Cocoa Bars with Browned Butter and White Peppermint Chocolate

January 28, 2013

Cocoa Bars with Browned Butter and White Peppermint Chocolate

Cocoa Bars with Browned Butter and White Peppermint Chocolate

After making a feast out of some bell peppers, I was feeling very satisfied at around 8 pm after my delicious, healthy meal. Then the downward spiral of the show The Bachelor started, and my roommates started discussing sweet treats. At first, we started talking about brownies with a cream cheese swirl... Riley's mom Pam made these in college and I've been obsessed every since. Then we got out a baking book Pam got me for my birthday, and all these ideas started getting thrown out: lemon bars, pineapple bars, cookies, pineapple upside cakes... you name it.

We realized that all the stores are now closed, so we decided finally on plain ol' brownies. I knew I could throw something extra in there, so I found some peppermint chocolate bars I bought from Trader Joe's a bit ago to place on top.

Alyx doesn't like cake, and I don't really like really fudgy brownies, so we compromised in between. I will post the recipe we concocted here, but you can find the original (with walnuts instead of peppermint) here.

Ingredients:

1 1/14 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 1/4 cups sugar

3/4 cup natural, unsweetened cocoa powder (spooned into cup measure, then leveled)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs, chilled

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 cup chopped up white and dark peppermint chocolate, saving 2 tablespoons for the topping

Directions:

1. Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 325. Line an 8x8 inch metal baking pan with foil, pressing foil firmly against pan sides and leaving 2 inch overhang.

2. Coat foil with nonstick spray. Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking until butter stops, foaming and browned bits form at bottom of pan, stirring often, about 5 minutes.

3. Remove from heat; immediately add sugar, cocoa, 2 teaspoons water, vanilla, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Stiry to blend. Let cool 5 minutes (mixture will still be hot).

4. Add eggs to the hot mixture 1 at a time, beating vigorously to blend after each addition. When mixture looks thick and shiny, add flour and stir until blended. Beat vigorously. Stir in peppermint chocolate.