Vegan Brownie Bites

I wanted to bake something for a friend's birthday party, but I had no idea what to make and didn't feel like going to the grocery store for ingredients. My mind went to brownies right away, easy and I was pretty sure that I had all the ingredients needed. However, I didn't have eggs so started searching for Vegan brownie recipes. There are quite a lot out there but many had mixed reviews or just sounded pretty complicated. I finally decided on one from the Minimalist Baker with their Simple Vegan Brownies. Their "eggs" were made with flaxseed, which I had no idea could be used as an egg replacement. I only ever used flaxseed in my smoothies, now I want to try it out in other recipes. These brownies were extremely easy to make. I only added in some chocolate chunks and a little icing. While searching for a brownie recipe, I found somewhere on youtube some unique icing for brownies made out of only 2 ingredients. Equal parts Agave nectar and cocoa powder turns into a perfect icing for these brownies. The brownies went down really well. They were yummy, slight crust outside and moist inside. They were good!! I didn't change anything in this recipe, so go check out the Simple Vegan Brownies recipe from Minimalist Baker!!

Read More

September 2013 Recipe Roundup

Here are some new recipes that I have tried in the last month:

Ultimate Cookie Tower!

I made these for Shane's Birthday and wanted to try something different with a picture I saw on pinterest. These were AWESOME, so yummy and very easy to whip together. Use your favourite cookie recipe, preferably one that will turn out to be crunchy, top it with your favourite butter cream frosting, sprinkle something decorative on top, and stack! I used this cookie recipe, peanut butter butter cream frosting, and topped it with honey roasted salted peanuts. You could really use all different combinations for yummy results. However, I don't recommend trying to put 28 candles so close together... the flames were huge!

Oreo Peanut Butter Brownies

This is another recipe that I saw on pinterest and had to try out! I made it for a little get together and they didn't last long at all, everyone loved them. They are extremely easy to make and combine some of my favourite flavours. You can use a brownie box mix or your own brownie recipe just make sure it is a recipe for a 9x9in pan. 

Pumpkin Brownies

I can't remember if I saw this recipe on pinterest or not... it seems like pumpkin recipes have exploded in the past month on there. This is a super easy recipe that anyone could make and all you need are 2 ingredients, a can of puréed pumpkin (or from a fresh pumpkin) and brownie mix. I decided to add some cinnamon chips that have been in my cupboard forever waiting for the right recipe. I found them in the states when I was there earlier in the year but you can make a version of them at home as they can be hard to find. Well when I first tried these brownies I didn't really like them but they grew on me. They are extremely moist but mine didn't have the brownie crust at all which is my favourite part of a brownie. I would make it again as the flavours are good together and I now know not to expect the typical brownie results. 

Pumpkin Pie Syrup

I tried making some pumpkin spice syrup for making yummy lattes in the morning but it did not turn out well at all and was quite a messy process... :-/ Anyone have a recipe they tried out that was as good as Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte?

Tuna Ceviche

We first had this on holiday in Cornwall last year and loved it but I never attempted to make it at home until now. I have no idea why I waited so long! I based my recipe off of this one and just added a lot more into it. It was so good!! We ate it on top of a salad and with some tortilla chips for a bit of crunch. While the recipe is easy to make as it just involves a lot of chopping, it does take a few hours to "cook", so just bear that in mind when making it. 

Soy-glazed Tuna Steaks

I had to try out another tuna steak recipe but one where it was actually cooked by heat. I found this recipe on GoodFood but only used the marinade part of this recipe. The stores were shut so I couldn't get any bak choi for it and had to settle for normal salad and added some couscous to it. The marinade turned into a nice glaze while grilling the tuna steaks. I think I overcooked them just slightly but it still turned out very good. I would make it again, just need to perfect grilling the tuna. 

Read More

Chocolate BlogHop: Red Velvet Brownies

I've been experimenting with brownies lately and couldn't wait to try making Red Velvet Brownies. My last attempt at making brownies didn't go so well and I really didn't want to mess with my original recipe this time around. This is my first attempt at making something "red velvet" and I wanted it to be similar to a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting. My only problem was I had no idea how much red food coloring gel to use. I looked up tons of recipes but they were all different to mine and all used different amounts of color. I could have followed a different recipe but I wanted these to be based on my quick easy brownies. I feel I used enough red coloring gel but it didn't show though on the pictures unless I used the flash, see the picture after the jump to see the true redness of these red velvet brownies! These really did turn out great, I loved the cream cheese frosting on top of the brownies. These would make a great Valentine's Day treat.

