Monthly Archives: February 2016

Cake, celebration cakes, chocolate desserts, Uncategorized

Chocolate Bundt Cake with Bittersweet Chocolate Glaze

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Chocolate bundt cake with bittersweet ganache glaze by twocarolines.com
One thing I love about baking is that it’s something I do with my children and in particular my 6 year old Afton who is quickly becoming a master of the baked arts.  IMG_0803Sometimes I pull out a few books and let her pick what she wants to make which was how this chocolate bundt cake with bittersweet chocolate glaze came about.  It’s such a pretty cake, and on a Sunday afternoon there’s nothing I like better than spending time with my people and churning out delicious sweets.  This one is from my Martha Stewart Cakes book that has been a lot of fun to bake from.  I followed her recipe pretty closely, just increased quantities a little on the ganache glaze and in the future, I might add mini chocolate chips (1.5 cups) to the cake batter, because: obvious.  It was a really flavorful chocolatey cake though, and all the ingredients are on hand which makes it an easy cake when you need to come up with something quickly.  My cutest critic Afton was very pleased with the result and I’m sure you will be too!

For the Cake:
1 cup butter

1 1/2 cup sugar 

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup sour cream

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Glaze: 
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate chopped (if you don’t have fancy chocolate, chocolate chips will work fine)
2/3 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons butter

  1. Pre-heat oven to 325 and prepare a bundt pan by spraying with baking spray or butter then tap in flour to coat.
  2. Mix your milk and sour cream until combined.  In a stand mixer or large bowl with a hand mixer whip up the butter and sugar until light and fluffy about 3-5 minutes.  Add eggs one at a time mixing well after each.  Add vanilla to your butter/sugar/egg mixture.
  3. In a separate bowl combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt and mix together.  with your mixer on low alternate adding your dry ingredients and the sour cream/milk mixture in batches beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.  Mix until just combined (if using add chocolate chips last).  Batter will be thick.  Turn it into your bundt pan and even out the top.
  4. Bake for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick in the center comes out completely clean.  Let cool in the pan 5 minutes then put on a cooling rack while you make your glaze.
  5. To make the glaze, heat the cream in a medium saucepan until it just barely starts to boil then take it off the heat and put in your chopped chocolate.  Wait 2-3 minutes then add your butter and whisk until smooth.  If for any reason you still have chocolate chunks heat in the microwave or stove on low until you can whisk it completely smooth.  Let it sit a good 10 minutes or so in order to get a little thicker glaze then pour over the top of your cake and serve.

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart Cakes cookbook 

Pie, Uncategorized

Vanilla Cream Pie with Raspberry Sauce

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Vanilla Cream Pie with Raspberry Sauce by twocarolines.com

There are times when you just want a cream pie because they are fantastically delicious and there are also times when you call your husband from the store to see if you are low on milk and he doesn’t realize there’s an extra gallon in the other fridge so you end up with 2 and a half gallons, this pie works brilliantly for both of these times.  It has a really  handy versatility, I served it multiple ways throughout the week, I enjoyed the raspberries the most, but I did strawberries as well and its also nice with blueberries or even drizzled in a nice chocolate sauce like the one we used for our coconut crunch cake.  You will likely recognize the recipe because I use this as a base for my banana cream pie, coconut cream pie, and chocolate cream pie, it’s my cream pie go to for reasons you will certainly taste and agree with.  I doubled the recipe for this pie which easily fills a deep dish pie pan and leaves enough extra filling for 2-3 ramekins of pudding to give your kids for snacks or put in your mouth at that low energy sugar hungry time between 2:30 and 4, you know what I’m talking about.  Now go get your cream pie on people!

Crust: Single 9-10 inch traditional pie crust
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup Crisco shortening
4 tablespoons ice cold water

Chocolate layer:
1/2 cup chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
1 tablespoon butter or coconut oil

Filling:
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 cups milk (recipe calls for whole milk, I was trying to burn through 1% so I used mostly that and about 1.5 cups cream, but it would turn out fine with whatever you have)
8 egg yolks (you could get away with 7, recipe actually calls for 10, but I don’t usually use that many for such a large quantity of filling)
4-5 tablespoons butter
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Raspberry Sauce: 
2 cups or so raspberries
2-3 teaspoons sugar
raspberry syrup (optional)

  1.  To make the crust, mix your flour and salt, then add the Crisco and cut it into the flour with a pastry blender as you add the cold water.  It will start to come together at which point you can pull in all the dry parts with your hands and quickly knead it into a ball.  Flour your work surface and roll it into a thin circle.  Roll it on to your rolling pin and slowly into your (ungreased) pie pan.  Make a ridge around the outside and crimp as desired.  Poke all over with holes or put beans or pie weights into your crust with parchment before baking.  Blind bake at 450 7-9 minutes until lightly browned.
  2. While crust is cooling make your chocolate layer.  You’re welcome to skip this if you want, but I love having a chocolate painted crust, its just a thin layer but adds so much to the over-all flavor.  Melt your chocolate and butter (or oil) in a glass pyrex in the microwave on defrost or in 20 second increments until the chocolate loses it’s shape and you can whisk it all smooth.   Paint the bottom and sides of your crust with this chocolate and put it into the freezer or fridge so it can harden while you make your filling.
  3. Put sugar and cornstarch in a large saucepan with a thick bottom.  With your burner on medium/high (I keep mine just above medium) slowly pour in the milk and stir until combined then add your egg yolks one at a time, whisking after each until no yellow streaks remain.  Now switch to a heat proof rubber spatula and stirring constantly bring to a simmer.  Once the bubbles come up scrape down the sides of the bowl and whisk until smooth then return to the heat and stir constantly for 1 minute while your mixture slowly bubbles (wear an apron!).  Remove from the heat and stir in butter and vanilla until all is combined then pour into your prepared pie crust.  Remember this is a double quantity so you will likely have extra to eat as pudding or save for a donut or eclair filling!
  4. Put plastic wrap directly over the top before refrigerating.  Be sure to let it cool a solid 4 hours or so then it will be set before you slice and serve.
  5. To make the Raspberry sauce, smash up about 1/3 of the raspberries with sugar then mix that up with the whole raspberries and syrup (if using) and pour on top of each individual piece as you serve.  It’s also fantastic with a little whip cream on top of the raspberry sauce.

Recipe from Joy Of Cooking vanilla cream pie

 

Uncategorized

Healthy Peanut Butter Banana Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies

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TwoCarolines_Healthy Peanut Butter Banana Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies.jpg

I’m always looking for ways to eat delicious things that aren’t bad for me, and mostly that is a hard feat. However, I was looking up ways to use bananas in cookies the other day and I found this recipe. No sugar! No flour! No sins! So basically, I’m practically a saint for finding and sharing this recipe with you. As always, I added and changed some things in the recipe and switched out honey for maple syrup for texture and other reasons (read: lazy and cheap) and I am very happy with the results! I mean, these are cookies that you can eat for breakfast! How much did I just improve your quality of life?
3 large, ripe bananas
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
2 tablespoons almond flour
1 cup chunky peanut butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
2 teaspoons cinnamon
Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

In a stand-up mixer, add bananas and mix until well mashed. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until just combined.

Scoop out the dough with a cookie scoop on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until the edges start to brown, approximately about 15 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet. Makes about 30 cookies.

