I posted these decadent bars 8 years ago and decided that it was time for a makeover. Here is my image from 2014. I have learned a few things about photography and styling since that time and it’s so rewarding to look back and appreciate my progress.
In addition to new photos, I have also updated the recipe slightly. I replaced the middle chocolate layer with Michael Smith’s brownie recipe, the best ever brownie recipe. And I changed the top caramel layer to a sturdier, chewier consistency, using Sally’s recipe for caramel candies.
I produced a little video so you can watch how they come together.
One bite of these bars transports you through an amazing texture and flavour journey. Crunchy pecans, chewy caramel, fudgy brownies and a salty crumbly pretzel crust. All in one little bar.
These brownies are the creation of Stella Parks. If you are a baker and don’t know who Stella is, make it your business to learn all about her. She will make you life so much sweeter. She is the resident pastry wizard over at seriouseats.com. She is also the author of the charming cookbook Bravetart; Iconic American Desserts.
Stella wanted to create a homemade boxed brownie mix, for those times when crisis strikes, and you need a brownie immediately, but don’t have time to make them from scratch. You know, like when you scrape your car on the wall of your parking garage, or when you find out that The Chew was cancelled, or you need something to snack on while binge-watching something this weekend.
All the dry ingredients are mixed together in the food processor. Then you stash the mix in an airtight jar for emergencies. When crisis strikes, preheat oven to 350°F (if only most solutions to life problems could be solved by preheating to 350!), add coffee, 2 eggs, and some vanilla extract and the batter is ready.
A jar of this mix would be the perfect hostess gift to bring with you the next time you are invited to a cottage for the weekend. If you are feeling extra generous, bring along a new baking pan and some parchment paper and impress your friends with your ability to perfectly line the baking pan.
My favourite baking pan is made from light coloured aluminum. Pyrex or glass pans are poor heat conductors, which means that they are slow to heat up and to cool down. This can cause brownies to overbake, because the pan is stays so hot for so long after you take it out of the oven that it continues to bake the brownies.
Stella is insistent on top quality ingredients. Spring for the good dark chocolate, 70% bittersweet. Make sure your cocoa powder is Dutch process. It is darker and higher in fat. She recommends Cacao Barry Extra Brute, and I concur. The secret ingredient is malted milk powder. It is a flavour bomb. Ovaltine is available at most supermarkets, or you can buy Hoosier Hills Farms online. Stella suggests boosting the chocolate flavour with a little instant espresso powder in the dry mix. I used that the first time I made them. The second time, I didn’t have any left, so I substituted some strong coffee for the water she calls for in the wet ingredients. Score! The coffee really bumped up the chocolate notes. The second change I made to the recipe was to add some chopped up Skor bars, because toffee can soothe like no other flavour.
As the aroma of butter and sugar filled the kitchen, my husband magically appeared to find out what was going on. When I revealed that I was baking blondies he looked puzzled. He had no idea what a blondie was. I explained that a blondie is essentially a brownie without the chocolate. His response was “what’s the point of that?”
His response was understandable. There are times when only a deep dark fudgy brownie will satisfy you. But have you considered the fact that without the distraction of chocolate, butter and brown sugar get to be the star? Once the blondies hit the oven, the brown sugar takes on an undertone of butterscotch, with rich caramel notes. The flavours of a blondie are subtle and complex.The golden top, slightly crispy, gives way to a chewy interior. Studded with white chocolate, macadamia nuts, toffee bits and coconut, these blondies are chock-full of goodness.These blondies are adapted from Daphna Rabinovitch’s blondie recipe in her comprehensive new cookbook, “The Baker in Me.”It is from Daphna that I first learned about the freakishly delicious combination of white chocolate and macadamia nuts. She was the pastry chef at the take-out food shop I worked in many years ago. I would have happily accepted her white chocolate macadamia nut cookies or skor bar cookies in lieu of a paycheque.
If we are to be completely honest with ourselves, we all have one! I’m referring to celebrity crushes here. You know what I’m talking about; someone in the public eye that you would actually have no chance with, but can’t help but like/be attracted to/daydream about. Celebrity crushes are a harmless way to perk up an otherwise drab day.
So here’s what I’m thinking. If somehow my darling husband meets his maker and dies an early death, and George Clooney were not available, I would likely hook up with Nick Malgieri. WHO???
Nick is an acclaimed pastry chef, teacher and author, with over 10 cookbooks to his name. I first began crushing on him in 2000 when I discovered his book, “Cookies Unlimited.”Here was a man who spoke my language and completely understood me. I think there is no better way to end a meal than a cookie. Nick shares my philosophy and offered me over 400 cookies to choose from. He really sealed the deal when I made his oatmeal lace cookies. Two gossamer thin oatmeal cookies sandwiched together with chocolate ganache.
