irish car bomb brownies

Posted on March 29, 2012 by hilary924

we all know i’m a crazy overachiever when it comes to desserts. i may be half-assing my way through many many other parts of my life, but when it comes to treats, i want them to be made from scratch.

except for brownies.

i love me a good brownie. rich, fudgy, with chewy edges.

but from scratch brownies? you know the pitfalls. too cakey. not gooey. not chocolaty enough. and ghirardelli box mix? it treats me right, every single time. i like a brownie i can count on.

well, this recipe may break me from my ghirardelli habit.

these brownies are insanely chocolaty and nearly as easy to whip together as a box mix.

at least compared to my other overachiever dessert recipes!

there’s no waiting for butter to soften, there’s no need to use the stand mixer. you will, however, just have to resign yourself to getting chocolate everywhere. unless, unlike me, you have self control and can keep your fingers out of the chocolaty batter.

like many of my recipe discoveries, i found this recipe to use up the bottles of guinness that have been lurking in my kitchen since st. patrick’s last year when i made these irish car bomb cupcakes that rocked my world.

but cupcakes. they feel so daunting. they are not a weeknight recipe. they are not a sunday-afternoon-crap-i-forgot-we-agreed-to-bring-dessert-to-that-dinner-party friendly.

these brownies are. and they give you way more instant chocolate gratification. extremely dense and fudgy. almost like a flourless chocolate cake by with a bit more of a bite. the edges won’t get that great chewy character of the box brownie, but these are by far the best from-scratch brownies i’ve ever had.

plus, they are a GREAT use for stray bottles of dark beer you may have lying around.

my first night in england on my year abroad, a group of us naive americans ordered a round of guinness at our first pub outing. not realizing that we were in london, not dublin. and that fosters or carling, or even cider, would be not only a more traditional, but also a more tasty choice.

don’t worry, by the end of the year we all managed to get quite high marks in our chosen extracurricular: drinking habits of uni students.

just thinking about snakebites to this day makes me feel a bit queasy.

anyway. guiness, while foul by the pint, is delightful with chocolate. the bitter, sweet, and caramel notes of the beer complements and draws out the best in good dark chocolate.

Irish Car Bomb Brownies

The original recipe had stout in the glaze-like frosting, but I found that to be a bit intense. the second time I made these, I added a glug of Bailey’s instead and much preferred the sweeter flavor as a contrast. I’ve also sprinkled sea salt on top, and that’s pretty tasty too. Adapted from Epicurious – find the recipe here.

1/2 cup stout (such as Guinness)
16 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped, divided
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1/4 cup Bailey’s liquour

preparation

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9x9x2″ metal baking pan with foil, leaving a 2″ overhang. Bring stout to a boil in a medium saucepan; cook until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 8 minutes. Let cool.

Stir 12 ounces chocolate and 1 cup butter in a medium metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until melted and smooth. Whisk sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in chocolate mixture, then 1/4 cup stout from pan. Fold in flour and 1 1/4 teaspoons salt. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake brownies until surface begins to crack and a tester inserted into center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 35–40 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool for at least 20 minutes. Alternatively, these work well in mini muffin tins – bake 10-12 minutes, and then let set in the tin for about an hour (or cheat and let them firm up in the freezer for 15 minutes).

Stir remaining 4 ounces chocolate in a medium metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until melted and smooth. Add Bailey’s, remaining 2 tablespoons butter, and 1/4 teaspoon salt; whisk until well blended.

Pour warm glaze over brownies. Let stand at room temperature until glaze is set, about 40 minutes. DO AHEAD: Can be made 8 hours ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.

