One Bowl Moist and Fudgy Brownies
There comes a time in every mom’s life, when you are called on brownie duty. It is a rule, you cannot escape making brownies. Sure there are brownie mixes and but they are never available on short notice. And they are not the same.
A One Pot Recipe
A couple of efforts here and there. I am pleased to report I seem to have happily nailed a one pot recipe for brownies. It is proclaimed to be a genius recipe by my chocolate loving son.
Practicality Rocks
For a recipe to be workable in my house, it needs to be practical. This one uses eggs, cocoa, flour and butter. Nothing uncomplicated or unusual there. I always need a little intrigue to keep things interesting.
In this recipe the depth of flavor is created with the addition of ricotta cheese and freshly ground cinnamon. The denseness leaves the brownies complete on their own. These babies are baked low and slow and get done in about 20 minutes. Once you try them chances are they will become your salvation brownie for school events, snow days and everything in between.
On a Snowy Day
Today’s brownie making episode was a collective fun exercise with the kids at home for a snow day. I was working from home, when I do this I am able to stretch the hours. I start a little early as there is no commute to negotiate and take a mid-day break an hour longer than my usual lunch break which allows me to make time for lunch and a few things to entertain the kids with.
Simple interactive things like putting together these brownies, this cutting shot was taken by non other than my boy Aadi. All of this might make you ask why I do not do this more often, well, unfortunately I really cannot work from home and I am not sure if everyday would work for me. Odds are I would miss the hustle and bustle of the office, which I do indeed enjoy, more than I care to admit most days. And, then the kids are of course not home everyday. Only on these rare snow days.
That is what makes them special, and we do not treat them as business as usual. There is enough to be done by way of work, and more gets done by way of paperwork and loose ends. The kids often fit in a TV meal or a treat, depending on how much time I have on hand. Today’s version was these warm brownies fitted in with tall glasses of milk. The brownies ideally should be cut when they are cooler, however why let a few crumbs get in the way of warm chocolately satisfaction.
And for a seriously good gluten free version, check out this recipe.
A deep and moist brownie recipe with freshly ground cinnamon.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons melted butter)
- 1 cup sugar (you can use light brown sugar for added depth)
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 cup good quality cocoa
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 11/2 teaspoons freshly ground cinnamon (about 1 2 inch cinnamon quill powdered)
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees, grease a small 6 by 9 baking sheet.
- Place the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and you can cream together until pale and creamy, using an electric beater or a wooden spoon.
- Beat in the eggs and mix well, and mix in the ricotta cheese until well incorporated. Do not over mix.
- Sift in the cocoa, flour, ground cinnamon and baking powder in small amounts and mix well. There is plenty of moisture in the batter but adding too much of the dry ingredients all together will make it harder to mix in.
- Pour the batter onto the baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes until done. Test with a toothpick to ensure doneness. Turn off the heat and remove from the oven, let it cool for about 20 minutes and invert the brownie sheet.
- Cool further and cut into squares and serve.
Kate
Heads up, 8 tablespoons of melted butter is only half a cup. A full cup of melted butter is 16 tablespoons.
I speed-read the recipe and missed that, using a full cup of butter and had no idea why the butter wouldn’t cream! Had to double the recipe to make up the ratio. There are definitely worse problems.
rinkub@aol.com
Kate, thanks for pointing this out, fixed, hope you enjoyed that double batch.