RECIPE: Two-Bite Brownies

I can just see your eyes all lit up at the words ‘Two-Bite Brownies”. Well, yes, hold on to your seats as you’re in for a treat! These decadent bitesized babies are a cinch to make, and you’ll definitely have all the ingredient at home.

I made them bite-sized, rather than in a large pan as called for in the recipe. I mean, mini versions of food is always more fun to eat, no?

Another great thing about making two-bite brownies is that they are portable, and perfect for little kids.

These brownies are made without any chocolate at all! These are cocoa brownies. That means only cocoa powder, and a little flour goes into them, which creates an end product that is incredibly rich and sore-throat inducing. Let’s just focus on the fact that they are incredibly rich and bittersweet 😛

I think they come close to tasting like chocolate fudge, because of the richness and more-ish-ness of the mini brownie bites. I recommend chilling them, and enjoying them straight out of the fridge! These would be great alongside a glass of icy cold milk.

If you’re someone who likes sweet brownies, I suggest adding more sugar, or perhaps using a sweetened cocoa powder instead. These brownies are bittersweet, unlike those super sweet commercial brownies. But since these are cocoa powder brownies, the quality of your cocoa powder is essential to a good brownie.

This recipe while good, was not great. It was a tad dry in my opinion, but chilling it in the fridge did help. So give it a try, and let me know how it works out for you! I still chose to share the recipe with you all since the recipe received a ton of rave reviews, so maybe I’m just more inclined toward chewy brownies rather than fudgey brownies.

Oh yes, look at that, it really does resemble fudge, no? Just a single two-bite brownie will satisfy all your chocolate cravings. For that day at least.

 

I can’t help but associate these cute little brownies to sunflowers! It must be those adorable yellow mini muffin cups that I used.

Two-Bite Brownies

Adapted from Alice Medrich’s Bittersweet

Makes 18 mini brownies.

What you’ll need:
10 tablespoons (140 grams) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (250 grams) sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (65 grams, though some brands may weigh more) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process) –I used Hershey’s unsweetened.
1/4 teaspoon salt (or a heaping 1/4 teaspoon flaky salt, as I used)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, cold
1/2 cup (65 grams) all-purpose flour
2/3 cup (75 grams) walnut or pecan pieces (optional)

Instructions:

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F/165 Celsius. Line the bottom and sides of an 8×8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides. OR Line a mini muffin tin with mini muffin cups.

2. Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Make sure the bowl isn’t touching the water!

3. Stir from time to time until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test. Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot. It looks fairly gritty at this point, but don’t fret — it smooths out once the eggs and flour are added.

4. Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir in the nuts, if using. Spread evenly in the lined pan/fill the mini muffin tins.

5. Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 20 to 25 minutes.

6. Let cool completely on a rack. (But if you’re making them in mini muffin form, and you don’t have to worry about cutting clean lines, then please do what I did, and enjoy one fresh out of the oven! Hehe)

Switch things up!
1) Add a Hershey’s Kiss on top, just for aesthetic purposes of course. There’s just the added benefit of extra chocolate!
2) Stir in some mini chocolate chips for some moisture
3) Use any kind of nuts (You aren’t limited to walnuts/pecans) for texture
4) Use a mix of brown sugar and white sugar for a richer flavour
5) Add a teaspoon of instant coffee powder dissolved in 1 tsp hot water to bring out the chocolate flavour even more.

Bon appetit!

 

 

RECIPE: No-Knead (to worry) Cinnamon Rolls

Yes, you read it correctly…even if you are an amateur baker, there’s no knead to worry 😛

Haha, I just had to.

But seriously, there isn’t any kneading required, so all my fellow lazy bakers can heave a sigh of relief. These cinnamon rolls are divine and a cinch to make! I’ve always wanted to make cinnamon rolls, and finally got down to making them. I’m so glad I did.

Rather than making normal sized cinnamon rolls, I decided to make mini cinnamon rolls instead. After all, who can resist bite-sized treats?

I won’t keep you waiting, since you’ll probably just scroll down to the bottom of the post for the recipe anyway. Oh please, wipe than grin off your face, you know you weren’t going to read this post properly. You were probably just planning to skim through the photos and scroll down to check out the recipe. I’m guilty of doing that sometimes. You’re forgiven 🙂

Just a note, I halved the recipe and made 16 mini rolls, so what you see is less than what you’ll get if you follow the exact recipe!