Recipe adapted from FoodNetwork.com

Uncategorized

Baker’s Challenge: Homemade Caramel Sauce

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TwoCarolines_CaramelSauce.jpg

Anyone who knows me—or any of the Kings—for that matter, knows about our (well deserved) love for Fenton’s caramel sauce. All through my childhood, it was a special treat to go to Fenton’s in Oakland and get a delicious sundae smothered in that glorious cold caramel sauce (you specifically have to ask for the cold caramel, cause it’s way better than the warm version). A few years back, I even used to commute from SLC to Oakland every week for work and I would always pick up a bottle of the sauce to keep on hand in Salt Lake. But guess what?? My mom found a recipe that tastes almost exactly the same! My dad says he likes it even better. So, I decided to take a crack at it because 1) I need this sauce in my life, and 2) I wanted to take on a challenge. 2.0 and I have discussed adding a Baker’s Challenge segment on the blog and this recipe kicks it off! After giving this a go while calling my mom—The Master—to give me all the tricks, I thought I’d share this recipe and challenge with you! Let us know what you think and if you have questions or even tips that you’ve found working with similar recipes. Not every recipe we post will be easy, but certainly you will find a phenomenal reward for your effort.

1 cup whipping cream
1 stick (8 tablespoons) salted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup sugar
pinch of salt

1. In a small saucepan, start to heat whipping cream and whisk in butter, one piece at a time; stir until mutter melts.

2. Place sugar in a large saucepan (do not use a nonstick pan) over low heat and cook while stirring until sugar melts and turns a rich caramel color- this might take longer than you expect. The sugar will seem kind of crumbly as it comes together, but give it time,  it will smooth out.

3. When sugar is fully melted, add the cream (make sure that you keep the heat on low and that it’s not too hot when you whisk in the warm cream mixture—pour in slowly while whisking constantly). Your caramel will bubble and spit a little but don’t be scared, that’s normal.  At this point, there might be some seized up bits, but keep sauce on the heat and whisk until almost all the way smooth.

4. Strain the mixture through fine mesh sieve into a bowl and add the pinch of salt and stir in until all the way mixed in.

5. Refrigerate to thicken. Sauce can be stored in airtight container in refrigerator for up to one month.

This sauce will make your life better and happier and richer—and that’s a fact.

-CK 1.0

(Recipe originally found and adapted from Contra Costa Times newspaper, many years ago)

Cake, celebration cakes, Uncategorized

Chocolate Raspberry Heart Cake

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Chocolate Raspberry Heart Cake by twocarolines.com

Nothing says “I love you” like a huge chocolate and raspberry heart cake with a ganache center and raspberry cream cheese frosting.  Not only do all these flavors compliment one another brilliantly, but there is a dramatic effect when you take out a slice, it’s like an edible valentine.  I used a large heart shaped cake pan so there was a whole cake per pan, but if you use a small one you can either make two, or have higher cakes that you bake longer.  You could also easily do this in 9-10″ round cake pans, just be sure to put equal amounts in each pan and deliver it with a kiss!

Raspberry Cake;

1 box pillsbury white cake mix

1/2 cup butter melted

2/3 cup raspberry juice (I used frozen raspberries I defrosted then strained)

1/3 cup buttermilk (I enjoy the little bit of sour flavor from the buttermilk, but you can use normal milk too)

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

a few drops red or pink food coloring

Chocolate Cake:

1 box pillsbury devils food cake mix

1 box jello instant chocolate pudding

1/2 cup oil (I use coconut oil, but vegetable oil of any variety will work)

1 cup sour cream

4 eggs

1/2 cup warm water

1 cup chocolate chips

Chocolate Ganache:

1 cup chocolate chips

1/3 cup heavy cream

Raspberry Cream Cheese Buttercream:

