Get Cooking_ 150 Simple Recipes to Get You Started in the Kitchen - Mollie Katzen [106]
3. Fill a smallish saucepan with about 2 inches of water, and place a heatproof bowl that is large enough to hold the chocolate chips directly on top of the pan. The bowl should rest firmly in place, clutched by the pan’s rim, and the bottom of the bowl should not be touching the water. Pour the chocolate chips into the bowl, and put the whole setup on the stove over low heat. Let the water simmer gently until the chocolate chips are all melted (there should be no solid pieces when you give it a stir). Remove the pan from the heat, and carefully, using pot holders or oven mitts, remove the bowl of melted chocolate from the pan. Set it aside to cool a little.
4. Use a handheld electric mixer at high speed (or if you don’t have one, use a whisk, with enthusiasm) to beat the butter (by itself, for now) for a couple of minutes, or until it becomes light and fluffy. Crumble in the brown sugar, and continue to beat at high speed (or with your own arm at its personal best) for another 2 minutes or so. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl a few times during this process.
5. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well enough after each addition to thoroughly mix it in. Add the vanilla extract, and continue to beat for another minute or two, until everything is very well combined.
6. Keep beating as you slowly drizzle in the melted chocolate. (If you are beating manually, you might want to get someone to help hold the bowl steady for this.) Beat well until the chocolate is completely incorporated. (The constant movement prevents the heat of the chocolate from cooking the eggs.)
7. Sprinkle in the flour and salt, and stir (you can finally stop beating now) until they disappear into the batter. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, taking care to scrape all of it in with a rubber spatula. Then use the spatula to spread the batter evenly.
8. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the top springs back a little when lightly touched in the center. (They might seem under-baked, but they will firm up as they cool, and these are moist brownies. That said, if they seem too soft for you, it’s okay to leave them in the oven for a few minutes longer, until a toothpick inserted all the way into the center comes out clean. At that point, they’ll be cakey brownies, rather than fudgy ones.)
9. Let the brownies cool in the pan for about 10 minutes; then cut them into squares of your preferred size. Let them sit for another 10 minutes or so after you do the cutting, so each piece can solidify. Then remove the squares from the pan and let them cool on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
GET CREATIVE
For Chocolate Chip Brownies, use an entire 12-ounce bag of chocolate chips. Put half the bag into the batter melted, as directed, and sprinkle the remaining (unmelted) chocolate chips into the batter when you add the flour.
For Chocolate-Banana Brownies, mash a medium-sized very ripe banana into the butter when you begin.
For Chocolate-Nut Brownies, stir ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans into the batter just before spreading it in the pan.
Use a strainer to sift a little powdered sugar over the top of the brownies after you slice them.
Serve à la mode with vanilla or coffee ice cream, or as the base of a brownie sundae (see Chapter 9: Desserts).
cheesecake bars
Makes 24 bars
A full-on formal cheesecake requires a special pan with a removable bottom and, generally speaking, a special occasion. These easy bars with a tasty cookie crust give you the cheesecake effect in a much easier way. They freeze really well in an airtight container. You can just take as many or as few as you’d like out of the freezer and enjoy them an hour later, once they’ve defrosted. Note that you’ll need to start softening