Chocolate Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins

I generally am not a muffin person. I don’t know why. I just prefer cookies. Or the occasional cake. Or, mmmm… ice cream. Or cheesecake…yum! Okay getting side tracked. Anyway, during my recent vacation I had an extra zucchini lying around (who doesn’t) and decided that zucchini muffins were the way to go. And not just plain old zucchini, but chocolate chocolate chip zucchini. I found the recipe on From Ketchup to Chutney and they turned out pretty good. I may have overbaked them just slightly because they weren’t as moist as I would like, but still very tasty. And for anyone worried, you don’t taste the zucchini at all.

I did make a few tiny adjustments. The original recipe called for half wheat flour and half all-purpose flour and I just used AP flour for the whole thing. It also called for plain yogurt and I used plain Greek yogurt since I had some. One little thing that threw me was the orange zest. In the future, I might leave it out. I’m not a big fan of chocolate and citrus, and the orange smell was definitely prevalent the first day. However it did dissipate after that first day, so maybe it’s fine. If you do like the citrus-chocolate combination, by all means, leave it in. The recipe also said that it only made 24 mini-muffins but it made almost three times that.

1 ½ cups sugar
¾ cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 ¼ cups shredded zucchini
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of ½ orange
2 ½ cups white flour
½ cup cocoa powder
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon

8 oz chocolate chips

Start by preheating the oven to 375 degrees. Either line your muffin tins or spray them with Pam. In a large bowl, beat or whisk together the sugar, oil and vanilla, then beat in one egg at a time until smooth, followed by the yogurt. Stir in the citrus zest and the grated zucchini.

I usually don’t advocate separate bowls for wet and dry ingredients, but for this recipe I would make an exception. So in a separate bowl stir together your dry ingredients: flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Make sure they are mixed thoroughly. Add half the dry mixture to the wet mixture and stir (by hand, not mixer!) until it’s just mixed, before adding the rest. You don’t want to overmix, so just make sure that it’s all incorporated and that’s it. Add in your chocolate chips and stir briefly.

Fill your muffin cups three quarters full and bake. I made mini muffins so I baked each batch about 13 minutes. If I did it again I might try a batch at 11 minutes and see if they are any more moist. Full size muffins cook for 15-20 minutes.

I think my favorite part of making these was giving some to a couple male friends (mostly for them to take to their families). I didn’t think zucchini was such a weird ingredient but they both balked and said, “Chocolate chip—what?” Later one of them referred to the muffins as “Rutabaga-asparagus or something.” So I guess as long as your guests or kids aren’t as picky as those two, you’ll be set. 

Tacos al Pastor

There’s a great little Mexican place in Richmond called Tio Pablo. It’s relatively new and since it’s tucked away down in Shockoe Bottom, it’s somewhat unknown. I ate there with a friend for lunch recently and judging by the really delicious flavors, it won’t be unknown for long. One of the tacos I had was the al Pastor, which is basically spicy pork with pineapples. Pairing the spiciness of the pork marinade with the sweetness of the pineapple was a truly wonderful combination, so I decided to try it at home.

I found the recipe on this beautiful site called I Am A FoodBlog. It’s a very simple recipe but one of the ingredients, the achiote paste, was difficult to find. I expect you could get it at a Hispanic focused grocery. We found a (completely inauthentic) substitute recipe made from things you probably already have at home, and it turned out fantastic. It had tons of flavor, it’s bright and colorful, and pretty easy to make, considering. The only thing that we felt was missing was a little bit of Mexican Crema to cool it down a little. If you don’t like very spicy food, I would cut down on the chipotle chiles.  

3 1/2 ounce package achiote paste (or the substitute below)

3 canned chipotle chiles en adobo, plus 4 tablespoons canning sauce

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1.5 pounds thinly sliced pork shoulder

1 cup pineapple chunks, drained

diced onion

chopped cilantro

taco tortillas

Combine your achiote paste, chipotles, adobo sauce, and vegetable oil in a food processor or blender. As I’m re-reading the recipe I realize that they also added ¾ cup of water, but I missed that. It turned out great without the water, so I personally would just leave it out. Maybe if you want to dilute the spiciness a little it would help, though. Blend this all up and pour over your sliced pork in a bowl or a baggie to marinate for at least an hour. We let it marinate for about 3 hours.