1 8 ounce package of cream cheese room temperature

1/3 cup butter room temperature

2-3 tablespoons raspberry syrup

1/4 cup milk

7-9 cups powdered sugar

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350.  Grease and parchment line your cake pan.
  2. To make the Raspberry Cake mix the Raspberry juice, buttermilk, vanilla  and eggs until combined then add the cake mix and beat just a minute or so.  Last add food coloring until it’s the shade of pink you’re looking for.
  3. Bake time for my large heart pan was only about 22 minutes but doneness is much more important than bake time so bake until a toothpick comes out clean.  Turn out and let cool.
  4. For the chocolate cake combine the cake mix and pudding mix then add the oil and water followed by eggs one at a time mixing after each.  Next add the sour cream and once all the ingredients are incorporated add the chocolate chips.
  5. This is a higher volume cake so I made a 6 inch mini cake with the extra batter because I wanted my layers to come out even.  It’s also a heavier cake so the chocolate should go on the bottom of your stack.
  6. Make the frosting before the ganache because in order to not have your filling bleed into your frosting you need to pipe frosting around the edge of your bottom layer before pouring in your chocolate filling.  Mix butter and cream cheese until a little fluffed and well combined then add your raspberry syrup (I made mine, which is easy, but you can buy it at the store as well).  I like to add powdered sugar and milk alternating until I get the desired texture adding more of either of those ingredients to make your frosting more thick or thin.  Once you have a nice thick but spreadable frosting either use a piping bag or make one with parchment and make a dam around the edge of your bottom cake layer.
  7. To make the ganache melt chocolate chips and heavy cream until smooth, I do this in a Pyrex with my microwave on defrost, but you can also use a saucepan.  Spread on to first layer filling in to where your frosting dam begins.
  8. Put the raspberry cake carefully on top and frost your cake being sure to never touch the cake, only the frosting, so you don’t pull up crumbs.
  9. Enjoy with someone you love! ❤️

 

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Uncategorized

Fluffy Sugar Cookies with Raspberries

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TwoCarolines_SugarCookies.JPG

Does anyone else feel like February through July is sugar cookie season? Is that a thing? Well, I’m making it a thing because that’s the type of thing we do here at TwoCarolines. We make things up that suit our purposes—when we want to. We do what we want, and what we want is a season for sugar cookies. I decided to go au natural with the frosting situation and used raspberries for coloring, taste and garnish. This is a slightly modified version of a recipe we’ve used in my family for ages. It’s a King go-to!

Cream:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar

Beat in:
2 eggs
1 tablespoon milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 tablespoons lemon juice

Add:
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups flour

Chill 15-30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Use cookie scoop to scoop out dough and arrange on a cookie sheet lined with baking paper or a silpat. Press down lightly with bottom of floured glass, about 1/4 inch thick. Bake for 6-8 minutes, the tops should still be white and the bottoms should barely have any color. Let cool and frost

Frosting:
1 pint raspberries
1 teaspoon sugar for macerating

7 tablespoons butter
1 t. vanilla
pinch salt
2 cups powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons milk
In a small bowl, place rinsed berries and sprinkle sugar over the top then mix in and mash berries with a fork; let sit and set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter and until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and salt. beat in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, scraping down sides of bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of milk; beat at high speed until light and fluffy. Add juice from macerated berries, a little at a time until reaching desired color and spreading consistency, balance out with more powdered sugar if frosting gets too thin. Immediately before serving, top with desired amount of mashed and drained raspberries.

-CK 1.0

sweet breads and muffins, Uncategorized

Best Banana Bread

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TwoCarolines_BestBananaBread.JPG

Toasted Banana bread may or may not be one of the best, most perfect foods there is. Especially when your mom made it and sends it with you for you big move. Being able to crack this open and eat this really made me feel at home during the big adjustment. We, as a family, have tried many banana bread recipes over the years—but this one by Tyler Florence is the whole family’s favorite. It has killer flavor and the texture is what dreams are made of: moist deluxe on the inside and a bit crispy on the edges. And bonus—when you toast this delicious bread and add a little butter, it puts it way over to top to magical perfection.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 overripe bananas (I like two of them to be frozen and thawed)
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly butter a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together for a good 3 minutes; you want a light and fluffy banana cream. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla; beat well and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated; no need to overly blend. Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Give the pan a good rap on the counter to get any air bubbles out.

Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Don’t get nervous if the banana bread develops a crack down the center of the loaf; that’s no mistake, it’s typical. Rotate the pan periodically to ensure even browning. Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes or so, and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Enjoy the smell, toast the bread, and thank your lucky stars you get to eat this glorious treat.

