Raspberry swirl brownies

Guys, I might be sick. If there's a rare disease that involves compulsively eating foods of a certain color, I've got it. No kidding. Let's make a list of the things I've been compulsively eating lately. Strawberries (maybe too many of them), dried cranberries, raspberries and cherry tomatoes. What do you know, they are all red!

Wait! now that I think about it... my glasses, purse, wallet and converse are red. Maybe I'm just obsessed with red. I'm sort of a red smurf. Oh man! I just remembered I have a ski suit, full suit, all red. We went skiing with college classmates and one of my friends gave me the nickname of the red smurf (I'm short you know). 

Anywaaaaay... let's go back to the food!  Including those red things, there's this amazing red raspberry jam I bought for the Krapfen and I wanted to bake into something else. A couple weeks ago I wanted to bake something quick for some friends. Sandwich cookies seemed like too much work, so I went for these amazingly easy and tasty brownies. 

They are mixed and baked in 45 min flat. And they are what I call 'one bowl recipes'. No mess, no fuss and lots of deliciousness using only a bowl, a whisk and a spatula. 

The brownie base is not overly sweet and the red raspberry jam has a hint of tartness which goes perfect with it. Plus they are gooey and cakey at the same time. Mine came out pretty tall, but I don't really think that was a problem for anyone. 

If you can't find raspberry jam, you can substitute for unsweetened strawberry jam. I'd suggest nothing overly sweet, you want to have a contrast of flavors between the chocolate and the jam. Oh jeez, I almost forgot! I stirred in some walnuts for a crunch. You can omit them but I find they add an extra layer of texture and crunch to the mix. 

All in all, these brownies were a success. My friend kept saying... 'Adri these are supergood!', while licking her fingers and grabbing another piece. So just go and make them. We'll discuss red later.

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Raspberry swirl brownies
Adapted from here

Printable recipe

4 oz bittersweet chocolate coarsely chopped
1 stick of butter
1/3 cup red raspberry preserves
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch of salt
¾ cup flour
¾ cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 F

Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler or microwave. In a bowl, beat eggs until foamy, add sugar and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Stir in the melted chocolate and butter (make sure it's not very warm). Incorporate the flour into the mixture by mixing with a spatula. Stir in the walnuts and fold them in the batter. Pour the batter in a greased 8 x8 inch pan. Add tablespoons of jam on top of the mixture and swirl using a knife. Bake for 30 min or until a toothpick inserted comes with wet crumbs (not totally clean).

Very dark banana brownies

I have to warn you. If you're one of those people who likes sweet to death brownies, stop reading here. Now, if you're like me and love real chocolate, the true stuff, no milk, no sugar,  these are your brownies.

It had snowed, it was cold and I wasn't in my best mood... something had to be done about it... chocolate and bananas were there to save the day.

 

Sweet banana, intense chocolate... welcome to heaven (yes, that thing by the bananas is snow)

 

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate chopped
6 ounces butter cut into cubes
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 bananas, very ripe, cut into little chunks
1 cup flour
3 eggs
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F
In a bowl, melt butter and chocolate in the microwave (or in a double boiler). To avoid burning the chocolate, heat the mixture in intervals of 30 seconds and mix well after each heating. Set aside to cool. In a separate bowl mix eggs, vanilla and sugar. Slowly add the melted chocolate into the egg mixture while mixing well. Stir in the chopped banana. Pour the batter in a well buttered pan and bake for 30 min, until the brownie is set but looks slightly giggly in the center or until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs. Let cool and cut into squares.

The bitterness of the chocolate and the sweetness of the banana are the perfect combination for a cold afternoon, or morning, or evening. They are just great.

 

Peanut butter swirl brownies

How good does that sound? Well, I'm just gonna tell you we ate it paired with fantastic vanilla ice cream with crunchy clusters...

I intensely searched the net to find a good recipe for this. Most of the ones I found, complained about how the brownies came out dry on the peanut butter swirl part. Mostly, because the swirl was plain peanut butter, nothing added. So when baked, it just dries out.  Finally Good Housekeeping had an answer for me! Adding egg to the peanut butter swirl! The egg moistens the peanut butter and the swirl comes out with pretty much the same texture as the brownie.

WARNING! this is not a low calorie recipe, believe me, you don't want to make these if you're on a diet.

For the brownie

1 cup butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the peanut butter swirl

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup sugar
4 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350 F

Melt butter and cool down. Add sugar and vanilla, mix well and incorporate the eggs one at a time. In a separate bowl mix flour and cocoa powder until the mixture is homogeneous. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture once third at a time.

Prepare the peanut butter swirl by mixing all the ingredients until well combined.

By tablespoons, add the brownie mixture and the peanut butter mixture in a greased pan. Bake for 45 min or until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs.