Recipe | Heart Brownies

I have been making these brownies for years. The brownies are always a hit where ever I go: to a party, the office, or just at home. Not only are they delicious, they have the cutest design; perfect for Valentine's (or Galentine's) Day!

This recipe is the best for lazy winter days (& lazy bakers haha), because the recipe is essentially one bowl. Say good bye to the usual 5-bowl, sticky, chocolatey mess you're used to cleaning up and say 'hello' to free time lounging and munching on these delicious brownies.

Fun fact, the MF made me that heart cookie cutter. I was in a rush, and didn't have a heart cookie cutter. When I made my way to the usual stores, they all somehow sold out of theirs or had ridiculously huge ones. MF decided to make it into a hands on project! It's not store bought, but it's sincerely one of my favorite items in the world. I use it constantly, and it means so much to me, because MF made it for me so I could spread the love (& chocolate)!

Opposites Attract

The Ingredients        (source: Smitten Kitchen)      Yields 32 brownies         3 ounces chocolate, semisweet and good                   white chocolate, coarsely chopped         1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter,                   plus extra for greasing pan         3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar         2 large eggs         1 teaspoon vanilla         1/4 teaspoon table salt         2/3 cup all-purpose flour         1 inch heart-shaped cookie cutter Note: Use good white chocolate. Avoid using white morsels or white baking chips. They contain less cocoa butter making it harder to melt into a smooth mixture (ref).

The Instructions Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two 8x8-inch square pan with foil, then butter foil. Melt the white or semisweet chocolate with the butter in a large bowl over a pot of simmering water or microwave in 30 second bursts. When it's 90% melted, remove it from heat and stir until your mixture is smooth. Whisk one egg in at a time, then add vanilla. Mix flour and salt together, then stir until just combined. Spread into square pan and bake for 20 minutes (semisweet chocolate) and 25 minutes (white chocolate). Repeat steps 2-5 for other chocolate with second pan. Cool pans on wire rack, then transfer to the freezer if making cut-outs. Frozen brownies yield cleaner cuts. Once brownies are frozen solid, transfer to cutting board and cut each pan into 16 squares, each about 2x2 inches. Slowly, press the cookie cutter into the center of each brownie, and then set aside the cut-out. Insert white chocolate hearts into semisweet brownie centers, and vice versa with semisweet hearts. Let brownies warm to room temperature, and serve!

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Recipe | Hot Chocolate DIY Gift

Disproportionate amount of marshamallows? I think not!

I love Smitten Kitchen.
I think I've said this many times. Deb Perelman is amazing. She started her blog, because she DIDN'T know anything about cooking or baking. It was a way for her to teach herself. Most of all, I love that she steers clear of one-time use ingredients, because she thinks you can yield the same results with what you already have in your pantry.

She recently posted this recipe, and I hesitated.

I love hot chocolate, but always saw cocoa from a box or packet clump. If I wanted clumps, I'd rewatch Nutty Professor II: The Klumps! But I trust Deb. Every recipe I've tried of hers, I've loved, and it's never let down (that woman is freakishly amazing) so I gave it a go. It also seemed like an ideal gift to send to friends and family through the mail so win-win :)

Unlike others, I don't own a food processor so I had to grate the chocolate to ensure it would disperse evenly and get that powdery texture. Unfortunately, in the winter, the grating made the chocolate have a negative charge and attach to me instead of going into the bowl. I used the sugar's weight to hold down the chocolate gratings.

To top it off, I whipped up a simple way to gift wrap this delicious hot chocolate mix to give to friends and coworkers this season! It's a great gift to give as it is rich, but not overly sweet.

Just get any type of glass jar (mason jar, milk bottle) and fill it to the top. After you cap it, take some paper and jute and wrap the top. I handmade a little tag with "instructions" to go with the hot chocolate not pictured here. Now who wouldn't want to curl up with a cup of hot chocolate on a cold wintery day?

The Ingredients        (source: Smitten Kitchen)         3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate,             grated if you don't have a food processor             roughly chopped if you do         ½ cup granulated sugar         ½ cup cocoa powder         1 tablespoon cornstarch         ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract         ¼ teaspoon salt

The Instructions If you have a food processor: Rough chop chocolate. Combine all ingredients in food processor and blend until powdery. No food processor? No problem. Grate chocolate as fine as you can get it. Stir in remaining ingredients.

To use:

1. Heat one cup of milk (almond, soy, whatever tickles your fancy) in a saucepan over medium heat until steamy.
2. Add 3 tablespoons (or more!) of hot cocoa mix.
3. Whisk over heat for another minute or two until it begins to simmer and mix has completely dissolved.
4. Pour into mug, top with marshmallows, and enjoy :)

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One Bowl Series | Blondies swirled with Nutella

I decided to try a mini series on my baking days. I absolutely love baking, but sometimes I'd like the luxury of not washing half my kitchen tools after one recipe! Then I remembered Deb of Smitten Kitchen doing one bowl recipes, and thought let me challenge myself. It'll be a fun experiment to test my creativity so just stick with me, and I'll try to make it worth your while :)

Ok, the original recipe actually called for peanut butter chips in this blondie. Problem is I'm not really a blondie person, so I needed some chocolate to motivate aka add chocolate chips. When I have time (and the ability to remember to buy peanut butter chips), I definitely have to try it with peanut butter chips! Maybe even some fluff o___o it'll taste just like a s'more... I'm concocting things already in my head! I even have a Halloween inspired recipe in the works! Just for you guys :)

The Ingredients        (source: Averie Cooks)    The Blondie         ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick), melted         1 large egg         1 cup light brown sugar, packed         1 tablespoon vanilla extract         1 cup all-purpose flour         1 cup chocolate chips           (or peanut butter chips!)    The Swirl         1/3 cup Nutella

The Instructions Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-by-8 inch baking pan with aluminum foil. Melt the butter in 30 second bursts in the microwave, stirring in between. Let cool before proceeding. Add egg, brown sugar, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth. Add flour. Stir until just combined. Add in chocolate/peanut butter chips. Pour batter out onto baking pan, and smooth with spatula. Add Nutella to the batter and swirl into a marble pattern. Bake for 20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

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