If you can’t find the achiote paste this is the substitute we used. Like I said above, I’m positive that this is not authentic because it doesn’t use annatto seeds. However, if you can’t find the paste, I think finding annatto seeds will also be a challenge. This substitute uses ingredients you already have around the house. Just blend these ingredients together first, then follow the directions above.

Achiote Substitute

3 cloves garlic

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 Tbsps. white vinegar

3 Tbsps. paprika

1 ½ Tsps. dried oregano

½ Tsp. ground cumin

To cook the pork, heat up a little oil in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. You want it to be hot, but not so hot that it smokes up your entire kitchen. Believe me, we did that and this spicy marinade is not so pleasant to breath into your lungs so be careful. Grill the meat in small batches until they are cooked and have a nice char on them. If you’ve sliced them thinly enough it shouldn’t take much more than a minute per side. Set them aside while you grill the pineapple in the same pan. They’ll get some of the marinade flavor on them from the pan. Just brown them up; it should only take a few minutes. Spoon pork and pineapple into your warm tortillas and top with the chopped red onions and cilantro. I also added about a tablespoon of the pineapple juice into the onion and cilantro to make more of a fresh salsa. I think some sour cream or Mexican crema would be a great added flavor as well. Try these, and then hit up Tio Pablo and try some of their other wonderful tacos as well! 

Sweet Potato Casserole

My all-time favorite Thanksgiving meal is not Turkey, not mashed potatoes, nor is it stuffing. It's sweet potato casserole. Yes, as a child I did not like this dish either. I seriously was missing out especially since there's a yummy sweetness to it. I found this  recipe about 10 years ago, and I've been making it ever since. If you don't like coconut flakes, you can omit those, but I think it goes great with the casserole. I was at Thanksgiving lunch at a friend's house, and her 5 year-old niece refused to try the sweet potatoes. I could certainly empathize with her, but I thought to myself; oh, one day you will realize how silly you were to not give it a shot. Enjoy!!

Ingredients:
3 cups mashed sweet potatoes (about 5 sweet potatoes, boiled until softened, skin removed)
3/4 c white sugar
1/3 c butter, softened
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c mlk

Topping:
1 c flaked coconut
1/3 c all-purpose flour
1 c packed brown sugar
1 c chopped pecans
1/3 c melted butter

Preheat you oven to 350 degrees. Combine the mashed sweet potatoes, white sugar, soft butter, beaten eggs, vanilla, and milk. Spoon into a 2 quart oven proof baking dish.
Next, in a medium bowl combine the coconut, flour, brown sugar, nuts, and melted butter. Sprinkle over the top of the sweet potatoes and then bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes.

Pecan Pie

Continuing with the dessert theme; I made a Pecan Pie for Thanksgiving dinner for my dad and I. Now, I wasn't always a big Thanksgiving dessert fan. Throughout the years, my families dessert menu consisted of Pumpkin pie (yuck), Apple pie,(double-yuck), and Pecan Pie. Growing up, I'm not sure I even ate dessert after our dinner. I've never been a fan of cooked apples, didn't care for the taste of pumpkin pie, and I don't think I even tried pecan pie. Eventually, I came around, and even though I still don't like cooked apples; I'm definitely a fan of Pecan and Pumpkin pies. This recipe is similar to the one my mother baked for our traditional Thanksgiving dinners. The recipe is from Joy of Cooking and the crust is from Cook's Illustrated. Unfortunately, I tad over-cooked the pie, but it still tasted great! If you want a traditional pie for Thanksgiving then I definitely recommend this Pecan Pie recipe. Enjoy!