Using foil overhang, lift brownie from pan; cut into squares

salted mudslide cookies

Posted on October 12, 2011 by hilary924

booze + chocolate + salt = a winning combination.

these are some intensely chocolaty cookies. they may be posing with the hershey's, but don't be fooled. there's more than that in here.

mocha kahlua. dark cocoa powder. dark chocolate chips. a smattering of that fancy-pants sea salt.

it's manchego-approved, so you know it's good.

in fact, the somm tried one and was sure that whoever i'd baked them for probably didn't deserve them.

not true! happy 30th to mishap!

these cookies were almost better than our miami celebration trip. luckily, the hurricane-gale-force winds died down and the sun came out or it might not have been so close.

warning: these cookies may not be conducive to a bikini-ready body, but just TRY to only eat one. they're gooey and rich. they have a perfect chewy edge. and the salt just kicks it up a notch.

i finally found a trick to getting salt to stay on the top of cookies. it's a little weird. are you ready?

take cookies out of oven. quickly spritz with pam. apply salt.

neat, huh?

i still can't figure out how to get turbinado sugar to stay crunchy on muffins. i think i'm just going to need to practice!

maybe we should start with another batch of cookies.

Salted Mudslide Cookies

Loosely adapted from How Sweet It Is

2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
3 tablespoons instant coffee powder (I ran out and just used more cocoa powder)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) of unsalted butter, melted and cooled for 10-15 minutes
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup coffee liqueur + 1 teaspoon (I used Mocha Kahlua for an extra chocolate kick)
1 cup chocolate chunks
sea salt for topping

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Stir together the flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.

In another bowl, mix the melted butter and sugars until they are combined. Next add your liquids – egg, vanilla, Kahlua.

Gradually add flour and mix until a dough forms – it will be a little more crumbly than most cookie dough but should come together.

Fold in the chocolate chunks. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes. Be patient. Remember you didn't have to remember to soften your butter, so you have to make up for it somewhere. Your reward: puffy, chewy yumminess.

Scoop balls of dough onto a greased or nonstick baking sheet. I went for about 1tablespoon-sized scoops because I was bringing them into work. Bigger scoops would probably maximize the gooey, chewy character of the cookie.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are set and the middles are still soft. The centers should be puffy. Do not over bake.

Remove from oven. Working three cookies at a time, immediately give each a spritz of Pam or other cooking spray (just not the kind with flour!) and then sprinkle with sea salt.

Good warm, cooled, or unbaked.

honey bourbon & peach bbq chicken

Posted on October 7, 2011 by hilary924

what do you do when someone offers to come to your house on a sunday evening and bake you a chocolate pie?

make them this chicken in return. it's like saying i love you, in tangy, sweet poultry form.

this is not a fancy recipe.

it was created by the pioneer woman. let me tell you, she knows her comfort food.

want to play with the camera?

check out the peach jam!

whoa, wait! there's that honey bourbon! betcha thought we were done with that bad boy!

this recipe got us close, but there is still a good inch or so left in the bottle.

and don't let it's honey sweetness fool you. this is a gateway drug to more serious whiskey. it is possible a bottle of makers mark has made it to my place of work. it is certain that i was not responsible. but it is possible that i have partaken.

goes great with diet ginger ale. and a caramel apple lollipop. as you cry silently at your desk.

wait, too serious? back to the food! focus!

this recipe is essentially a braise. oh man, get ready. fall is here for reals and i'm going to be braising so much meat you won't be able to keep up. how else can i be sure my favorite short rib recipe is really my favorite?!?!

but today, we are cooking the bock bock. that's chicken for those of you who don't speak paige.

chicken thighs are great for braises. they're virtually indestructible – have you ever had a dry chicken thigh? just ask spilled milk. i browned up some bone-in, skin-on for some juicy goodness. and then boneless skinless because i'm lazy and would like to not gain 10 lbs every weekend. plus my yogi is uncomfortable with meat-looking meat.

let it hang out in the oven with all that good bbq sauce, peach jam, and bourbon until it falls apart. serve with smashed potatoes, and maybe some green beans for good measure.

this sauce is crazy addictive. you'll want more than seconds because it just hits every note right – sweet, savory, with just a hit of the bourbon. just use a bbq sauce that has a bite – you want to balance out the jam. and if you choose a good jam, it'll be a little chunky. it's a substantial sauce, let me tell you.

bonus? it goes great with chocolate pie. thanks larkin!