No-Knead (to worry) Cinnamon Rolls Recipe (Adapted from The Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients:
(makes 12 ~ 15 normal sized rolls)

for dough:
250ml (1 cup) milk 
50g (1/4 cup) sugar (I used brown sugar)
62.5ml (1/4 cup) vegetable oil 
1 teaspoon Instant yeast (or 1.5 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast)
250g (2 cups) + 30g (1/4 cup) plain flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder 
1/4 teaspoon (scant) baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt

for filling:
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
50g (1/4 cup) sugar (I used brown sugar)
50g (1/4 cup) unsalted butter (melted)


Method:

• Mix milk, sugar and vegetable oil in a pan. Scald (heat until just before boiling) the mixture. Leave to cool for 45mins ~ 1 hour.
• Place 250g (2 cups) plain flour and Instant yeast in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the above mixture. Stir with a spatula until the mixture comes together to form a thick batter. (If using Active Dry Yeast, sprinkle the yeast into the mixture and let it sit for a minute before adding it to the plain flour.) Cover and let the batter sit for at least 1 hour.
• Add in the remaining 30g (1/4 cup) flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir until the mixture comes together. Either go ahead to make the rolls or cover and leave to chill in fridge over night or until needed. If left to chill, check the dough and punch it down by folding with a spatula if the dough rises almost to the rim of the mixing bowl. (Note: dough will be more firm and easier to work with if left to chill in fridge).
• When ready to make the rolls, mix ground cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl.
• Dust the work surface freely with flour. Dust the top and bottom of dough with flour. Roll out the dough into a rectangular shape. Then roll out as thin as possible. Dust the dough and work surface with flour when necessary.
• Brush the rolled out dough with melted butter. Sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar mixture evenly over the surface.
• Start from the opposite end of the dough, roll the dough neatly in a line towards you. Roll as tightly as possible. Dust fingers with flour if the dough feels sticky. Pinch the seams to seal.
• Cut into 1 inch thick slices and arrange on baking pan lined with parchment paper (or greased with butter). Place the rolls close together so that they are almost touching.
• Cover and leave to rise for 30mins (1 hour if dough was left to chill over night) or until the rolls double in size. (Note: the rolls can be left to chill in the fridge over night and bake them the next morning. If rolls have doubled in size, bake them right away. Otherwise leave to sit on counter until double in size before baking.)
• Bake in preheated oven at 180degC for 20mins until golden brown.

To give you a visual idea:
Right after slicing the cinnamon rolls and lining them in a baking tray, they’ll look like this…

After you leave them to rise, they’ll look like this…

And after you bake them, they’ll look like this!!

Good things come to those who wait eh? Check out the fluffy rolls of happiness. I was so pleased with the outcome. But I’m not kidding about the waiting though. You have to be around the whole day to make these. Or at least for a few hours. Because you have to do the first step, and wait for an hour, do the second step and wait for another hour… Of course you should be productive and do something else while waiting (Like how I used my time meaningfully, by jumping onto my comfy couch and watching a movie)

The swirls are guaranteed to be nice, so no worries there! If I can do it, so can you! 😀

I know I look like a hot sticky mess here, but I was just so pleased with how they turned out I have to post a photo of myself with the rolls to prove that I made these babies. And to make sure that I’ll remember this moment forever. Hahaha. I’m easily satisfied.

I didn’t make a glaze for these cinnamon rolls, but please go ahead if you want the full experience! I personally don’t like icing or glaze of any sort (Cupcakes are wasted on me, I usually scrape off the icing heh) but you may want to drizzle some over for added sweetness.

I used brown sugar since I feel that it adds a more robust flavour to the rolls, and brings out the cinnamon scent better. But it’s up to you.

To heat them up, just toast them in a small oven for about 2-3 minutes and you’re good to go. The smell of the cinnamon is the best thing ever. Cinnamon always reminds me of christmas and cosy family outings. I love love love the smell of cinnamon.

Imagine the smell of cinnamon coming from the warm toasty oven, and the feel of the soft warm and delightfully fluffy bread on your fingertips. Could anything be more comforting? Well, maybe add in a steaming hot cup of cocoa and we’re good to go. Turn on the air-conditioning and enjoy this moment, forget the sweltering heat in Singapore and just let your imagination take you away to a cold winter wonderland.

Now that’s how you take a mental holiday.

Happy baking!