I've been searching for the perfect brownie recipe for a while now, and after my latest batch of delicious chocolatey failures I finally decided to solicit the help of the Internets. Can you help, Internets?
Here are my requirements:
- I like dense, fudgy, gooey brownies with crisp tops best
- I'd like a low-sugar or alternative-sweetener version if possible (Agave preferably)
- Full-fat is fine (desirable, even) and the more butter, the better
So, what say you? My Slightly Less Unhealthy brownie recipe yields brownies which are too bread-like and ungooey for my tastes (Not So says they taste kind of like bouchon, which we love but are a poor substitute for brownies IMO). Point me in the direction of some recipes!
I'm a big fan of convenience foods, but I've got this pesky MSG allergy which makes boxed dinners a bit hard to take. This recipe makes something remarkably similar to Hamburger Helper, but it uses actual food and tastes just as good. Crazy!
Beef, Cheese, and Noodle Bake
The original recipe (from Cooking Light) called for a pound of ground beef, but I switched half to ground pork (cheaper! And also yummy). I also use full-fat cheese, but mostly because I am lazy and don't ever remember to buy the other kind. Don't go easy on the onions!
Ingredients
- 1 (8-ounce) package small elbow macaroni
- Cooking spray
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup shredded carrot
- 2-3 cloves minced garlic
- 1/2 pound lean ground sirloin
- 1/2 pound lean ground pork
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup fat-free milk
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) 2% reduced-fat shredded sharp cheddar cheese (such as Cracker Barrel), divided
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Cook pasta according to the package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain. Lightly coat pasta with cooking spray.
- Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion and carrot, and sauté 4 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add ground beef; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. IF USING PORK: brown in separate pan and drain; add to main mixture. Add tomato sauce, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes or until most of liquid evaporates.
- Add pasta to beef mixture in pan, stirring to combine. Spoon pasta mixture into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
- Add pasta to beef mixture in pan, stirring to combine. Spoon pasta mixture into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
Search, share, and cook your recipes on Mac OS X with SousChef!
Slightly Less Unhealthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 cups wheat flour
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 bag milk chocolate chips
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Cream butter and sugars in mixing bowl. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix thoroughly.
- Mix flour, baking soda and salt together and add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture until completely mixed.
- Fold in chocolate chips.
- Spoon on to an ungreased baking sheet and bake for 11 to 14 minutes.
Search, share, and cook your recipes on Mac OS X with SousChef!
I love brownies. I've been testing out brownie recipes for the last two weeks, trying to find the perfect brownie: fudgy and gooey, but not crumbly or cake-like, and without the knockout whomph of the unsweetened chocolate + loads of sugar variety. I realized relatively quickly that cocoa powder brownies were not my thing, while many of the melted chocolate recipes were too cloyingly sweet to accommodate the scarfing down of several brownies at a time. What's a girl to do?
Improvise, of course.
A friend recommended a recipe that purported to make the perfect brownies, and I used it as the basis for my Slightly Less Unhealthy Brownies. It uses way less sugar than the original; the wheat flour adds some sweetness, as does the addition of milk chocolate (should you wish). And, honestly, it works with pretty much any chocolate or combination of chocolate that you have on hand. I made one batch with bittersweet (bumping the sugar up to 3/4 C) and one with half milk and half semisweet, and they were both amazing.
Slightly Less Unhealthy Brownies
Ingredients
- 8-10 oz chocolate (semisweet, bittersweet, or a combination of dark and milk)
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup sugar
- pinch of kosher salt
- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Butter & flour an 8-inch square baking pan.
- Place chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl and heat until almost melted, checking every 15 seconds. When some (but not all) of the chocolate has melted into the butter, remove from microwave and stir with a small spatula until smooth.
- Stir in the vanilla and the eggs; mix thoroughly.
- In a mixing bowl, sift together the sugar, salt, and flour. Add to the chocolate mixture and blend thoroughly. (If you want to add nuts or fruit, now is the time to do it.)
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake just until cooked, 25-30 minutes. Do not overbake! Brownies are done when a knife inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it.
- Allow to cool completely in the pan, then cut into squares.
Search, share, and cook your recipes on Mac OS X with SousChef!
I like food. I like eating food. I also like fitting into my jeans and not feeling like crap because the cupcakes I just consumed have an ingredient list roughly as long as my arm.
I've recently started baking, and as it turns out there are a lot of baked goods that, with a few substitutions, still taste good with slightly less sugar or fat, or with whole-wheat flour instead of white. These I bring to you, my loyal readers, for your gastronomic enjoyment. Don't say I never got you anything.
My Groups
-
Food - yummy food! Updated: 7 hours ago
-
What's Cooking? Updated: 2 days ago
-
Food, Healthier Food.... Updated: 6 days ago
