Recipe Modification: Chocolate Mocha Brownies

Heehee, here’s that recipe for the “interesting brownies” I was talking about on my facebook page.

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I’ve been craving brownies for a while….

**Rich, FUDGY, chocolate-y brownies.**

But alas! I don’t have any cocoa powder or chocolate chips – an obvious necessity for anything chocolate!

When I began looking for a recipe to use as a guideline (what I tend to do for any baked good), I found my mom’s delicious blonde brownies.

Here I used her recipe to make a cookie cake my friend’s birthday a couple of years ago.

So I began searching the cabinets and fridge for something to make the brownies hopefully scrumptious. I really wanted the result to hit the spot. You know that feeling?

Before too long I found: apple sauce for a butter and sugar substitute, instant coffee, hot chocolate mix, flaxseed, whole wheat flour, and almond extract (told you these brownies were interesting!).

Here’s the modified recipe below. Notice that the ingredients listed in parentheses () are what I added or substituted. The original recipe (which is SO much yummier! I advise you to make them sometime!!) is in bold.

CHOCOLATE MOCHA BROWNIES

Adapted from my mom’s Blonde Brownies, which can be tripled to make a 13×9 pan of brownies

Original ingredients vs. (what I used)

2/3 c. butter (I substituted half with sweetened apple sauce)
2 c. brown sugar (I decreased by half because of the sweetness of the apple sauce)
2 eggs (I used only 1 egg because it’s all I had)
2 tsp. vanilla (I used 1 tsp. vanilla, plus 1 tsp. almond extract)
(a splash of soymilk)
2 c. all-purpose flour (I used 1 c. whole wheat, 1 c. all-purpose)
1/2 tsp. baking soda (I think I added too much cause I didn’t measure it…oops…definitely a “no-no!”)
1/2 tsp. salt (I should have added less because of the hot chocolate mix was already salty)
(1 package of hot chocolate mix)
(2 TBS flaxseed for some extra nutrition!)
1/2 c. pecans (optional) (I didn’t have these…)
1/2 c. chocolate chips (I didn’t have these either…)

How I made them

After mixing the wet and dry ingredients separately, I combined them; then poured the dough into a greased loaf pan. I cooked it for about 20 minutes on 350 degrees.

Analysis

The brownies – which were gooey on the inside and cake-y on the outside – were really yummy when they first came out of the oven (especially with a glass of soymilk!); but as they cooled off, they weren’t as tasty. The cake on the outside got kinda chewy and overcooked, and the gooey-ness wasn’t fudgy like a traditional brownie (that’s probably because hot chocolate mix isn’t cocoa!…haha). Also, because I may have added too much baking soda, the dough was a little bitter-tasting. And lastly, I should have added cinnamon to the dough because serving it with cinnamon added much more flavor and covered up the bitterness.

I didn’t eat any brownies with icecream,
but it sure looks good, doesn’t it? This one was for the hubby.

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In conclusion, this was an experiment that was semi-successful! I was definitely more satisfied with this recipe than several I’ve made this week that I was too ashamed to blog about until now…

Recipe: Eggplant Parmesan (1st attempt)
Disappointment: Burning eggplant in a cast iron skillet on the stove while frying it…and then forgetting/discovering that the burned flavor will carry on to the next batch if the pan isn’t wiped out…
Recipe: Homemade Bread
Disappointment: Messing up the rising part by punching the dough down but not kneading it before letting it rise again. Result: flat, bitter bread. (Fortunately, when I tried again yesterday omitting that mistake, the recipe came out PERFECTLY! I was super happy.)
Recipe: Homemade Tomato Sauce (1st attempt)
Disappointment: Bitter sauce! Apparently, the seeds make it bitter, I discovered after asking around. I did make more without the seeds, which tastes MUCH better… but what am I going to do with 3 more jars of bitter tomato sauce?

BUT learning from these mistakes and others is what I love about cooking!! Sometimes, I feel like I’ve wasted my time and ingredients, but at least it’s in my kitchen and not in a restaurant. All that to say, I hope you aren’t too afraid to try your skills in the kitchen! :)