Buttermilk Brownies

Courtesy of Carmella….aka “All Things Chocolate” 

I got buttermilk for a bundt cake I made last week and needed to do something with it so after receiving 2 great cook books from a friend, I found a way to satisfy my sweet tooth and use the buttermilk. This is sooo Yummy, I made it in a smaller pan (8 x 12) so I had to cook it a little longer in the over, but it came out DENSE and so THICK. The best part is the icing that cools over top of the brownie. I let mine cool overnight and then dug in the next morning. I have received rave reviews on this dish from co-workers, husbands and family. A Keeper.

2 cup sugar
2 cups flour
4 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup cold water
½ cup unsalted butter
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs, beaten 

Wisk sugar, flour, and cocoa powder in large bowl. In saucepan, bring water, oil and butter to a boil and pour over dry ingredients. Mix with a hand mixer until creamy. Add buttermilk, baking soda and eggs. Beat again for another 3 mintues. Bake 18 minutes at 400 degrees. Frost while warm.

Frosting: In a sauce pan, bring 1/3 cup unsalted butter, ¼ cup cocoa and 1/3 cup buttermilk to a boil. Add ½ tsp vanilla extract and confectioners’ sugar, as needed, until ideal consistency is reached. Spread over warm brownies.

Labor of Love Cookies

I made this recipe after watching Tuesday’s Martha Stewart Show and encourage everyone to use this as an alternative to your iced sugar cookie, the dough is delicious. The reason I call them Labor of Love Cookies is because the process is time consuming. I had a few hick-ups along the way so I will share them with you so next time we all will have great success.

1. Chill the batter minimum of 4 hours to overnight, the colder the better.
2. Don’t over mix the batter
3. Have 2 Silpats
4. Optional: Have Rolling Pin Spacers

I used heart and kisses (lips) cut-outs b/c that is what I had, but the dough spread pretty wide while baking and the shape didn’t hold very true. I ended up using my cookie cutters again on each cookie as it cooled and they turned out great. They were the perfect heart shape, but I think that is kind of cheating and I have left-over crumbs. Any ideas of what to do with the crumbs? I guess they would be a great ice cream topping. 

Once you have rolled out your chilled dough, try to cut as many cookies out of that original roll. You can remove any dough boarders that will be used for the next roll, but it is ok to leave it on the silpat during the freeze time b/c the shapes are easy to separate when cold. The left over dough after eat cut out should be chilled again before you roll out for round two. I made about 20 Small, Medium and Large Hearts from this batch. 

Chocolate Cookie Cut-outs, Martha Stewart
Frosting, All Recipes 
ChefMaster Gel Based Food Color, Pretty Party Place