Ingredients for Crust:
1 1/4 c all purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2 inch pieces and chilled
5 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 pieces and chilled
4-6 tbsp ice water


Ingredients for Pie filling:
1/4 c butter (room temperature)
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1/2 c light corn syrup or molasses
1 to 1 1/2 c  broken peanuts or walnuts
1 tsp vanilla or 1 tbsp rum
1/2 tsp salt

For the Pie Crust
To make the pie crust, process the flour, sugar, and salt together in a food processor until combined. Scatter shortening on top and process until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, about 10 seconds. Scatter butter over top and pulse mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs, about 10 pulses.
Transfer the mixture into a medium bowl and sprinkle 4 tbsp of the ice water over the mixture.  Stir and press the dough together until it sticks together. If dough doesn't come together then add more water a tablespoon at a time until it does.
Get out a plastic sheet, and turn the dough unto the plastic sheet and flatten into a 4-inch disk. Wrap tightly and then refrigerate for about an hour. Before rolling out the dough, let it sit on the counter for 10 minutes. (Dough can be wrapped tightly in plastic and refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month. If frozen, let dough thaw completely on counter before rolling it out.)
Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Roll dough into 12-inch circle on lightly floured surface. Loosely roll dough around rolling pin and gently unroll it onto 9-inch pie plate, letting excess dough hang over the edge. Ease dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough with one hand while pressing into the bottom with the other hand. Leave any dough that overhangs plate in place. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch beyond the lip of the pie plate. Tuck overhang under itself; folded edge should be flush with edge of pie plate. Crimp dough evenly around edge of pie using your fingers. Wrap dough-lined pie plate loosely in plastic and place in your freezer until the dough is fully chilled and firm, about 30 minutes, before using. Once pie is fully chilled, remove from the freezer and poke some holes into the dough using a fork. This will help it to not bubble up while cooking. Cook the pie for about 5 to 8 minutes. It will be fully cooked once the filling is poured into it. Remove pie from the oven and let cool for about 5 minutes. Then, we'll add in the filling and cook for an additional 45 minutes.

For the filling:
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-5 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the light corn syrup, vanilla, and salt. Fill the partially baked pie shell. Cover the edge of the pie plate with foil, so that the outer pie crust doesn't burn. I wish I had done this because my crust burned. The Joy of Cooking cookbook says to turn the oven up to 450 degrees, but I felt that was a bit too warm. I would set it to 425, instead. Let bake for 40 minutes until a knife comes out clean when inserted into the filling. Enjoy!

Thin and Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies

If there's one dessert that always hits the spot it's chocolate chip cookies. I posted this chocolate chip cookie recipe more than a year ago, which is absolutely fabulous, but you have to wait till the next day before you can eat them. However, these thin and crispy chocolate chip cookies are great if you want to satisfy that craving now! I found this recipe in my handy Cook's Illustrated cookbook. These cookies remind me of the ones my Grandma use to bake and then freeze. Their thin, crispy, and would taste great frozen or at room temperature. My grandma always froze her cookies, and I always knew to check the freezer for those goodies. I doubt she noticed a couple were missing. ;) Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
8 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/3 c packed light brown sugar
2 tbsp light corn syrup
1 lg egg yolk
2 tbsp milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3/4 c semisweet chocolate chips

First, adjust your oven to the middle rack position and set your oven to 375 degrees. Then, line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Now, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. Take the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat the melted butter, the sugars, and corn syrup on low speed until thoroughly blended, about 1 minute. Then add in the egg yolk, milk, and vanilla; mix until fully incorporated and smooth, about another minute. With mixer running on low, slowly add the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Working with 1 tablespoon of dough at a time, roll into balls, and place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Bake until the cookies are a deep golden brown and flat, about 10-12 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet halfway thru to ensure even baking. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for about 3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. 

Sweet potato shepherd's pie

This was adapted from my favorite recipe website www.skinnytaste.com which means it’s the perfect combination of warm comfort food and low calories. I actually don’t like sweet potatoes but the chicken broth, garlic and sour cream gave the potato topping a creamy savory flavor that was simply delicious.

