Ultimate Crumb Brownies

Ultimate Crumb Brownies | Bakewell Junction

Hope everyone had a great Mother’s Day.  My family came over for dinner yesterday and I made these yummy brownies.  I would have had a photo of the entire baked recipe but my brother-in-law grabbed some of the crumbs from one end of brownies.

Since everyone loves cake crumbs (at least I think everyone does), I decided to incorporate them into my favorite brownie mix.  I used half the crumb recipe from my Sour Cream Coffee Ultimate Crumb Cake and it turned out wonderfully.  There is some brownie at the bottom of those crumbs.

What did you do this Mother’s Day?  Did you make or do anything special?

Ultimate Crumb Brownies

Yield:  12 brownies                 Cook Time:  45 minutes

Ingredients:

Batter:

• 1 package of your favorite brownie mix (I used Ghirardelli)

Crumbs:

• 1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter, melted
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons powdered cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Topping:

• 1 – 2 tablespoons powdered sugar for sprinkling

Directions:

Step 1:  For the batter:  Prepare the brownie mix as described on the package.  Transfer the batter to an 8 by 8 inch pan lined with parchment paper.  Spread evenly in the pan.  Begin baking in a preheated 325 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Step 2:  For the crumbs:  while the brownies are baking, mix together all the ingredients for the crumbs with a fork to start.  Finish mixing with fingers.  There should be large crumbs.  After the brownies bake for 20 minutes, remove the brownie pan from the oven and sprinkle the crumbs evenly across the top of the brownies.  The weight of the crumbs will flatten the brownies somewhat.  Return to the oven.

Step 3:  Raise the oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake on a higher rack for another 20 – 25 minutes.  The crumbs will brown ever so slightly.  Cool in the pan on a rack for at least 20 minutes.  Use the parchment paper to help remove the brownies from the pan and cool completely on a rack.  Transfer the brownies onto a serving tray and sprinkle liberally with powdered sugar.  Cut into 2 to 2 inch squares and eat.

Enjoy!

Crumb recipe from a co-worker.

Tips:  Store in an airtight container.

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Orange and Almond Quick Bread #TwelveLoaves

Orange Almond Quick Bread | Bakewell Junction

Another busy week and April’s almost gone.  I can’t miss this month’s #TwelveLoaves party but I don’t usually make breads with orange.  I was so happy to find this quick and easy recipe to share with you.

Hope you’re ready for another Italian style recipe.  This recipe is a dense and delicious.  You can have it for breakfast or dessert.

 Orange and Almond Quick Bread

Yield:  1 loaf                 Cook Time:  50 minutes

Ingredients:

Batter:

• 1 1/2 cups of flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 10 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup sugar, room temperature or softened
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup ground blanched almonds (I measured 3/4 cup silvered blanched almonds and then chopped finely in my mini chopper)
• 1 tablespoon grated orange zest (I substituted dried orange peel)
• 1/2 cup milk

Glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3 to 6 teaspoons hot water
• 1/4 teaspoon orange flavoring

Directions:

Step 1:  For the batter:  Sift together flour baking powder, salt and flour in a medium bowl and set aside.  Cream butter and sugar together until light and creamy; about 1 to 2 minutes.  I beat on high using my hand-held mixer.  Add eggs one at a time beating to combine after each one.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl, as needed.

Step 2:  Mix in the almonds and orange zest until combined.  Fold in half the flour mixture.  Fold in the milk.  Fold in the remaining flour mixture until just combined.  Transfer the batter to a greased or parchment lined 9 by 5 inch loaf pan with a spoon.  I usually like to use parchment paper but this time I used cooking spray.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 50.  Test with a toothpick; toothpick will be clean when done.  Let cool 5 to 10 minutes in the pan.  Remove from pan and cool completely on a rack.

Step 3:  For the glaze:  Mix the powdered sugar, orange flavoring and 3 teaspoons water together with a fork.  Add additional water in small increments until desired consistency is reached.  I used all six teaspoons.  Drizzle across the top the loaf.  Slice and serve.

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Italian Dessert Recipes.

