of flour

1/2 teaspoon of salt

3/4 teaspoon of baking powder

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into six 1-inch pieces

2 1/4 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Dark Chocolate Ganache

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

2 Tablespoons of unsalted butter

2 teaspoons of light corn syrup

2 teaspoons water

Rainbow sprinkles, or any other toppings, I like shredded coconut or chopped nuts.

Directions for Chocolate Ganache

Place the chocolate, butter, corn syrup, and water in a medium bowl. Melt in microwave, for about 2 30 second intervals, stirring after each one, until completely melted and smooth. Your time may vary, so keep a watchful eye. You do not want to overheat the chocolate.  Dip the tops of the donuts into the chocolate glaze and then cover with sprinkles.

Directions for Heart Shaped Brownies

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Line foil in 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Spray foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray or grease with butter.

Combine flour, salt, and baking powder in medium bowl.

Heat butter and chocolate in large microwave-safe bowl for 30 seconds, then stir and heat for 30 seconds more. Stir again, and, if necessary, repeat. Do not let chocolate burn. You will know you went too far is the chocolate is hard to stir, looks dark and chunky. It should be smooth and creamy.

When chocolate mixture is completely smooth, I move into another bowl and I gradually whisk in sugar. Add eggs. Add vanilla. Add flour mixture little by little, then stir, continue doing this until all the flour is combined.

Transfer batter to prepared pan. Spread batter into corners of pan and smooth surface.

Bake until toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into center of brownies comes out with few moist crumbs attached, 20-25 minutes. 

Once out of oven lift foil and place foil and brownie on top of a wire rack to let cool off.

Once brownie is cool enough, press heart cookie cutter into brownie.

Very important - remove extra pieces around cookie cutter and enjoy with milk. 

Dip top of brownies in chocolate ganache.

Set on parchment paper and add some favorite toppings. I sprinkled shredded coconut, sprinkles and chopped hazelnut on a few.

Happy Valentine's Day!! And enjoy these with friends, loved ones, or happily alone without sharing with anyone.

Challah French Toast

We got hit with our first real snowfall in Connecticut this week.  While everyone was out rushing to buy "storm essentials", I went in the store with a list of ingredients to make a few dishes this week, such as Chicken Pot Pie and Sausage Cacciatore.

On my list for brunch this week was French toast. I have always loved French toast. My mom would make it for us when we were children and it always tasted so yummy. Crisp on the outside an almost sweet custard in the inside.  It looks so easy to make, but looks can be deceiving. I have tried to make it a few times, but I have never been able to get it just right. I have finally been able to accomplish this. So why is it tough? Good question. While combining the ingredients is a breeze, the toughest part is dipping the bread in the liquid mix and then cooking it just right. If you under dip it, it will be dry in the middle, and if you over dip it, there is a big chance it won't cook right or evenly.

Here are a few tips: 

1. Leave the bread out, the liquid will absorb better into the bread if the bread has been left out a bit. Some recommend using a few days old bread.
2. When you dip the bread in the egg mix you want to make sure you leave it in for a few minutes, about 3 minutes on one side and about 2 minutes on the other. Only flip it once. Take it out the dish and let the excess liquid fall back in the bowl. If there is too much liquid, the outside of the toast will brown and crisp, but you run the risk of the inside being runny, and that has always been my problem. Please learn from me. And repeat - I will not over dip.
3. You want to make sure that the oil and butter and combined together and hot, but not too hot to burn or not hot enough to not cook it. I mix butter and olive oil in a large pan on medium heat. 

Let's begin. What do you need?

Ingredients

6 extra-large eggs
1 1/2 cups half-and-half or milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
1 tablespoon of olive oil or vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large loaf of challah bread

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, vanilla, and salt.  Slice the challah in a little under 1 inch thick slices.

Soak slices in the egg mixture. I do it one at a time, this way I keep a vigilant eye on the dipping process.

Heat 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a very large pan over medium heat. Add the soaked bread and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side.

I transfer over to a plate and sprinkle with a bit of cinnamon.

Enjoy it with Agave syrup and freshly cut strawberries.

Enjoy! And if you are in the east coast, stay safe, keep warm, and make these!

Cinnamon Baked Donuts with Dark Chocolate Ganache

My mom and I loved watching Ina Garten cook and bake. I have been watching Ina for over 12 years. Now I am in my own kitchen and from time to time I will cook or bake one of Ina's recipes and it brings back memories of being with my mom in the kitchen. 