Cake, chocolate desserts, Uncategorized

Brown Butter Pear Cake with Bittersweet Chocolate

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Brown Butter Pear Cake with Bittersweet Chocolate by twocarolines.com

 

Yes I know, and I agree that usually fruit and chocolate should be enjoyed separately, I’m even a little mad at chocolate dipped strawberries.  However, this cake sounded so epic I decided to make an exception, and the result is a fantastically delicious fancy cake that has such a luxy vibe I want to eat it with pinkies up.  I found the recipe on my favorite food blog, Smitten Kitchen, and she cleverly got the pastry chef at a famous Brooklyn Italian restaurant to share this recipe with her so it has NY level credibility and such a unique and beautiful flavor you’ll love it! I think the brown butter is what really makes it special, plus the way you make it is unlike any cake I’ve made before, but it’s pretty straight forward and takes just a little extra time to chop your pears, chocolate, and brown your butter.  I didn’t use 3 pears in the end because it just seemed like too many pears for how much batter I had, and I thought it turned out perfect, but you could go for 3 pears if you want more fruit and less cake.  I tried it with normal whip cream, vanilla ice cream and with whipped cream that had a few drops of almond extract and that was my preference.  It’s a cake that would also go well with a nice mild tea and a big fancy hat – pinkies up!

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, at room-temperature
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 pears, peeled, in a small dice (3 if you want more fruit, I used bartlett)
3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chunks
confectioners sugar for dusting

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and dust with breadcrumbs or flour, set aside.
  2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together, set aside.
  3. Using a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the eggs on high speed until pale and very thick. (In a professional Kitchen Aid, it takes at least five minutes; on a home machine, it will take nine minutes to get sufficient volume) They won’t be stiff because they are whole eggs not egg whites, but it will be thick and whip like ribbons.
  4. While the eggs are whipping, brown the butter. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan (because it will foam a lot) and cook it until the butter browns and smells nutty (about 6 to 8 minutes). It helps to frequently scrape the solids off the bottom of the pan in the last couple minutes to ensure even browning. Remove from the flame but keep in a warm spot. Here’s a photo to get an idea of what browned butter looks like.image
  5. Add the sugar to the eggs and whip a few minutes more.
  6. Just as the egg-sugar mixture is starting to loose volume, turn the mixture down to stir, and add the flour mixture and brown butter. Add one third of the flour mixture, then half of the butter, a third of the flour, the remaining butter, and the rest of flour. Whisk until just barely combined — no more than a minute from when the flour is first added — and then use a spatula to gently fold the batter until the ingredients are combined. Be fast and gentle! It is very important not to over-whisk or fold the batter or it will lose volume.
  7. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle the pear and chocolate chunks over the top, and bake until the cake is golden brown and springs back to the touch, about 40 to 50 minutes, or a tester comes out clean. Make sure you check for doneness in the middle of the cake, doneness if more important than bake times.  Mine took 45 minutes and I put foil on top the last 7 minutes or so to prevent further browning.
  8. Let cool in pan for about 10 minutes than pop out of your springform and sprinkle with confectioners sugar.  Serve slightly warm or room temperature with whipped cream that has a little sugar and a few drops of almond extract.

 

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Recipe from Smitten Kitchen Bittersweet Chocolate and Pear Cake 2009

Candy, chocolate desserts, Uncategorized

Chocolate Peanut Pretzel Brittle

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Peanut Pretzel Brittle by twocarolines.com

Yes I know that barks and brittle’s are often associated with the holidays, but this is football season and what sports fan doesn’t want to accompany a game with pretzel, peanuts and chocolate?  We want to post some game day recipes for you as the Super-bowl approaches, not that we will necessarily be watching that game, but you can bet we will be eating our Chocolate Peanut Pretzel Brittle as we cheer for our champion Golden State Warriors! Making candy is sometimes tricky, but this recipe was so easy and such a perfect crunchy, sweet, salty plus chocolate combo.  The one thing to remember when making candy is have all your ingredients out and measured and then you just go step by step and in a few minutes you have a game day treat that will make your hot wings and bag chips feel really bad about themselves.

