Brownie Crackle Cookies

What could possibly be better than an ooey, gooey, fudgey, still-warm, double chocolate brownie? Mmmmm, not much since this chocolate lover finds brownies nearly irresistible, BUT a whole brownie can be too much of a good thing. Finishing a brownie calls for commitment. Ta da! Brownie Crackle Cookies to the rescue, for those moments when just one bite will suffice. Not as densely chocolatey as a fudgey brownie, these cookies still scored a two-thumbs up rating from my chief taste tester.

The recipe comes from a box of Ghiradelli Double Chocolate Brownie mix, the blend with chocolate chips already in the package. My pantry always holds a box or two of brownie mix for emergencies (don't judge). I added a handful of chopped walnuts to this batch for a bit of crunch, an optional addition we enjoyed enough to repeat. 

Yesterday's not-so-much "emergency" was more a matter of timing, I needed a simple but delicious snack in a hurry. These cookies were just that - simple to mix and delicious to eat. A box mix designed for 16 brownies instead produced 3 dozen cookies, enough to serve afternoon guests and still have some left for the cookie jar. Win, win!

Brownie Crackle Cookies

yields approx 2-1/2 to 3 dozen cookies

1 box Ghiradelli Double Chocolate Brownie Mix

1 cup flour

3 eggs

1/3 cup canola oil

1/2 cup walnut pieces, chopped (optional)

3/4 cup powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats.

Stir together the brownie mix and flour in a medium bowl. Add the eggs and oil; stir until blended. Add the nuts and stir to mix.

Measure the powdered sugar into a small bowl.

Use two tablespoons or a small cookie scoop to form tablespoon-sized balls of dough. Roll each ball gently in powdered sugar to coat completely. Place the sugar-coated balls about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake 11-13 minutes, rotating baking sheets halfway through.

It's the Little Things...

Dove Truffle Brownies with Orange Zest and Coconut

It has been said that it's the little things that make a big difference; well, today it was a series of little things. For example, things like... 

     1. using a square glass baking pan instead of the silicone mini-brownie pan that caused so many problems in December (link). I've given up on silicone baking pans of any shape but continue to use and appreciate silicone spatulas and sheet pan liners (Silpats).   

     2. using the same packaged mix, but adding some grated orange zest and a half cup of unsweetened coconut shreds for a welcome flavor punch. Before these additions the first batch of brownies seemed too single-note chocolatey and tooth-achingly sweet; okay, but not great. Small amounts of citrus and unsweetened coconut made a discernible difference that we loved.

     3. adjusting the suggested baking time of 20-30 minutes that had previously resulted in soggy, too-moist centers. I added seven minutes and voila!; 37 minutes was just enough to firm up the middle without creating overdry corners. 

An 8"x8" pan yielded sixteen squares of 2-inch brownies, enough dessert to last us for days. Maybe. After breakfast we snacked on brownie squares still warm from the oven, sampled "just-one-more"  brownie later in the morning, and brownie bites topped with a cream cheese frosting studded with orange shreds for an afternoon snack. Who can resist such heavenly, sinfully rich, chocolatey-orange treats? Not us. 

RL rated these Dove Truffle Brownies as better tasting than Ghirardelli and Krusteaz GlutenFree box-mix brownies, but that was after the addition of the orange zest and coconut. This quick box-mix brownie recipe can't top my favorite made-from-scratch recipe for Mexican Chocolate Sourdough Brownies with Chili (link), but they were a terrific answer to this morning's need for a quick treat. I had promised a landscaping crew that I would bake cookies for their return visit this week, today in fact. The brownies took 5 minutes to mix, 37 minutes to bake, 10-15 minutes to cool and... I must have mixed up the dates because the guys never appeared. Dang, we had to enjoy the brownies all by ourselves.

Now there are only a few brownies left so I suppose I had better bake some cookies, just in case today is the day the yard crew returns. Calendar issues in my kitchen? yeah, it's the little things!

Notes: 

• This post was not a promo for Dove Chocolate products, though I do admit to a fondness for Dove Bar mini bites. The box of brownie mix was a bonus gift from a friend - thanks Laci! We enjoyed 12 of those 2-inch squares in two days, and shared the remaining 4 with the yard guys when they arrived this morning.
• If you are looking for a seriously decadent nut-enhanced brownie, take a peek at joythebaker's latest recipe with three kinds of chocolate and three different nuts.  

In My Kitchen: December 2014

Photo: crutches ready to go back into storage, hooray!

In my kitchen orderly quiet reigned during the first week of December, unusually quiet for this noisy, active cook who sings aloud, talks to herself and fills the counters with stacks of pots, bowls, cutting boards and assorted ingredients while cooking. Crutches and limited mobility might account for the diminished activity, but I'm on the mend and it is time to get busy again. Does surfing food blogs across the internet count as being productive?... mmmmm, probably not, but it did bring me to Celia's monthly event on Fig Jam and Lime Cordial where food bloggers from around the world invite you into their kitchens for a quick visit and chat. Drop by December's In My Kitchen roundup to see what's happening in these interesting kitchens this month.  

In my kitchen we have been dining on various interchangeable breakfast/dinner items like tacos, omelets and frittatas...

Photo: Egg-topped Kale and Red Pepper Taco

simple soups that enjoy a long simmer on the stovetop and freeze well... 

Photo: Hearty Tuscan Bean and Kale Soup

colorful, plated, main-dish salads loaded with healthy fruits and vegetables and a bit of protein...

Photo: Greens with chicken, feta, blueberries and pomegranate seeds with a sweet vinaigrette

and scads of fruits that double as breakfast or dessert. No new, exciting recipes this week, just familiar favorites that keep us well fed until I recharge my cooking enthusiasm. Holiday baking might be a good starting point... or maybe not. 