Tips:  Store in an airtight container.

Here is our fantastic April-Oranges breads from the incredible #TwelveLoaves bakers:

• Blueberry Dreamsicle Orange Lower-Fat Quick Bread from Shockingly Delicious
• Brith with candied orange from Ma che ti sei mangiato
• It’s Thyme for Orange Dinner Rolls from Cookistry
• Orange Biscuits from Magnolia Days
• Orange-Fennel Cake Doughnuts from girlichef
• Orange Marmalade Filled Sweet Rolls from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Orange Marmalade Scones from A Baker’s House
• Orange Pull-Apart Bread from All That’s Left Are The Crumbs
• Orange Pull Apart Bread with Orange Cream Cheese Glaze from Bakingyummies
• Orange Rolls from Basic N Delicious
• Orange Rosemary Boule from Food Lust People Love
• Orange You Delicious Honey Crescent Rolls from Kudos Kitchen By Renee
• Pizza di Pasqua from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Rye and fennel seeds snails with blood oranges and red onion chutney from Rise of the sourdough preacher
• Sicilian Orange Sweet Bread from Cake Duchess
• Strawberry and Orange Quick Bread with Candied Orange Marmalade from Hip Foodie Mom

#TwelveLoaves April: Oranges. The month of March was filled with gorgeous strawberry breads!  We have chosen ORANGES for our April theme!  Choose a recipe including oranges.  Your bread of choice recipe must include in the recipe:  oranges, orange marmalade, orange zest.  In addition to being in the dough, it could also be added to a glaze.  Whatever you bake, (yeasted, quick bread, crackers, muffins, braids, flatbreads, etc) have fun and let’s have a delicious month of bread with ORANGES. Let’s get baking!

If you’d like to add your bread to the collection with the Linky Tool this month, here’s what you need to do!

1. When you post your Twelve Loaves bread on your blog, make sure that you mention the Twelve Loaves challenge in your blog post; this helps us to get more members as well as share everyone’s posts.  Please make sure that your bread is inspired by the theme!

2. Please link your post to the linky tool at the bottom of my blog.  It must be a bread baked to the Twelve Loaves theme.

3. Have your Twelve Loaves bread that you baked this April, 2014, and posted on your blog by April 30, 2014.

#TwelveLoaves is a monthly bread baking party created by Lora from Cake Duchess. #TwelveLoaves runs so smoothly thanks to the help of the lovely Renee from Magnolia Days and Heather from girlichef.

You are next… Click here to enter

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St. Joseph’s Pastry (Sfinge)

St Joseph’s Pastry (Sfinge) | Bakewell Junction

Happy Easter!  The day is almost over but I wanted to share this lovely recipe with you.  This pastry can be found at any Italian bakery throughout NY city and the surrounding suburbs on beginning on March 19th for the feast of Saint Joseph’s and usually through Easter.

The filling for the sfinge is either Cannoli Cream or a pastry crème that’s similar to a custard.  It can be vanilla or almond flavored but my family and I favor Cannoli Cream, so that’s what I made.  The shells are fried most of the time but I’ve seen them baked and I opted for baking to gain a small amount of health benefit.

At first I wasn’t happy with the results of the shells because they weren’t as tall as I thought they should be but they turned out to be quite delicious when filled.  My instructions will include details about how to get a better result.

For Palm Sunday and Easter this year I made my Easter Bread (one batch for Palm Sunday and one for Easter) and Chocolate Babka in addition to these sfinge.  What special Easter recipes did you make this year?

St. Joseph’s Pastry (Sfinge)

Yield:  48 pastries                 Cook Time:  20 minutes

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 2 3/4 cups flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups water
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 3 1/2 tablespoons lard (I used all butter)
• 6 large eggs

Cannoli Cream Filling:

• 2 lb container Polly-O ricotta cheese, drained overnight in a 2-ply cheesecloth (it drains best at room temperature, provided it’s cooler than 70 degrees)
• 1 1/2 t vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 c powdered sugar, sifted
• 2/3 c mini chocolate chips; plus some additional for garnish

Topping:

• powdered sugar for sprinkling
• Maraschino Cherries (optional; I didn’t use these)

Directions:

Step 1:  For the filling: at least three days before serving, mix drained ricotta, vanilla and sugar together.  Move the mixture to a food processor (I used a small Kitchen Aid chopper) and mix until the filling is smooth and is the right consistency.  Depending on the size of your food processor or chopper, you may need to mix in small batches.