Peach-Whiskey Barbeque Chicken

All I did was swap out the bourbon for honey bourbon, so you should just check out Pioneer Woman's recipe posting. She'll walk you right through the recipe, but it's easy as pie. Promise.

honey bourbon peach brown bettys

Posted on September 15, 2011 by hilary924

so, i had some subpar peaches.

well, i'm sure they were fine peaches. but i have become a total peach snob. i like autumn glo peaches from kuhn orchards. they're the essence of peach. the flavor is perfectly sweet and round. there is none of that undercurrent of acid you get with other peaches sometimes.

you can buy them saturdays at the u st farmers market in dc between 9 and 2 for the next two weeks. i bet that is super convenient for you. you're welcome.

luckily, i also have a recipe for how you should use the subpar peaches available in your own local grocery or farmer's market. it even works if you have perhaps forgotten them in the crisper bin for a week or two.

or, even if you haven't forgotten them, but it just takes you a week or so to get your hands on bourbon because you live on the east coast and they don't sell booze in your local CVS or even GROCERY STORE like civilized people.

because you're gonna need some bourbon. i went jack daniels tennessee honey. just seemed like the right thing to do.

you know what makes peaches awesome? a good soaking in bourbon, with a little thyme. and bourbon whipped cream, but we're getting to that soon.

this recipe is a riff on a smitten kitchen brown betty recipe. the appeal of other fruit desserts like crisps and cobblers is easy to understand: sugary, crunchy streusel topping! light, flaky biscuits!

but the brown betty elevates humble sandwich bread to yummy new heights.

you start with a layer of butter and a sprinkle of sugar in the muffin tin. this is going to brown-up and get caramel-y like no one's businesses. more butter, and then the peach-breadcrumb-bourbon-brown sugar goodness will seal the deal.

according to my friend wikipedia, brown bettys date to colonial times. also, they were nancy reagan's favorite dessert. who knew?

they – or at least the bourbon whipped cream – are even manchego approved.

baby betties! ready to par-tay!

Honey Bourbon Peach Brown Bettys

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

3 cups peeled, chopped peaches
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons honey bourbon (I used Jack Daniel Tennessee Honey because the nice liquor store clerk said it was less sweet than other honey bourbons, and I figured the recipe would be otherwise sweet enough.)
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
Melted butter
Granulated sugar
6-8 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup panko
Whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Stir together your chopped peaches, bourbon, and thyme leaves. Let hang out in the fridge for a few hours macerating and getting yummy. This mix also goes great in sangria with white wine. Maybe with some thyme or mint simple syrup. Mmmm.

Mix your macerated peaches with the panko, salt and sugar. I bet some nutmeg would also be delightful in here if you're feeling fancy.

Flatten the bread slices with a rolling pin. Or a clean wine bottle if that's what you've got.

Brush some butter in your muffin tin, and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Line the tins with the bread. I used both full size muffin tins (full slice of bread) and my mini muffin tin. For the mini muffins, I tore the bread into four pieces and two pieces for each tin. Just play with it, it doesn't have to be perfect. And, like with pie crust, you can use bits of bread to plug and holes.

Once you have your crust, brush with more butter. Fill with peach filling, pressing slightly to pack it in. This will help with the integrity of your bettys, especially if you've got a lot of hole filling that has gone on in the crust creation.

You're going to bake these guys first with foil on top (10 min for regular muffins, 7ish for minis), then uncovered to get them brown (15-20 for big guys, 10-12 for minis). I also then broiled the top of mine because I wanted the tops to brown more. Cause I was taking them to a party and I thought looks mattered, and there there was no light on the rooftop deck. But you're going to cover them in whipped cream, so maybe you don't have to be OCD like me. Or maybe Smitten Kitchen is wrong and they should just be baked uncovered the whole time? Maybe I'll have to make 5 more batches to see!!!!

While the bettys are baking, whip some cream with a little sugar and some bourbon. Let the bettys cool just a smidge, top with cream and enjoy!

Manchego's Kitchen

it's his kitchen. i just cook here.

Category Archives: Booze