Before Nick, there was Rance Mulliniks. And unless you are a major league baseball fan from the last century, you may once again say, “WHO??” Check him out in Wikipedia.”Rance played third base for the Toronto Blue Jays during their heyday period. He batted over .300 three times (1984, 1987 and 1989) and demonstrated great patience at the plate, regularly posting on-base percentages near .400. In 1984 he was named to Sports Illustrated’s Dream Team as a utility infielder.”
My husband is not threatened by either Nick or Rance. If you were to Google them you would instantly see why. Neither is genetically blessed with movie star looks, but physical pulchritude is besides the point here. Nick and I would spend our sunset years eating cookies and he would not care one bit how fat I became. Rance and I would watch reruns of the 1992 and 1993 World Series games over and over again. I never grow tired of hearing Jerry Howarth and Tom Cheek announcing, “Now batting for the Blue Jays, Number 5, Raaaance Mulliniks.”
As I was thinking about writing this column, it occurred to me that I had never asked my husband who his celebrity crush was. I suppose I should be flattered that it took him a full 8 hours to come up with an answer, and a further 7 hours to recall her name. (It was actress Mila Kunis, in case you are curious.) Upon further reflection, I wondered if his inability to instantly come up with a celebrity name meant he just lacked imagination. Not so, it’s just that he is very firmly rooted in practicality. So practical in fact, that he has decided that should I go first, he will take up with one of my good friends, since she already knows her way around the cottage kitchen! You have to admire his pragmatic nature.
Celebrity crushes are really quite innocuous, unless of course you start to take it too far and begin imagining that your crush would adore you if he met you, or start wondering if there is enough closet space for all your clothes at his place, once he tells his wife he’s leaving her for you. You know you have moved into danger territory if you start visualizing how your dishes will look in his kitchen and wondering if he would find you too forward if you insisted he paint his kitchen Benjamin Moore 360 (San Fernando Sunshine) as the current paint colour he has offends your strong sense of aesthetic. If this happens, you need to seek help, or a restraining order may be in your future.
My sister has fallen into the stalker territory with her crush on P.E.I Food Network Chef Michael Smith. It all seemed harmless enough at the beginning but once she found out he was separating from wife Rachel, visions of co-parenting their son Gabe, filled her head. Gabe is an amazing little guy, who eats everything his chef dad makes for him! Her hopes were quickly dashed when she discovered he was having a second child with a new love, Chastity Fizzard. Folks, I am not making this stuff up!
My sister has recovered, but Chef Michael’s star has somewhat tarnished in her eyes. That being said, she is correct in bragging about his Triple Chocolate Brownies. I have tried many different brownie recipes in my years of baking, but these come close to perfection. Deeply chocolate, chewy, fudgy and very rich and decadent. They could be just the thing to help you get over your celebrity crush.
Melt butter and 8 ounces of the very best quality bittersweet chocolate you can find. Do not use chocolate chips here. Chocolate chips contain an emulsifier in them to help them hold their shape during baking. Buy good quality chocolate (at least 60-70% cocoa content). I like Callebaut 70 %. Lindt bars (70%) will also work quite well. I melt the butter and chocolate in a large stainless steel bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Make sure the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl.
Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder so that there are no lumps.
Eggs, brown sugar and vanilla are added. The chocolate in these brownies is ramped up even further by the addition of chocolate chips. You can use regular chocolate chips for this part of the recipe, but you will have even more stellar results if you just chop up some of the good stuff! (70% bittersweet chocolate)
Batter is mixed and poured into a parchment lined 9 x 13 Pyrex pan. You can grease and flour the pan, but parchment makes cleanup so easy and it makes cutting the brownies into squares a snap.
My sister likes to cut them into perfect Isosceles triangles. My fine motor skills are not quite as finely honed, but any shape will be devoured. They are quite moist and fudgy and the addition of chocolate chips to the batter makes for a nice surprise.
Okay, I have become a little bit obsessed with Bobby Flay’s show “Throwdown” on the Food Network. It might be the catchy theme song that I just can’t stop singing, or maybe it’s just Bobby’s curls that I am obsessed about. I used to have curls just like that before I discovered the CHI flat iron. For those not familiar with the show, here’s The Food Network’s summary of the main plot :
“Flay is on a secret mission: to challenge the absolute masters in different kinds of cooking – award-winning BBQers, bakers, pizza makers and more. In each episode, one of these cooks thinks Food Network is shooting their profile for a show. What they don’t know is that Bobby is going to drop in for a surprise visit and challenge them to an unexpected cook-off.”