Step 2:  Fold in the mini chocolate chips, cover loosely and store at least overnight (better yet two nights) in the refrigerator.  When ready to fill, transfer the filling to a gallon size Ziploc bag make a 1/2 inch cut on one corner of the Ziploc bag.  Use as a pastry bag to fill the chocolate chip cookie cups.

Step 3:  For the dough:  Mix the flour, salt and baking soda in medium bowl; set aside.  In a large saucepan or small stock pot, heat the water, butter and lard.  Let the mixture come to a boil and then remove the pot from the heat.  Add all the flour mixture at once and mix vigorously with a wooden spoon until incorporated.  Return the pot to a medium to high heat for about 5 minutes while still mixing continuously; this will dry out the mixture and the dough pulls away from the sides of the pan.  Remove the dough from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.  Add the eggs one at a time and beat into the dough to combine before repeating with the remaining eggs.

Step 4:  Using a pastry bag with a 1/2 plain nozzle (I substitute a Ziploc bag with 1/2 inch snipped off the corner), pipe 2 inch shells in circles onto a parchment lined (or greased and floured) cookie sheet and about 1 inch high, leaving 1/2 inch between each.  Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 20 minutes until golden.  Repeat with the remaining dough until finished.  Cut a slit in the side of the shells so the insides don’t become soggy.  Transfer the shells to cooling racks.

Step 5:  For the assembly:  cut the tops from the shells and pipe the Cannoli Filling using a Ziploc bag with at least a 1/2 inch opening (so the chocolate chips don’t get stuck) into the center of the shell.  About 2 tablespoons depending on the size of the shell.  Top with the top of the shell and then add a small amount on the top of the shell.  Add a maraschino cherry if using and sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with Espresso or coffee.

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Ciao Italia by Mary Ann Esposito.

Tips:  Store assembled pastries in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a few days.  The shells can be frozen in airtight Ziploc bags and then assembled at a later date.

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Cannoli Cream Filled Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups #ChocolateParty

Cannoli Cream filled Chocolate Chip Cookie Cup | Bakewell Junction

Oh, no!  I missed the last two weeks of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats blog hop and haven’t posted in a while because my laptop went kaput.  Not fun.  A nasty virus took over the entire machine and blocked me from doing anything.  While it was an old machine anyway, I was trying to eek out some more time with it.

On to better things with this month’s #ChocolateParty.  The theme for the December Chocolate Party is any type of chocolate cookie.

I love Cannoli Cream filling but I was never fond of the Cannoli shell.  To me, the shell is only a vehicle to get my fill of Cannoli Cream yumminess.  I’ve made cookie cannoli shells before but they were very delicate.  I thought that making the shell out of my favorite chocolate chip cookie dough would be less fragile.  My attempt failed because I couldn’t shape the cookies after they were baked.  They broke instead of curling into a cylinder.  I had to change plans quickly, so I changed the shape with the remaining dough into cookie cups using a regular sized cupcake pan.  Boy, you can get a whole lot of Cannoli Cream into those cookie cups!  Yum!

These would be wonderful as an addition to your New Year’s dessert table.  You will need to begin preparing the ingredients ahead of time and assemble just before serving.  I served them as one of the desserts for Thanksgiving and there was no talking as everyone was eating them, just mmmmm’s from the very first bite.  Great endorsement, wouldn’t you agree?

