Bready or Not: Golden Syrup Brownies
I’ve made a lot of brownies that I’ve shared here on Bready or Not, but these Golden Syrup Brownies are the fudgiest I’ve ever made.
Seriously, they are good but they are dense and rich. I highly recommend cutting these things small, just as one does with fudge.
Golden Syrup and coarse sugar are what set these brownies apart. I used Lyle’s Golden Syrup, the original version, imported from the UK. Sometimes you’ll see honey and light corn syrup mentioned as American substitutes; if you want to go that route, split them half and half, but it still won’t be the same as Lyle’s.
As for the coarse sugar, the original recipe printed in Bake from Scratch called for unrefined light muscovado, but I used a mix of demerara and turbinado. Hence my general recommendation for coarse sugar.
This recipe will keep for weeks in the fridge, have you the fortitude!
Bready or Not: Golden Syrup Brownies
Equipment
- 9×9 pan
- aluminum foil
- nonstick spray
- fine mesh sieve
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups plus 2 teaspoons coarse sugar such as turbinado and demerara
- 14 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 Tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons golden syrup
- 1 1/4 cups dark chocolate chopped or in chips
- 6 large eggs room temperature
- 2/3 cups plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 325-degrees. Line a 9-inch square pan with foil and apply nonstick spray.
- In a large saucepan, heat the coarse sugar, butter, and golden syrup over medium heat until the mixture is smooth and bubbly, around 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and add the chocolate. Stir until everything is melted. Let cool for a bit.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs. Strain them through a fine mesh sieve into the batter. Stir everything to incorporate. Add flour, stirring until no white streaks remain. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Tap it on the counter a few times to knock bubbles free and level the batter.
- Bake until brownies are set with the center still moist, about 45 minutes. It’s okay if they look slightly underdone. Let pan cool to room temperature. Refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight.
- Use foil to lift contents onto a cutting board. Use a large knife to cut brownies into small squares. If the brownies stick to the knife, wipe it clean after each pass and dip the blade in hot water before each cut. Store brownies in a sealed container in the fridge for up to two weeks, or freeze for longer.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Cheesecake-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
These Cheesecake-Stuffed Chocolate Cookies are big, rich, and incredible. You get a core of cream cheese surrounded by chocolate-laden dough. I mean, come on.
For this recipe, you need to make the dough and filling in advance. I made them a day ahead, but you want at least a few hours of refrigeration time. You also chill the cookie dough right after it’s shaped. That means you need some empty room in the fridge for doing this recipe.
This is also a recipe where you really do need a tablespoon and teaspoon scoop to produce even cookies. That, or you just naturally have a good eye for estimating such things.
Modified from Allrecipes Magazine Feb/March 2022.
Bready or Not: Cheesecake-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- tablespoon and teaspoon scoops
- fridge space
- parchment paper
Ingredients
Filling
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
Cookie Dough
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 and a half sticks) room temperature
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar packed
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 12 ounces chocolate chips
Instructions
Make the filling
- Beat together the cream cheese and confectioners' sugar to make a smooth mixture with few if any lumps. Stash it in the fridge to chill for a few hours or overnight.
Make the cookie dough
- Beat together the butter and both sugars until they are creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually pour this into the butter mixture, scraping the bottom of the bowl to make certain everything is combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Chill the dough in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.
Baking the cookies
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Also, make room in the fridge for a small baking pan or plates on which the formed cookies will chill.
- Scoop out a tablespoon of cookie dough. Use a thumb to hollow out the center. Scoop out about 3/4 teaspoon of cream cheese mix using the smaller scoop. Place that inside the hollow. Fold the dough to enclose it, adding additional pinches of dough as needed to form a seal. You don't want any cream cheese visible, or it could ooze out! Flatten cookies between palms to make a fat disc. Set in fridge to chill as more cookies are shaped.
- Once all the cookies are shaped, pull out the coldest cookie balls to set, spaced out, on the baking sheet. Keep the remaining cookie balls chilled while the initial batch(es) bake.
- Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until the cookies are golden. Let them rest on the sheet for 5 to 10 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to completely cool.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Fudgy Chocolate Chunk Brownies
These Fudgy Chocolate Chunk Brownies are thick and rich. Plus, they even look amazing thanks to the chocolate chunks on top!
My favorite go-to for chocolate chunks are the German chunks sold at Aldi. They are way cheaper than those sold at other stores, but the quality is high. (I’m a major Aldi fan. They have one of the best cheese selections around, too!)
If you want to make these have a neat presentation, slice off the edges. Then eat those edges, because they can’t go to waste.
Modified from Food Network Magazine October 2013.
Bready or Not: Fudgy Chocolate Chunk Brownies
Equipment
- 9×13 dish
- aluminum foil
- uneven spatula
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces dark chocolate
- 2 cups white sugar
- 6 large eggs room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chunks
Instructions
- In a large microwave-safe bowl or in a pot on the stovetop, melt together the butter and dark chocolate until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Preheat oven at 325-degrees. Line a 9×13 pan with foil and apply nonstick spray or butter.