Sweet potato topping
1-1/2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled, diced
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup fat free chicken broth
3 Tbsp reduced fat sour cream
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Boil sweet potatoes until soft. Drain then return to pan and mash with chicken broth, garlic, sour cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Meat filling
1 lb lean ground turkey
1 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 parsnip, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
10 oz frozen mixed vegetables
1 cup fat-free low-sodium chicken broth
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper
paprika

Sauté ground turkey until brown seasoning with salt and pepper. Add onion, celery, and parsnip. Cook about 10 minutes, until onions are clear and celery is soft. Next add garlic and mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes. Finally add frozen vegetables, chicken broth and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer on low about 15 minutes.

In a 9x13 oven safe dish spread the meat filling evening across the bottom. Add a heaping spoonful of the potato topping over each section and spread smooth to cover the meat filling. Use a fork to scrape the top of the potatoes to make a grid pattern across the top (it just makes it feel fancy). Sprinkle the potatoes with paprika. Bake 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let it cool 10 minutes before serving.

French Onion Soup

So here goes my one post, every six months? Maybe not even that frequently? I'm so thankful I get to be a part of this awesome blog despite my infrequent posts. I look to this blog for new recipes and if I want to try something different, so it's very convenient.

Okay, so I have officially moved OUT of the in-laws and into my own apartment. That means I have my own kitchen, and I am so excited to be able to start cooking up a storm. Since the temperatures outside dropped for a bit, I thought a nice soup for dinner would be a great idea, and I have never made any kind of soup before. In trying to figure out what kind of soup I could make with ingredients I already had, french onion soup came to mind. I already had onions, wine, cheese, and bread. Not to mention Joe loves french onion soup.  This recipe from Food Network is what I chose to go by, and there was some as-I-go changes and adjustments because the time frames listed in the recipe were completely inaccurate. Well, at least they were for me. It definitely did not take 25 minutes to caramelize the onions, and it took way more than 5 minutes to evaporate the wine. Whoever wrote the instructions to this soup probably should revamp it. So here goes what I actually did, and it turned out pretty tasty!

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter
4 onions, sliced (I used 5 small onions)
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 fresh thyme sprigs (I didn't have fresh thyme so I sprinkled in some dried thyme)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup red wine, about 1/2 bottle (I used what I had in stock, Chianti which worked out well)
3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 quarts beef broth
1 baguette, sliced
1/2 pound grated Gruyere (I just used shredded Kraft Swiss, which was still quite delicious)

In a large pot, melt a stick of butter. As the butter melts and warms up, slice all your onions and chop up garlic. You can make your onions as big or as small as you want for the soup. I sliced some onions and chopped some just for the fun of it. Saute your onions until they caramelize in the butter with garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. This took me about 15 minutes or so. Add the wine, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until wine has evaporated. The original recipe said 5 minutes, but this took about another 15 minutes. I could have very well not had the heat high enough, but what I did worked out just fine. Once the wine has mostly evaporated remove bay leaves and fresh thyme, add flour and stir. Cook for about five more minutes. Pour all of the broth into the pot and bring to a boil stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. I didn't add any more salt and pepper because the broth had plenty of salt. For a little different twist, I cut the baguette into cubes, toasted them in a pan with butter to make croutons. To serve, ladle soup into a bowl, drop a handful of shredded Swiss cheese into soup (or more handfuls of cheese if you so desire) and float croutons on top. Voila! Yummy french onion soup. Just beware your entire house will smell like onions for at least a day - consider opening a window or lighting candles.

Light Sesame Chicken

Well, I just made this recipe tonight, and I have to say it's definitely a keeper. I've been on a bit of an Asian kick lately. I think ever since I tried Peter Chang's restaurant this summer I've been inspired. I wasn't necessarily looking for an Asian-inspired recipe, though. Really, I was looking for a new chicken tenders recipe. Well, I went to the tried and true Tastespotting website, entered chicken in the search engine, and came across this recipe for Lighter Sesame Chicken. I kicked it up a notch by adding a tsp of sesame oil, a tsp of red pepper flakes, and a dash of cayenne pepper. I didn't have broccoli nor onions, but I didn't notice. It was really, really good. I practically licked my plate, and that's saying a lot. It's healthy and delicious. Give it a whirl and I bet you will love it, too. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
1 tsp sesame oil (optional)
dash of cayenne pepper (optional)
1/4 cup honey
2 Tablespoons sesame seeds
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1 egg white
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
2 small chicken breasts (12oz), cut into 2″ pieces
salt and pepper
2 Tablespoon vegetable oil
2 green onions, chopped
2 cups broccoli florets