In 91 episodes so far Bobby has won 28 challenges, tied one and lost 63. In baseball parlance he’s batting 307 which for a major league ball player is pretty respectable. The latest episode I watched was a brownie throwdown. Shawna Lidsky and Katherine Hayward of The Vermont Brownie Company prepared their famous goat cheese (chevre) brownies. Bobby challenged with his Peanut Butter Caramel Swirl Brownie.
I was actually shocked that the judges chose the chevre brownie as the winner. I am not a chevre lover. I find the taste a bit cloying but perhaps the chocolate helps to temper that tang. I was mighty pleased, however, to see that Shawna and Katherine top their brownies with a pinch of sea salt. Ever since watching that episode last week I have been unable to think about anything other than Bobby’s brownies. I had to make them.
The original recipe instructs you to line a 9 x 13 inch pan with foil. My sister Bonnie has brainwashed me into believing that foil should never come into contact with food as studies have shown that Alzheimer’s sufferers have a high concentration of aluminum in their systems. Although cooking in aluminum pots or using aluminum foil has not yet been scientifiacally proven to cause Alzheimers, my sister is adamant in her belief.
Besides, the foil does not usually peel right off the baked goods and someone always ends up biting into a brownie with foil stuck to one corner. In my family, that someone is my Uncle Stephen. He always gets the bone in the boneless chicken, the olive pit in the pitted olive salad and the foil on the brownie. So now I line my baking sheets and cake pans with parchment. Here is an easy way to line a square or rectangular baking dish that I learned many years ago when I worked at Dinah’s Cupboard in Toronto.
You begin by making a caramel sauce. Water and sugar are combined in a small pot and cooked without stirring for several minutes until it caramelizes and becomes amber in colour. Then whipping cream is whisked in. Next a half cup of peanut butter is mixed in. Here’s a great tip: spray the measuring cup with Pam and the peanut butter will slide right out, without sticking. Transfer to a bowl and let mixture cool for about 30 minutes.
Chop the chocolate. Then melt with butter over a double boiler. While the chocolate mixture cools, break some eggs, whisk them with brown and white sugar and combine with the melted chocolate. add some salt, flour and chocolate chunks.
Then comes the fun part, making the peanut butter caramel swirl.
As promised, the parchment peels right off once the brownies have cooled. Because of the high percentage of unsweetened chocolate in these brownies, they are not too sweet. The taste of peanut butter is pronounced and the hit of caramel is a perfect background note. Only one small complaint: Making these dirties a lot of bowls and pots!
With a glass of milk, they are the perfect snack for watching an episode of Throwdown.
Peanut Butter Caramel Swirl Brownies
Ingredients
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1 tablespoon corn syrup
Pinch sea salt
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
6 ounces high-quality unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon espresso powder
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown muscavado sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
Directions
Bring the cream to a simmer over low heat in a small saucepan. Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan over high heat and cook, without stirring until amber brown. Slowly whisk in the warm cream until smooth and let cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and whisk in the peanut butter, corn syrup, sea salt and 1/8 teaspoon of vanilla extract until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and let cool until thickened at room temperature, about 30 minutes.
Put a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 9 by 13-inch baking pan with parchment paper..
Combine the butter, unsweetened chocolate, 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate and espresso powder in a medium bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Let the chocolate melt over low heat, stirring frequently until smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly, about 5 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, both sugars, vanilla and salt until smooth. Whisk in the melted chocolate mixture until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the flour in 2 additions (the batter will be thick). Stir in the remaining 4 ounces of chopped bittersweet chocolate.
Scrape half of the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Using a tablespoon, drop dollops of half of the peanut butter caramel every 2 inches over the top of the batter. Carefully add the remaining batter and smooth over the caramel. Smooth the top and dollop the remaining caramel over the top. Use a butter knife to swirl through the batter to get a marbleized effect.
Bake until the top is set but still soft and the edges are puffed and just beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 23 to 25 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center will come out still gooey (be brave!–underbaking the brownies is one of the secrets to their fudgy texture). Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the neatest cuts, refrigerate the pan for about 20 minutes before cutting the brownies. Using the foil, lift the brownie slab out of the pan. Carefully peel off the foil and put the brownie on a large cutting board. With a large sharp knife, cut the brownies into 48 squares. (The brownies can be stored in an airtight container, at room temperature, for up to 3 days; they can also be frozen, well wrapped, for up to 2 weeks.)