Cannoli Cream filled Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups

Yield:  30 servings                  Cook Time:  15 minutes

Dough:

• 4 ounces chocolate bar (I used Hershey’s)
• 1 cup room temperature butter (2 sticks)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups flour
• 2 1/4 cups old fashioned oatmeal
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli’s)

Cannoli Cream Filling:

• 2 lb container Polly-O ricotta cheese, drained overnight in a 2-ply cheesecloth (it drains best at room temperature, provided it’s cooler than 70 degrees)
• 1 1/2 t vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 c powdered sugar, sifted
• 2/3 c mini chocolate chips; plus some additional for garnish

Topping:

• mini chocolate chips (I prefer Ghirardelli)
• Chocolate sprinkles or colored sprinkles (Holiday colored)

Directions:

Step 1:  For the Cannoli Cream filling:  at least three days before serving, mix drained ricotta, vanilla and sugar together.  Move the mixture to a food processor (I used a small Kitchen Aid chopper) and mix until the filling is smooth and is the right consistency.  Depending on the size of your food processor or chopper, you may need to mix in small batches.

Step 2:  Fold in the mini chocolate chips, cover loosely and store at least overnight (better yet two nights) in the refrigerator.  When ready to fill, transfer the filling to a gallon size Ziploc bag make a 1/2 inch cut on one corner of the Ziploc bag.  Use as a pastry bag to fill the chocolate chip cookie cups.

Step 3:  For the cookie cups:  Grate the chocolate bar and set aside.  Grind the oatmeal to a fine powder in a blender, food processor or mini chopper.  Since I only have a mini chopper, I grind this in two batches.  This isn’t mandatory but to make sure the oatmeal is ground finely enough, I put the oatmeal through a sieve and whatever is left gets ground again.  I repeat this process until my mini chopper can’t grind it anymore.  At the end if there’s a small amount that can’t be ground finely enough, I discard it.  In a large bowl, combine the ground oatmeal, flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda and set aside.

Step 4:  With an electric mixer beat the butter and sugars together for about 4 to 5 minutes until the mixture is fluffy.  Beat the eggs and vanilla into the butter mixture.  Add in the flour mixture using a spatula or wooden spoon until incorporated.  Mix in the chocolate chips and grated chocolate bar.  Optionally chill dough for several hours to overnight.  This helps the flavors meld.  Try not to eat too much of the dough.

Step 5:  Line a regular sized cupcake pan with paper cupcake liners.  Lightly press about a tablespoon of cookie dough into the bottom of each liner.  Add about another tablespoon of cookie dough for the sides of the cup.  Carefully spread the cookie dough evenly around the sides.  Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 10 minutes.  Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 5 minutes.  The cookie cups will be puffed up and look like cupcakes.  Cool 5 minutes.  Using a mini ladle (1 or 2 ounce size), press the cup side down into the cookie cups to make a well in the center.  You can also use the back of a spoon or a pestle to create the well.  Let the cookie cups cool completely.  Repeat for the remaining dough.

Step 6:  Fill the cookie cups with Cannoli cream.  Top with mini chocolate chips, chocolate sprinkles and or red and green Christmas sprinkles.  Serve immediately.

Storing:  Store empty cookie cups in a sealed plastic container for a few days.

Enjoy!!!

Recipe adapted from the fake Neiman Marcus Cookie recipe e-mail that’s been all over the internet.

Our #ChocolateParty December theme is any type of chocolate cookies.  If you’d like to join in, please follow these rules:

1.)  Blog about your chocolate treat.  Your recipe must include the two ingredients we choose.  It can be a simple no bake treat or a sophisticated layer cake; the complexity level of the recipe is totally up to you.
2.)  Include a link back to the Chocolate party page.  Optionally, add the Chocolate Party logo in your blog post or on your sidebar.
3.)  Your recipe must be published during the current month.  Please do not link old recipes, they will be deleted.

I hope you’ll join our party and bake along with us.  Also, if you’d like to know what are we up to and what ingredients we pick for the next parties, join our Facebook group.

All submitted posts will be pinned to the Chocolate party Pinterest board and will be promoted on other social media platforms using the #chocolateparty hashtag.

Add your link to the Chocolate Cookies Party.  Your link will be displayed on the Roxana’s Home Baking site.

This post may also be entered in these linky parties.  Click the here to visit the other great posts in the blog hops.