First, take out a medium-sized bowl and combine the red pepper flakes, sesame oil, cayenne pepper, honey, sesame seeds, soy sauce, and garlic. Stir well and set aside. Take out your chicken pieces and season with salt and pepper. Take out a medium-sized bowl and combine the egg white and cornstarch. Stir well. Toss the chicken pieces into the corn starch mixture. Get out your sautee pan and add the oil and set the heat to about medium to medium-high. At this point if you are making rice; I would get this going. Add the chicken pieces to the sautee pan and cook both sides for about 5 to 10 minutes. Once the chicken is cook thru; remove the pan from the heat and add some of the prepared sauce and the green onions if using. If using the broccoli; be sure to steam in a saucepan until crisp and tender. Then, add the broccoli to the chicken mixture. Spoon some of the remaining sauce over your rice and add chicken on top. Enjoy!

World's Best Lasagna

Growing up I wasn’t the biggest fan of lasagna. I thought it was just okay, but it wasn’t something I craved. I think the ricotta cheese was something I didn’t enjoy. For me; it was a bit too tangy. Maybe if it had more cheese in it than ricotta I would have enjoyed it more. Fast-forward 20 years later; and I have become a big fan of lasagna. I think the reason for this is now I can look for my own recipes and try them myself. Plus, I can add a ton of cheese if I so desire. Well, a while back I came across this recipe.

It had great reviews, and though the recipe seemed a bit daunting with all the ingredients;I was eager to give it a whirl. I’m really glad I did. It’s probably the best lasagna I’ve ever had. You make your own meat sauce, it has a ton of cheese (and, yes, even ricotta), and it makes a ton of it. I made this the other night; and my Dad raved that it’s one of the best things he’s ever had even in restaurants. So, go make it and you will not regret it one bit. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 lb. sweet Italian Sausage (or just regular Italian sausage)

3/4 lb. lean ground beef

½ cup minced onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes

2 (6 oz) cans tomato paste

2 (6 oz) cans tomato sauce

½ cup water

2 tbsp white sugar

1 ½ tsp dried basil leaves

½ tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tbsp salt

¼ tsp ground black pepper

4 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

12 lasagna noodles

16 oz ricotta cheese

1 egg

½ tsp salt

¾ lb. mozzarella cheese

¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese

First, get out your Dutch oven or large pot; and sauté the ground beef, sausage, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Next, stir in the tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and water. Then, season with the sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and 2 tbsp of the parsley. Simmer, covered, for about an hour and a half. Stir occasionally.

About an hour and fifteen minutes into the sauce simmering; take out a large pot and pour water and a little salt to cook the noodles in. Bring to a boil and cook the lasagna noodles for about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl; combine the ricotta cheese, egg, ½ tsp salt, and remaining parsley. Stir well.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Get out a 9x13 baking dish and pour 1 ½ cups of the meat sauce into the bottom of the dish. Spread the meat sauce. Next, arrange 6 of the noodles lengthwise across the meat sauce and spread half the ricotta mixture over the noodles, evenly. Top with a third of the mozzarella slices and then spoon 1 ½ cups of the meat sauce over the mozzarella and sprinkle ¼ cup of the Parmesan cheese. Repeat the layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Take some foil out to cover the baking dish; but first spray the foil with cooking spray so the cheese does not stick. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Then, remove the foil and bake for an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Ga Kho Chicken

I’m a sucker for chicken cooked in a killer sauce and served over rice. If you check out my past recipes, that’s definitely a theme. So I figured this recipe would be right up my culinary alley. It turned out… fine. A little sweet for my tastes, but I know there are people who love that. The comments on the blog where I found this, The Ravenous Couple, were nothing but raves, so maybe it was the fact that we couldn’t get our chicken to caramelize that made us miss out on some flavor. Anyway, this isn’t going to go into regular rotation for us, but if you like a sweet, flavorful sauce, then this might be the one for you!

4-6 chicken thighs (boneless, skinless)

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup rice vinegar

1/3 cup water

4 cloves of crushed garlic

2 tbs chopped ginger or lemongrass

1 large shallot minced

2 tbs soy sauce for marinade

1 tbs brown sugar for marinade

2-3 serrano chiles

2 green onions, sliced

fresh cracked pepper

2 tbs cooking oil

Start by marinating the chicken with 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar. The original recipe called for fish sauce, but as my husband so delicately put it, “It smells like feet.” Soy sauce is a good substitute, but go ahead use fish sauce if you know you like it. Marinate for a half hour at least.

In the meantime, you can make your sauce in a small bowl. Combine the brown sugar, soy sauce (or fish sauce), rice vinegar and water and stir until the sugar dissolves. Add in the shallot, garlic, and ginger and stir before setting aside.

Heat oil in a large pan and put in the chicken with the meatier side of the thigh facing down. This is where the original recipe wanted you to get some good caramelization, but it just didn’t work for us. Maybe because we have a nonstick pan? Anyway, allow it to sear without touching or moving the chicken for a minute or two and then pour in a quarter of the sauce. You’ll want to leave the chicken alone, again so that it gets a good sear on it (hopefully).

Cook for just a few minutes and check the chicken to see if it’s caramelized, or at least just nice and browned. Then you can turn it over and add the rest of the sauce. I also added in the chiles here because I wanted them to cook a little, although the recipe called to add them at the end. Top with cracked black pepper and serve over rice. The sauce will thicken even more once it is off the heat, and you definitely want the rice to soak it up. Like I said, it was very flavorful, just a little sweet for my tastes maybe. 

Palm Beach Brownies

When I was about 23 years old; I went to Vero Beach, Florida to visit my Aunt and Uncle. My cousin met me out there and we had a wonderful time. It was a lot of firsts for me during that trip. I went on my first boat ride, ate my first sushi, tried crab legs for the first time; saw my cousin in a play for the first time, etc. Eating brownies that my aunt had made wasn’t necessarily a first, but these brownies were to die for. They’re appropriately called Palm Beach Brownies. They have a crunchy outer crust and a soft inner layer. They are really good. I loved them so much that she gave me the recipe and I’ve been making them ever since. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy them, too!

Ingredients:

Makes 16 huge or 24 or more extra- large brownies
8 ounces unsweetened chocolate
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter
5 lg eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 tablespoons dry instant espresso or other powdered (not granular) instant coffee
3 3/4 cups sugar
1 2/3 cup sifted all-purpose flour
8 ounces (2 generous cups) walnut halves (optional)

First, adjust your rack 1/3 from the bottom of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees. Next, take a 9x13 baking pan; turn it over and cover it with a piece of aluminum foil and press down the foil around sides of the pan using your hands. Remove the foil and turn the pan over then press the foil into the pan. Spray the foil with cooking spray.

Take a small saucepan and place over a large saucepan filled about ¼ of the way with water, then melt the butter and unsweetened chocolate over medium heat. Stir occasionally to help melt the chocolate and butter. Once melted removed the chocolate mixture from the heat and set aside to let cool.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the eggs, vanilla extract, almond extract, salt, dry instant espresso or coffee, and sugar at high speed for 10 minutes. Turn the speed down to low and add in the chocolate mixture. Beat only till just mixed. Next, add in the flour and beat only till just mixed. Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir in the nuts, if using.

Pour the brownie mixture into your prepared baking pan and smooth the top. Bake for 15 minutes and then turn the pan to ensure even baking. Bake for an additional 10 minutes. If you insert a toothpick into the brownies it will come out wet even so it is done. Remove the brownies from the oven and let cool. Carefully, remove the brownie from the pan by lifting the foil. Cover with foil and refrigerate for several hours or leave it at room temperature over night. Use a serrated bread knife to cut into the brownies as they will be very sticky. Wrap brownies individually with foil or seal in an air tight container separating each layer with wax paper.