Sharing is Caring

I love baking, and of course, love eating those things I bake too. But unfortunately, its not always a good idea for us to have all kids of sweets and carb-a-licousness sitting around our house. So, this year, I decided to start sharing a bit more - not only will this spread the love a little, but it'll also help the waistline. Which is necessary. So I'm caring for myself and caring for the people around me too.

(If those people around me are also looking to help their waistlines, well, I'll have to think about that one...)

This is one that went over particularly well. Think of these bars as being just like fruit streusel bars. Except swap out the fruit for a really creamy, chocolaty filling. But the best part is that it makes a huge pan of bars, so there's enough for you and enough to share! (Or, as in our case last week, even enough for you, enough for your husband to share at work, and enough for me to share at work.)

And since we're sharing, one tip for you today. I've started using dark chocolate chips almost exclusively in my baking. And the most reliable source for buying them (in my case) has been Aldi. The chips don't use corn syrup, only sugar as a sweetener, and since the chips are 60% cacao, they're not super-sweet. So even if you're making somehting with lots of sugar, it doesn't turn out to be over-the-top sweet. And dark chocolate is healthy, isn't it?!

So look for these when you go to make these bars:

Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Bars

From my mom's recipe box, credited to my aunt, Linda Rinsema

Ingredients

Crumb Crust

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup shortening

2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

3 cups old-fashioned oatmeal

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon soda

1 teaspoon salt

Filling

12 oz dark chocolate chips

1 can Eagle sweetened condensed milk (fat-free is fine)

2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixer, cream together the butter, shortening, and sugars. Add each egg one at a time. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until it forms sticky crumbs.

Press 2/3 of the crumb mixture into the bottom of a jelly roll pan (10x15), lightly greased with shortening. The layer will be thin, just make sure none of the pan is showing through.

In a medium saucepan, melt together all of the filling ingredients over medium heat. Stir constantly to avoid scorching. Once melted smooth, spread chocolate over bottom layer leaving 1/4 inch around the sides. Sprinkle the remaining crumbs over the top of the chocolate and press in lightly.

Bake for 25 minutes until oatmeal mixture is set. Cool completely before cutting.

Makes 24 bars

Don't Judge

I use this title for a two reasons.

1) It has been more than one month since my last blog posting.
2) The brownies I'm going to show you are pretty amazing. Translate: they are great for your sweet tooth, awful for your waistline.

These come out of the Pioneer Woman cookbook that my brother-in-law Seth got me for our Smits' family Christmas exchange. I have used this book so much already that some of the pages have drops and splatters on them. But in my book (literally), that's a good thing. That means its well-used and well-liked! Just like my Betty Crocker cookbook. That poor page with the chocolate chip cookies never stood a chance...

The thing I like about these recipes is that they are unpretentious. And while I like going out on a limb once in a while and trying something that challenges me, both in ability and in taste, I like comfort food a lot too. And these brownies are nothing if not comforting.

And the bonus is that they are so dense and gooey and heavy that you can burn off the calories just by lifting the pan up a few times.

Almost.

Okay, not even close.

But really, these are not brownies that you should have around if you have even a chip out of your self-control. Which is why Steve took the remainders to work today!

The brownies on their own are good, but not overly sweet. So if you like chocolate a little more on the semi-sweet side, I'd leave the frosting off altogether. The frosting is reeeaaallly sweet and its laid on nice and thick (if I could get my picture to upload, you would see its about a 50/50 ratio between brownie and frosting). But you could easily halve this recipe for frosting and no one would be the wiser. Also with the frosting, if you're not a coffee fan or don't have coffee sitting around your house, you could just as well sub in some milk for the coffee at the end of the frosting recipe.

One word of warning - be careful not to overmix the brownie batter. I think this is why the top of my brownies look like fallen souffle instead of nice and cakey. Taste not affected:)

Mocha Frosted Brownies
Not at all adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks and The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients
For Brownies:
4 - 1 oz squares unsweetened chocolate
1/2 pound (2 sticks) of butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups flour

For Mocha Frosting:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) of butter, softened
5 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2-3/4 cups brewed coffee, cooled to room temperature

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with non-stick spray.

To make the brownie batter, place the squares of chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl.  Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between, and being careful not to let it burn. Set aside to cool slightly.

In a medium bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs.

Add the flour to the bowl and mix just until combined; do not overmix.

Pour the batter into the baking pan. Spread it to even out the surface. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the center is no longer soft. (It may look underdone, but as it cools, it will firm up a bit more. I ended up baking mine for 60 minutes on my second batch and that worked well.) Set the brownies aside to cool completely before icing.

To make the icing, in a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and vanilla. Mix until slightly combined and then add 1/2 cup of the coffee.  Whip until the icing is the desired consistency. If the icing is overly thick, add 1/4 cup more coffee. It should be very light and fluffy.

Ice the cooled brownies, spreading the icing on thick.  Refrigerate until the icing is firm, then slice the brownies into squares.

Makes 16 brownies

Oh, Canada...

The last few meals we've had have been good, but nothing to write home about (and in the case of this blog, that's to be taken quite literally).  But, when I used mushrooms last night, it reminded me of some pretty good pasta I had a few weeks ago to celebrate the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. I usually try to make food that reflects the culture of the host city/country.  I did a lot of research, found Nanaimo Bars (fantastic... see second recipe), and also kept reading about wild mushrooms. So, I made this!


Linguini with Mushroom Cream Sauce
Adapted from Food Network

Ingredients
Salt
1 pound whole-wheat or whole-grain linguini
1 1/2 pounds mixed mushrooms - shiitake, crimini, any that catch your eye at market
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, eyeball it
2 leeks
3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup cream
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Romano, for topping


Directions
Heat water to a boil for the pasta, salt water, drop in pasta and cook to al dente.

Wipe mushrooms clean with damp towel. Remove woody stems. Thinly slice the mushrooms.

Heat a large deep skillet with extra-virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook until deeply golden and tender, 10 minutes.

While mushrooms cook, halve the leeks lengthwise. Cut off a couple of inches from tough tops. Trim off root end. Thinly slice the leek then vigorously wash in a large bowl of cold water, separating all the layers to free of grit. Let leeks sit a few minutes then lift out of the water and dry on kitchen towel.

Add leeks to mushrooms along with garlic and season with salt, pepper and fresh thyme. Cook 3 to 4 minutes more then add wine, reduce half a minute then stir in cream and heat through. Toss pasta with mushrooms and adjust seasoning. Top with grated cheese at the table.


Serves 4


Nanaimo Bars
From The Joy of Baking

Ingredients
Bottom Layer
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa (I use Dutch-processed)
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup coconut (either sweetened or unsweetened)
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped (opt)

Filling
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 - 3 tablespoons milk or cream
2 tablespoons vanilla pudding powder
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar (confectioners or icing) sugar

Topping
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Directions
Butter (or use a cooking spray) a 9 x 9 inch (23 x 23 cm) pan.

BOTTOM LAYER: In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Stir in the sugar and cocoa powder and then gradually whisk in the beaten egg. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens (1 - 2 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract, graham cracker crumbs, coconut, and chopped nuts. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. Cover and refrigerate until firm (about an hour).

FILLING: In your electric mixer cream the butter. Beat in the remaining ingredients. If the mixture is too thick to spread, add a little more milk. Spread the filling over the bottom layer, cover, and refrigerate until firm (about 30 minutes).

TOP LAYER: In a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter. Spread over the filling and refrigerate.

TO SERVE: To prevent the chocolate from cracking, using a sharp knife, bring the squares to room temperature before cutting.


Makes about 24 squares