- In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, and salt.
- Return to the large container with the melted butter and chocolate. Stir in the sugar until no white streaks remain. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Gradually fold in the dry ingredients. Fold in 1 cup of chocolate chunks.
- Pour batter into the prepared dish. Use an uneven spatula to spread it into an even layer. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chunks over the top.
- Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the middle passes the toothpick test. Set on a rack to cool for at least an hour, speeding process in fridge if desired. Use foil to lift contents onto a cutting board to slice up. Store in a sealed container at room temperature.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Chocolate Chai Snickerdoodles
I reinvent Snickerdoodles on a regular basis, and here’s a fun new take: Chocolate Chai Snickerdoodles.
The flavor of these is chocolate-forward, followed by the warm combination of spices. The combo is fantastic, and the texture of the cookies is soft and chewy.
I highly recommend mixing up the sugar and spices a day or so in advance. There is such a variety involved that the measuring and washing of the measuring spoon ends up being the most tedious aspect of the entire recipe.
Bready or Not Original: Chocolate Chai Snickerdoodles
Equipment
- parchment paper
- baking sheet
- teaspoon scoop
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) room temperature
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup baking cocoa sifted
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven at 350-degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Combine the first six ingredients; reserve a 1/2 cup in a separate bowl.
- Beat the butter until soft. Add the bulk of the spice mix, continuing to beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, cream of tartar, baking powder, and salt. Slowly work this into the butter mix.
- Use a teaspoon scoop or spoon to form small balls. Roll them in the reserved sugar-spice mix. Set them spaced out on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Due to the cocoa, it is hard to gauge doneness by color, so look for them to be set with some light crackling. These don’t crackle as much as standard snickerdoodles, though. Let them rest on the sheet for about 10 minutes, then transition them to a rack to completely cool.
- Store in a sealed container at room temperature.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: No-Bake Cookie Bars
When you have no time to bake and you need sweets fast–or you don’t have an oven or can’t heat the house–no-bake treats are the way to go. These No-Bake Cookie Bars involve little fuss and are sweet and tasty.
Also, these are pretty cheap to make. I used a generic kind of vanilla wafers that were a dollar-something.
Since I live in Arizona, I had to store these in the fridge, but in most places, you’d probably be fine keeping them at room temperature.
Bready or Not: No-Bake Cookie Bars
Equipment
- 9×9 pan
- nonstick spray
- aluminum foil
- waxed paper
- heavy glass
Ingredients
- 11 ounces vanilla wafer cookies generic is fine
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup chocolate chips semisweet or milk
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Line a 9×9 pan with foil and apply nonstick spray.
- Use a food processor or a gallon bag, rolling pin, and muscle to crush all of the vanilla wafers.
- In a big bowl, stir together the cookies crumbs, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, nuts, vanilla, and salt. Completely mix and coat.
- Dump the mixture into the prepared pan. Level it out, then use waxed paper and a heavy object such as a glass to evenly compress the crumbs. Chill in fridge for at least 2 hours.
- Use the foil to lift the contents onto a cutting board. Slice up and store in a sealed container either at room temperature or in the fridge.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Marcona Almond Bars
I’ve used almonds in many cookie and bar recipes, but these Marcona Almond Bars are especially decadent and good.
First of all, the base recipe starts with browned butter. Almond butter is also mixed in, which adds to the taste and texture. There’s just a touch of spice involved. These bars are really about the almonds.
What makes Marcona almonds different? They are from Spain, for one, and have the skin removed. They have a high standard of quality, a buttery, clean, crispness to them that is especially nice in contrast to chocolate. (They are also great on a Spanish-themed cheeseboard with things like Manchego cheese and membrillo paste.)
These bars are delicious for a snack or dessert, and they look especially pretty in their simplicity.
Modified from February 2014 issue of Food & Wine Magazine.
Bready or Not: Marcona Almond Bars
Equipment
- large saucepan
- 9×13 pan
- offset spatula
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
- 3 1/2 cups light brown sugar packed
- 5 large eggs lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup roasted almond butter
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups Marcona almonds 9 ounces
- 1 3/4 cups chocolate chips 11 ounces (1 bag)
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, cook the butter over medium heat until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Set off-heat to cool for about 30 minutes.
- Start oven preheating at 325-degrees. Place a large strip of aluminum foil in a 9×13 pan and apply nonstick spray or butter.
- Add the sugar, eggs, almond butter, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon to the cooled browned butter. Mix until smooth. Add the flour. Fold in 1 1/2 cups of the almonds and 1 1/2 cups of the chocolate chips.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Use an offset spatula to even out dough. Scatter the remaining almonds and chocolate chips over the top and lightly press in.
- Bake for 60 minutes. The middle should pass the toothpick test. Cool at room temperature, speeding process in the fridge, if desired. Use the foil to lift the contents onto a cutting board to slice into bars. Store in a sealed container at room temperature.