A little while ago I bought some donut pans, because you just never know when you are going to need to bake donuts. I was determined to find perfect baked donut recipe and when I found Ina's I knew that these were the ones I had to make. I am so glad I did, because these donuts are delicious and easy to make too. She added a yummy cinnamon sugar on top of her donuts, but I love chocolate so much that I made a dark chocolate ganache that I dipped the tops of the donuts with and sprinkled a few with colorful sprinkles.

Donut Recipe (makes 12)

Ina Garten's Cinnamon Baked Doughnuts Recipe

Dark Chocolate Ganache

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

2 Tablespoons of unsalted butter

2 teaspoons of light corn syrup

2 teaspoons water

Rainbow sprinkles, or any other toppings, I like shredded coconut or chopped nuts.

Place the chocolate, butter, corn syrup, and water in a medium bowl. Melt in microwave, for about 2 30 second intervals, stirring after each one, until completely melted and smooth. Your time may vary, so keep a watchful eye. You do not want to overheat the chocolate.  Dip the tops of the donuts into the chocolate glaze and then cover with sprinkles.

Enjoy!

Cinnamon Rolls

I got this strong desire to bake and consume cinnamon rolls this week. Luckily, I had all the ingredients I needed to make this happen and the time. Making them from scratch takes a bit of time, but it's worth it. You can always prepare these at night and throw them in the oven in the morning.

Let's begin our cinnamon roll journey.

Ingredients

2 cups of all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons of sugar

1 teaspoon of salt

2 1/4 teaspoons of instant yeast

1/2 cup of water

1/4 cup of milk

2 and 1/2 tablespoons of unsalted butter

1 large egg (or egg whites)

Cinnamon Filling

2 tablespoons of brown sugar*

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1/4 cup of sugar*

1/4 cup of chopped walnuts*
*more or less depending on your preference

Vanilla Icing/Glaze

1 cup powdered confectioners sugar

2-3 Tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

In a mixing bowl pour 2 cups of flour,  sugar, salt, and yeast together and mix.

Heat water, milk, and butter together in the microwave until the butter is melted. Stir the butter mixture into the flour mixture. Next, add the egg.

On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for a few minutes with your knuckles. Next, put dough in a bowl, loosely cover and let it and you rest for a few minutes. 

Roll the dough out in a 15x9 inch rectangle. It doesn't have to be perfect. Spread the softened butter on top. 

Mix together the brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle it all over the dough. 

Roll up the dough as tightly as you can. Slice into even pieces (I had about 13) and place in a lightly greased 9-inch round pie dish. 

Loosely cover the rolls with aluminum foil and allow to rise in a warm place around for about an hour. I put mine on top of the oven as it warmed up.

Now that they have risen and have grown in size, put dish in pre-heated oven at 375 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned. 

Mix the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla together. Add the glaze once they have cooled off a little bit and enjoy them nice and warm!

Tea time anyone?

Birthday recap

I celebrated my birthday this week. I reflected on the past year and thought about my goals for the new year ahead. On my birthday I thought about how happy I am to be living at this very moment and how lucky I am to have found my life partner and to have such a wonderful mother and family.

I was happily surprised on my birthday with beautiful flowers from my mom. They were bright and exactly what I needed to see on my birthday. While many celebrate themselves on their birthday, and you should, I take some time to think about my mom who gave me life and still gives me life. She inspires me everyday. I look back at all the memories we have together and the new ones we make. I am so grateful that I am with her and I cherish every moment we have together. My birthday is not a day for me to be celebrated, but a day for her to be celebrated too and I am thankful everyday for all that she has done and everything that she does for me.

For the entire week I woke up next to these flowers and smiled. It brightened my day. 

Yanni and I ate a big breakfast of belgian waffles on the morning of my birthday. Later on the day we enjoyed a few episodes of American Horror Story. I don't have cable and I am loving Amazon Prime. I got it for the prime shipping (2 days), but love that I can watch so many shows and movies. I happened to find seasons 1-3 of American Horror Story and fell in love with the series. I am on season 3, and so far it's my favorite.

My birthday ended with us ordering out my favorite dish of spaghetti and meatballs from one of my favorite Italian restaurants. Yanni surprised me with a few little gifts, flowers, and a birthday cake with candles. He got me a Pamela Love tribal spike necklace in silver. I have wanted one for so long. I love her pieces.  It was a beautiful day and a great way to start the New Year!