NEXT LEVEL BROWNIES

Indulge your chocolate cravings with these unforgettable creations

Story by Shannon Serpette

Chocolate can make a bad day better and a great day perfect. By stirring just a few ingredients together, you can make delicious brownies that will give you a much-needed chocolate fix.

Brownies are quick, easy, and don’t require much of a clean-up when you’re done baking them. And with a few simple ingredient additions, basic brownies can become one of your most-requested desserts.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups sifted flour

2 cups sugar

1 cup butter or margarine

7 Tbsp baking cocoa powder

1 cup water

1/2 cup buttermilk (or regular milk)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Chocolate Fudge Frosting

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup butter or margarine

5 Tbsp baking cocoa powder

6 Tbsp milk

3 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

DIRECTIONS

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan. Add the cocoa powder and milk and stir well. Boil the mixture, and then remove it from the heat. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla, and beat or stir until smooth.

More RECIPES on page 14

Directions

Sift together flour and sugar in a bowl. Mix together butter, cocoa, and water in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Slowly pour the mixture over flour and sugar, blending with an electric mixer. Add buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, and cinnamon, and mix well. Spread in a greased 15 by 10-inch jelly roll pan or a smaller pan (but make sure to increase baking time accordingly). Bake in a 400-degree oven for 20 minutes or until done. Cool in pan on rack. Frost with chocolate fudge frosting.

Nutella Brownies

INGREDIENTS

6 Tbsp butter, melted

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 and 1/4 cup Nutella, divided

1/2 tsp kosher salt

2/3 cup flour

1/2 cup chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 by 8-inch pan and line it with parchment paper, going up the sides. Then grease the paper as well with cooking spray. In a bowl, add whisk the melted butter and sugar until well combined. Add the eggs and vanilla. Beat until combined.

Add in one cup of the Nutella and the salt. Mix it until fluffy, which takes about three minutes. Add the flour and stir or mix until it is just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Pour the thick batter into the pan. Drop teaspoonfuls of the rest of the Nutella on top of the batter. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, and test the batter with a toothpick to make sure it’s done. Make sure you don’t overbake the brownies.

Chocolate Chip Brookies

Editor’s note: This cookie dough recipe will give you more than you need for this recipe. You can freeze the remainder of the dough to use at a later date.

Ingredients For The Cookie Dough

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup and 2 Tbsp flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup chocolate chips

Ingredients For The Brownies

1 cup unsalted butter

12 oz 60 percent cacao, semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

1 and 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

4 large eggs

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup unsweetened natural or Dutch-process cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

Zucchini Brownies

BROWNIE INGREDIENTS

1 and 1/2 cups white sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 and 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 cups shredded zucchini

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

FROSTING INGREDIENTS

6 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup margarine

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 by 13-inch baking pan. Combine and mix the sugar, oil, and vanilla in a big bowl until well blended. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in another bowl, and stir it into the sugar mixture. Fold in the zucchini and walnuts. Spread the batter into the pan. Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Let the brownies cool before frosting. While baking the brownies, make the frosting by whisking 6 tablespoons of cocoa and margarine in a pan over medium heat until the mixture is glossy and smooth. Set it aside to cool. In the meantime, blend the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla together. Stir into the cooled cocoa mixture and then frost the cooled brownies.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 by 13inch pan and then line the pan with parchment paper. Grease the parchment with butter or cooking spray and set aside.

First, you’ll make the cookie dough by using a hand mixer to cream together the butter, sugar, and brown sugar for approximately four minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat again until smooth. Then, stir in the flour, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips with a spatula or spoon. Once it’s combined, put it in the refrigerator.

For the brownies, you’ll melt together the butter and chopped chocolate in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until it’s melted and smooth. Stir in the brown sugar and vanilla.

In another bowl, whisk the eggs for one minute until bubbly on top. Stir the eggs into the chocolate mixture, and then add the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder and stir until it is just combined. Spread the brownie mixture into the prepared pan, and place pieces of cookie dough over the top of the brownie batter. You won’t use all the cookie dough, so save it for future use. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until the brownies are set. If the cookies begin browning too quickly, cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil.

S’more Brownies

BROWNIE INGREDIENTS

1 box of packaged fudge brownie mix

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

3 Tbsp water

TOPPING INGREDIENTS

6 graham crackers

1 and 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows

Eight 1.5-ounce bars of milk chocolate, chopped coarsely

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 by 13-inch baking pan. Make the brownies by stirring the brownie mix, oil, eggs, and water in a medium bowl until they are mixed well. Pour the batter into the greased pan. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. While they are baking, make the topping by breaking the graham crackers into one-inch pieces and putting them in a bowl. Add the marshmallows and chopped chocolate and stir or toss to mix. After the 15-minute timer goes off, take the brownies out of the oven and sprinkle them with the S’mores topping. Put the pan back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

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FRESHNESS, AND SERVICE IS GUARANTEED!