Tag: brownies

Dark or white chocolate brownies – Italian Cuisine

They are the most loved American dessert ever along with muffins. But to eat them you don't need to go to the United States, making them at home is really simple

THE Brownies I'm a typical American dessert very widespread in the Anglo-Saxon world and now known and appreciated even within our borders. Squares, chocolaty, with a thin crust out but from tender heart, they almost resemble a biscuit. If we can taste them today, it is thanks to the lady Bertha Palmer, a wealthy Chicago woman who, in 1893, expressed to her pastry chef a desire to have "lady cakes", as good as pie, but comfortable enough to be placed in a box, just like cookies.

Together with the muffins, brownies from the coffee shop window wink at the greedy patrons at any time of day. To enjoy it today, you don't need to go to the United States. Just enter any "American style" bar to have a feast. Or you can prepare at home both in "brown" version ("brown ", hence the name) with the dark chocolate or, why not, in that white with the milk chocolate. No yeast needed and the Preparation is very simple.

Chocolate brownies, the original recipe

The ingredients for the "brown" version they are 100 grams of butter, 200 grams of dark chocolate, four eggs, 250 grams of sugar, 120 grams of flour, 30 grams of cocoa powder and a pinch of salt. If desired, to make the brownies even tastier, you can also add some hazelnuts or nuts. First preheat the oven at 180 ° C. Then chop the chocolate and put it to melt a water bath. After a few minutes add the butter and mix the two ingredients. Once both are completely melted, remove from heat and let it cool. In another bowl beat with electric whips eggs with sugar. Add the salt and, gradually, the butter and chocolate mixture, the sifted flour, the cocoa and, if necessary, the chopped nuts. Mix everything and pour the mixture into one baking tray lined with parchment paper. Level the mixture with a spatula and cook at 180 ° C for 25 minutes.

White chocolate brownies

An equally delicious variant is that without cocoa, with the White chocolate and the almonds instead of hazelnuts. The ingredients and the procedure are the same as in the classic version. The only dose to adjust is that of sugar, which should be reduced by 50-70 grams because white chocolate is already very sweet in itself. Another trick, to prevent the crust from darkening too much, is to cover the pan with a sheet of aluminum foil before putting it in the oven.

Zucchini brownies in two versions – Italian Cuisine

To enjoy sweets similar to American brownies, but without butter, eggs and chocolate. Are you curious to find out the recipe? And they can also be made with carrots and beets.

THE zucchini brownies I am a sweet vegan, healthy and light, which takes its cue from classic american recipe some buttery chocolate cubes.
In this case, the butter, the eggs and chocolate, but there are zucchini, even if you won't even notice.
On the contrary, try to offer this snack to children who do not tolerate vegetables and you will find that they will appreciate it a lot.

The recipe for vegetable zucchini brownies

Ingredients

200 g zucchini
100 g oat flakes
5 g baking powder
25 g unsweetened cocoa powder
5 tablespoons of sugar
water to taste

Method

First grate the courgettes and then place them inside a clean cloth and squeeze them well to remove excess water.
Finely chop the oat flakes until they are reduced to flour and then mix them with the sugar, baking powder and cocoa powder.
Add the well-squeezed courgettes and a little water at room temperature to achieve a creamy and fairly dense consistency.
Pour the mixture into a rectangular mold that is not too wide because, in any case, the brownies must come a little high.
The mold should be greased and floured or lined with parchment paper.
Bake at 180 ° in a static oven for 30 minutes and serve.
They can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days in a closed container.

The non-veg alternative

Here's another way to make zucchini brownies but with eggs.

Ingredients

200 g dark chocolate
3 eggs
60 g sugar
50 g cornstarch
250 g zucchini

Method

First, melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave and let it cool.
Also in this case, grate the courgettes or blend them and then eliminate the excess liquids.
Divide the yolks from the whites and whip the first with the sugar until they become frothy.
Separately, also beat the egg whites until stiff.
Mix the egg yolks and sugar with the cornstarch and chocolate. Then add the courgettes and finally the whipped egg whites and mix gently.
Pour the mixture into a greased and floured mold or lined with parchment paper and bake at 180 ° in a static oven for 30 minutes.

Vegetable brownies and delicious variations

If you liked this idea, you can also replace the zucchini with carrots and with the beet.
You will always get a very tasty dessert, moist and with a soft texture, especially rich in fiber and vitamins.
You can enrich the dough with chocolate nuggets and glaze the surface with a Ganache Chocolate or with one butter cream, even if at that point it will no longer be very light!

Strawberry brownies light: spring snack – Italian Cuisine

A dessert that has all the appearance and taste of a sin of gluttony, but with less fat and sugar than the classic recipe. Don't forget the strawberries, for a perfect spring snack

When you think about the Brownies one inevitably thinks of a sin of gluttony.
With butter, chocolate and sugar in fact one cannot but obtain an explosive result of taste and goodness, but also a caloric bomb.
But you know that you can prepare delicious and practically identical brownies for consistency and flavor to the original ones even with lighter ingredients?

Less fat, less sugar

To make brownies lighter and less caloric, it is important to reduce fatty ingredients and sugars.
Fats should not be completely eliminated because to obtain a tasty result and a soft consistency they are an important element within the compound. We can simply review the quantities or modify them, choosing healthy and good fats like coconut butter or olive oil, instead of butter.
As for sugar, it would be useless to replace it with cane sugar or with agave syrup or honey because it is always sugar, but we can use it erythritol or stevia.
Another sweetener that gives a particular taste to brownies and also a consistency that Americans would call "chewy" is the date.
You can use the pulp of dates of Medjoul smoothie for the preparation of many desserts or to spread on bread for breakfast.

Strawberry brownies light recipe

Ingredients

200 g of dark chocolate 85%
5 tablespoons of coconut oil (or seed oil or extra virgin olive oil)
3 tablespoons of bitter cocoa
170 g of flour 0
230 ml of soy milk (or almonds or coconut)
100 g of stevia
chocolate drops q.b.
strawberries q.b.

Method

Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie using two saucepans, one full of water and another that should be put inside just to touch the water.
Let it cool and then mix it with coconut oil and milk.
Separately, mix cocoa, erythritol (or stevia) and sifted flour with baking powder.
Add it all together and add the chopped strawberries and dark chocolate chips.
Fill a square mold that is not too large and covered with parchment paper.
Decorate the surface with strawberries cut in half, letting them sink into the mixture and bake at 170 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.

brownies-to-strawberries

Avocado Brownies

A very unique and healthy way to make the brownies dough soft and delicious is use avocado pulp.
Just merge 100 g of chocolate and let it cool.
Apart they are mounted 2 eggs with 100 g of brown sugar and then add the pureed pulp of an avocado of about 300 g.
Finally, they are added 60 g of flour 0 and a packet of yeast, mix well and let the mixture cook in an oven dish at 180 degrees for 25 minutes.
The avocado pulp is rich in omega3 fats and then replaces butter and oil.