February is #chocolatelove month!

Please join in on the #chocolatelove fun by linking up any chocolate recipe from the month of February 2012. Don't forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #chocolatelove event! The twitter hashtag is #chocolatelove :). Make sure to check out all the co-hosts below.

Recipe 
Ingredients: 
Brownies:
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp red food coloring gel
1/2 cup plain flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Frosting:
inspired by the pink whisk
70g butter
200g cream cheese
400g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Steps: 

1. Preheat oven to 350F/175C. Grease a 9x9 inch baking pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time. 
3. In a small bowl, mix together cocoa powder, vanilla, and red food coloring gel. Press the gel into the cocoa until you can no longer see it and there are no big lumps. Mix thoroughly into the egg mixture.
4. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; gradually stir into the egg mixture until well blended. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the brownie begins to pull away from edges of pan. Let cool on a wire rack before cutting into squares.
6. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and cream cheese until it is well combined. 
7. Add in the vanilla and 100g of icing sugar until fully mixed in. Keep adding 100g at a time until it is all added in. 
8. Place the frosting in the fridge until the brownies are completely cooled and ready to decorate. 

Co-hosts:

A Little Bit of Everything, Astig Vegan, Badger Girl Learns to Cook, Baker Street, Baking and Cooking A Tale of Two Loves, Baking Extravaganza, BigFatBaker, Bon a Croquer, CafeTerraBlog, Cake Duchess, Cakeballs Cookies and More, Cooking with Books, Creative Cooking Corner, Easily Good Eats, Elephant Eats, Georgie Cakes, Hobby and More, Java Cupcake, Kitchen Belleicious, Mike's Baking, Mis Pensamientos, No One Likes Crumbley Cookies, Oh Cake, Preheat the Oven, Rico sin Azucar, Savoring Every Bite, Simply Reem, Smart Food and Fit, Soni's Food for Thought, Sprint 2 the Table, Teaspoon of Spice, That Skinny Chick Can Bake!!!, The Dusty Baker, The More than Occasional Baker, The Spicy RD, The Wimpy Vegetarian, Vegan Yak Attack!, Vegetarian Mamma, You Made That?

In this picture you can see the redness of these brownies. In person, they looked red and with the flash on it really showed, just wished it showed in the pictures above.

Read More

Caramel Banana Brownies

I've been wanting to try out this idea ever since I did my Quick Easy Brownies post last month. I love caramel and bananas and thought it would be a great addition to my brownie recipe. I mashed a couple of bananas up with half a cup of caramel and swirled it into the brownie mixture. I adjusted the cooking time and hoped for the best. They came out looking great and I couldn't wait for them to cool so I could try it out. So it was time for a taste test... and well they tasted DISGUSTING!! I don't know what went wrong but it didn't work. No new recipe to share with this post, but am hoping someone out there has made caramel banana brownies or something similar and it turned out successful. If so, please share it in the comments section. I have one more brownie recipe planned and hope that one turns out ok! If not I'm just sticking with my original recipe as those tasted great!

Read More

Quick Easy Brownies!

Now that Christmas is over... try out this simple brownie recipe. I love brownies! This easy recipe is very quick to whip up and produces a great brownie, fudgy in the middle with a nice flaky crust on top. A lot of brownie recipes want you to melt chocolate for the mixture but this recipe cuts that step out and they come out just as good! This is also a great base brownie recipe to play around with and add in anything you can think of. Last time I added in mini marshmallows and they all rose to the top, roasted and melted into the brownie mixture, it was like a s'mores brownie. I have a special brownie mix-in that I am working on and will share with you in the new year.  Share in the comment section any ideas you might have for mix-ins. Enjoy!

Recipe 
Ingredients: 
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs
1/2 cup plain flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Steps: 

1. Preheat oven to 350F/175C. Grease a 9x9 inch baking pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the butter, sugar, and vanilla. Beat in eggs. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; gradually stir into the egg mixture until well blended. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the brownie begins to pull away from edges of pan. Let cool on a wire rack before cutting into squares. 

   

Read More