Brownie Bites

About three years ago, we were shopping at Costco for snacks to take on our road trip to LA and Manoj put a box of Petite Brownie Bites from the Sugar Bowl Bakery into our cart and looked at me with this huge excited grin. It was very bad idea, a 2lb box and I knew it wouldn't last long.

We had a couple each when loading all our buys into the car and and a couple more when unloading. Good thing we decided to leave them in the car for the trip next day or they wouldn't have lasted the night!



We have since then stayed away from that particular aisle in Costco,well except for two occasions when we had lots of people to share them with.

I made these brownies for one of the potlucks at Anushka's school. They are just perfect for those cute small hands and was loved by kids and their moms. I dressed them up with some melted chocolate and sprinkles and they were the most adorable little bites!



Also sending the below picture to Aparna's third Food Photography Exercise. The theme for this month is "Overhead Food Shots". I have always admired this angle of photography, and it was the first time that I attempted it with this picture.

Brownie Bites



Ingredients:
4 oz semi sweet chocolate
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup firmly packed dark or light brown sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3/4 cup plus 2 tbs all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
3/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips



Method:
Preheat oven to 350 F/ 180 C. Butter and flour a 24 hole mini muffin pan or use paper liners. You can also use an 8" square baking pan.
Melt the 4 ounces of chocolate and butter together in a double boiler, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
Stir in the sugar and vanilla into the chocolate. Add the eggs and mix well.
In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Fold the sifted flour into the chocolate mixture, mixing until well blended. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Fill the muffin cups about 3/4 full and bake for about 12-15 minutes until the top is firm and the brownies feel firm and don't jiggle. Take care not to overbake. A toothpick inserted will not come out clean, rather it should have crumbs that are fudgy. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 5 minutes and then remove and cool on the rack completely.

For the frosting just melt some semi sweet chocolate and dip the brownie bites in it to coat the top. Top with your favorite sprinkles.

The above recipe is from the Ghirardelli website.

Coffee Almond Ice cream (Eggless)

Its been crazy hot this week and I cannot stop thinking of all things cold. I found this post in my drafts, don't even remember when I had made this but I so wish I had a couple of scoops leftover! A tall glass of cold coffee is my favorite thing on days like these and this was an attempt to make an ice cream out of it.

Coffee Almond Ice Cream
Ingredients:
3 cups whole milk
3 tbs expresso/ instant coffee powder
2 tbs cornflour
1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup almonds, roasted and chopped

Method:
Dissolve the coffee powder in about 2 tbs warm water and keep aside. Bring 2 1/2 cups of milk to a boil. Make a paste of the cornflour with the remaining 1/2 cup cold milk and add to the boiling milk. Boil for a few  more minutes stirring constantly until the mixture thickens. Stir in the coffee mixture and extract.
Remove from heat. The mixture should be smooth and thick. If you see lumps, pass the mixture through a fine sieve.
Put a layer of plastic on the surface of the mixture and chill until very cold. Freeze in the ice cream maker. If you do not have one, read this article by David Lebovitz on making ice cream without a machine. Add the almonds half way through freezing.