1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup (you can also use golden syrup)
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup broken-up chunks of thin salted pretzels
3/4 cup roasted salted peanuts
3/4 to 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

  1. Either grease a large cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Remember to get all of your other ingredients ready; you’re going to need to add them quickly in a few minutes, and you won’t have time to hunt and measure.
  2. Combine sugar, corn syrup and water in a medium saucepan, stirring just until sugar is wet. Attach a candy thermometer and heat over medium-high heat, without stirring, until mixture reaches between 300 and 305 degrees F. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, you’re looking for a small amount of the mixture dropped into cold water to separate into hard, brittle threads. This takes exactly 9 minutes on my stove.
  3. Remove from heat and quickly stir in butter (until it melts), baking soda, peanuts and pretzels until all are coated. Pour quickly out onto prepared pan. Use a spatula or, even better, two forks to pull and stretch the mixture as flat as you can get it, working quickly. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and let rest for 5 minutes so that they soften. Once they are all soft, use a spatula to spread them over the brittle.
  4. If you don’t want to wait for them to cool put them directly in the freezer for 20 minutes, after which point the chocolate is firm, the base is cold and you can bash the brittle into bite-sized chunks. It works best to lift your brittle up on the site and use an object to break it up as using hands would make a big chocolately mess.
  5. Keeps for a good week or so in an airtight container.

Recipe – Smitten Kitchen 2016 Chocolate Peanut and Pretzel Brittle

Bars, chocolate desserts, favorites, Uncategorized

Dark Chocolate Spelt Brownies

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Spelt brownies by twocarolines.com

Oh Brownies, with your fudgy, chewy, gooey, crunchy edged, chocolatey goodness, you have my heart.  Like most chocolate lovers, I’m just a general fan, however I have decided the last few years that box brownies are a waste of my time, especially when they are so easy to make from scratch, it literally takes 2 extra minutes to make delicious brownies with ingredients in your pantry now, but those super easy ones are for another day.  These ones aren’t hard, but you will need to chop some chocolate which I know takes a minute, and you need to buy some spelt flour, which is what gives them such an other worldly flavor.  BELIEVE ME, the reward for your efforts is so amazing you will make these again and again.  They are so over the top chocolatey because of the chopped chocolate and cocoa powder, plus the spelt gives them an almost nutty flavor that contrasts with the little bit of coarse salt to make your mouth go absolutely bonkers.  Of all the many brownies I love, these are my favorite, seriously, #1, hands down.  Make them this minute and let us know what you think!

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, plus more for pan
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, preferably 70 percent cacao, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
3/4 cup spelt flour

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly brush an 8-inch square baking pan with butter or cooking spray. Line with parchment, leaving a slight overhang on 2 sides. Butter or spray parchment.

  2. Place butter and 6 ounces of the chocolate (about 1 1/4 cups) in a large heatproof bowl. (reserve 3 ounces or about 1/3 a cup chocolate to put in your batter at the end) I use a pyrex in the microwave heating on defrost for 4 minutes or 30 seconds at a time at full power until the chocolate looses it’s shape and you can whisk it all smooth.  Remove from heat and whisk in sugars. Whisk in eggs, 1 at a time, until combined. Whisk in cocoa and salt, then fold in flour until combined. Last add the leftover chopped chocolate which adds just one more layer of chocolate gooey goodness.

  3. Pour batter into pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs, about 35 minutes – if you like your brownies extra gooey take it out closer to 31-2. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Lift out brownies with parchment overhang. Cut into 16 squares and enjoy!

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Dark chocolate spelt brownies by twocarolines

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart Dark-Chocolate Spelt Brownies.