Wednesday's brownie baking was an interesting episode, a laughable kitchen semi-disaster. I thought brownies would be an easy dessert to share with a friend invited to join us for dinner and Seattle's annual Christmas Ship parade and caroling at Seward Park. 

Brownies are easy to make, whether from scratch or from a boxed mix, right? I went with a new-to-me box mix, eager to try out a silicone baking pan designed for mini brownies, blondies and bars. The directions on the packaged brownie mix called for lining a baking pan with parchment or foil for easy brownie removal - uh huh, I'll bet you see this one coming. I carefully cut strips of foil to fit inside each cup and extend up the sides, then sprayed each one lightly with cooking spray. This was tedious work and I quit early, leaving 4 mini cups without foil. Gold star for effort, if not for brilliance. 

The brownies looked good, smelled divine, and tested our will power as they sat cooling on a baking rack. Next they tested my patience as they clung to each square cup in the silicone baking pan. The 4 brownies without foil wrappers broke apart into large, layered chunks; tasty but not pretty. The brownies with foil stubbornly clung to both silicone and foil. It took long minutes of grumpy muttering, picking away with knife and fingernails, for the cook to separate food from foil. In the end we piled brownie bits in bowls and covered them with whipped cream for a dessert-with-a-story, a funny memory to share among friends. 

In my kitchen you will find a barely used silicone mini brownie pan looking for a new home. Would anyone like to adopt it?

GlutenFree Double Chocolate Brownies - a Krusteaz mix

That brittle crunching noise you hear in the background, that's the sound of me eating my words... again... the ones proclaiming that I don't use boxed mixes... except for occasional bundt cakes. Sigh. Let's get the disclosure out of the way. While attending a food blogger event last month, #IFBC 2014, I gathered up a box of this mix along with a ton of other samples from sponsoring vendors. Some products I shared with friends, several I have used at home, while others still languish in my too-full pantry. On Monday I was in a rush and grabbed the box of Krusteaz Gluten Free double chocolate brownie mix to bake a quick treat.

We have some house projects underway, providing an excuse to bake up some cookies or snack bars to feed the crew. The workers welcome any homemade treat, but I usually bake from scratch. Box mixes rarely make an appearance in my kitchen, but Krusteaz is a respected, local, family-owned company and the GF label piqued my curiosity: how would a GF version of brownies compare with the homemade variety? The short answer is "very well, indeed."

A 1-hour mix and bake
Adding one egg, 1/3 cup water and 1/3 cup cooking oil to a box mix was an easy start. Stirring to mix and spooning into a lightly greased 8x8" glass baking dish required no effort. I couldn't resist temptation and sprinkled a small handful of chocolate chips over the top, just because an already-opened package caught my eye in the open cabinet. Why not up the chocolate chip ratio, just a little? The Krusteaz box listed a range of cooking times, 48-52 minutes for an oven preheated to 325 F, variable no doubt to account for temperature variance in ovens. There was a note to add an additional 5 minutes for glass pans. Krusteaz added a warning not to over bake, the brownies might look underdone but would firm up as they cooled. I did the math, crossed my fingers and set the timer for 55 minutes. The brownies pulled away from the edge of the pan, a cake tester emerged with no telltale crumbs, so 55 seemed like the magic number.

The results  
Anticipation grew as the enticing aroma of chocolate  wafted through the house... these had better not disappoint! Cooling seemed to take forever, but I fended off the taste testers until the pan approached room temperature. The outer crust, rimming the pan, was firm but not hard while the center remained soft and a bit gooey. Thus the 4 corners were finger friendly, 8 brownies had at least one firm, cleanly cut edge that was easy to handle, and the 4 squares in the middle were a moist and crumbly mess that required a fork. No one complained though, these brownies were the real deal with a deeply rich flavor. Notice I didn't say good for gluten free brownies. No, these were pronounced good brownies, period, end of statement. I prefer firm brownies, so I always reach for a corner piece. RL enjoyed a softer edge piece (or two), and the crew just smiled and said "thanks." The messy foursome in the middle of the pan disappeared, one bite at a time, as we cruised past.     

The brownies didn't need my extra handful of chocolate chips, but I might add some nuts or shredded coconut to the next batch - just because.

Would I use this product again? YES (notice the all caps for enthusiasm).

Would I recommend it to others? Again YES, to anyone, not just GF bakers.

Will I continue to make brownies from scratch? Probably yes in the house kitchen, unless I'm pressed for time or am missing some ingredients. But this mix will become a staple in the boat galley, replacing the current Ghiradelli mix, so I am prepared to bake brownies for anyone, any time and anywhere.

Will I stop dissing box mixes? Maybe, but some habits are hard to break. It might require a lot more brownies and bundt cake.

Ingredients:

Sugar, Brown Rice Flour (Rice Flour, Rice Bran), Chocolate Chips (Sugar, Chocolate Liquor, Cocoa Butter, Milk Fat, Soy Lecithin, Artificial Flavor), Cocoa (Processed With Alkali), Soybean Oil. Contains 2% Or Less of The Following: Salt, Artificial Flavor, Sodium Bicarbonate.

Nutrition Facts from Shopwell
Serving Size 3 Tbsp Mix
Servings Per Container 16
Amount Per ServingCalories140

Calories from Fat 25
% Daily Value*Total Fat 3 g 5%
Saturated Fat 1 g 5%
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 0 mg 0%
Sodium 105 mg 4%
Potassium — —
Total Carbohydrate28 g 9%
Dietary Fiber 1 g 4%
Sugars 20 g
Protein 1 g

Iron

4%