Berry Brownies

All last week I was craving brownies. I rarely get cravings for sweet foods, let alone chocolate (I'm mostly a salty snacker), so when I got a very specific jones for brownies, I attempted to placate it with regular chocolate. FAIL.

This is one of the sweet,
sweet perks of living with me.

I've been meaning to try a brownie recipe my mom sent me, but it calls for 2 sticks of butter -- so I'm saving that one for an occasion, and not just a tummy-grumblin' Thursday night. Instead, I whipped up a batch of another recipe I've been meaning to try from my Cooking Light magazine, as it was less guilt-inducing, and I happened to have all the ingredients in the house (thanks to a donation of eggs from Stefanie; I compensated her handsomely... in brownies).

On a random weeknight,
I might make you brownies.

These were very good. Rich and moist without being sickly sweet, with a very slight berry tinge. Hit the spot exactly -- and the best part is, I replaced the butter with equal parts Smart Balance baking sticks, AND I replaced some of the white flour with whole wheat flour, but they tasted just as sinful as regular brownies. HEALTH NINJA!*

Or muffins. Or cookies.
Or bacon-wrapped scallops.

So Stefanie and I ate brownies and cracked open a bottle of dessert wine she bought on a recent vacation. Not bad at all, considering the time elapsed between the inkling of the idea of making brownies on the fly and mouthfuls of brownie and dessert wine was less than two hours (and actual cooking-and-cooling time was about 45 minutes).

Not too shabby.

Oh yeah, and Valentine's Day is coming up -- I say, use raspberry preserves in the recipe and make these for your honey... or for your single girlfriends who are coming over for movie night, for that matter. Nothing pleases a crowd like chocolate and raspberry!


*I'm adding a new tag called "Health Ninja"; don't misunderstand, I'm not saying these recipes are healthy, but rather that I was able to slip in some healthier ingredients (like whole wheat flour, or low-fat cream cheese) and no one was the wiser. Handy little tricks, I promise you.


Berry Brownies
via Cooking Light, adapted mildly

¾ cup flour (I used ½ cup white, ¼ cup whole wheat)
1 cup granulated sugar
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup preserves (recipe says cherry; I used strawberry and blackberry)
⅓ cup water
5 tablespoons butter
1 large egg, beaten
1 large egg white
⅓ cup semisweet chocolate chips
Powdered sugar

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Step 2: Line a 9"x13" baking pan with parchment paper (recipe says 9" square pan, although I don't have one and also, I think mine came out plenty thick -- see last photo above); coat with cooking spray.

Step 3: Combine flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; stir with whisk.

Step 4: Combine preserves, water, and butter in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil.

Step 5: Add preserves mixture to flour mixture, and stir well. Add egg and egg white, and stir until completely smooth. Stir in chocolate chips.

Step 6: Scrape batter into prepared pan, and smooth out with a spatula. Bake for 20 minutes (recipe says 25 for a square pan), or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean with a few moist crumbs.

Step 7: Cool in pan on wire rack. Sift powdered sugar over the brownies. Cut into squares, and attempt not to eat them all in one sitting.