Blackberry Brownies

After entering Once Upon A Tart's Browniebabe of the Month last month, I knew I'd be doing it again in May.

This time, again, a trip to Whole Foods inspired me. (They opened one about a quarter of a mile away from my apartment - how fabulous is that?) Organic blackberries, on sale for $1.99. And then that lovely click of "Hmm... I wonder if that would work" happened, thus Blackberry Brownies were born.

How'd they turn out? Delicious. VERY moist. I almost feel like they should have a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream on them and be served as dessert, maybe with some melted blackberry jam on there, too.



Ingredients:
3/4 cup cocoa
½ tsp. baking soda
2/3 cup butter, melted and divided
½ cup boiling water
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1-1/3 cups flour
1 tsp. vanilla
¼ tsp. salt
2 pints blackberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 13x9-inch baking pan.

Stir together the cocoa and baking soda in mixing bowl; add 1/3 cup butter, mixing well. Add boiling water, stir until mixture thickens. Stir in sugar, eggs, and remaining 1/3 cup butter. Add flour, vanilla, and salt. Blend completely. Pour half of the batter into prepared pan. Gently place blackberries on top of batter. Cover berries with the remaining batter.

Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes, or until edges begin to pull away from the sides. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Cocoa Ginger-Spice Muffins

Yes, in my never-ending quest of a breakfast that keeps me full until lunchtime... muffins again. I found these on the Hershey's website, but I altered them a bit, since I'm not a big fan of chocolate chips in my muffins. They don't seem quite so... muffiny then. Also, less molasses, too, since I didn't have a whole cup. Oops.

In the last third of putting these together, I discovered that I only had one egg left. Which meant a walk over to Whole Foods (because, come on, cage-free organic eggs for $1.99? You can't go wrong!), while hoping what was in the bowl wouldn't go all crazy while I was gone. The recipe is different, I thought, what with the order in which ingredients go into the bowl. Tried 'em last night, shortly out of the oven, and was disappointed. Tried again this morning, for breakfast, and they improved. Thankfully. :)



Ingredients:
2½ cups flour
¼ cup cocoa
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup hot water
½ cup molasses
½ cup brown sugar
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. nutmeg
½ cup butter, melted
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

Combine flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl; set aside.

Stir together hot water, molasses, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter, and eggs. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until moistened. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.

Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing to wire rack.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

I went to bed last night planning making some kind of "new" and "fancier than normal" cookie. Woke up this morning planning on making Dorie Greenspan's Buttery Jam Cookies. And then I came across a peanut butter cookie recipe.

I have an on-again/off-again relationship with peanut butter. Some days, I can easily eat it straight out of the jar. Other days, just the scent is enough to turn me away. Right now is obviously a good time in the pb affair.

I found these in an old issue of Everyday Food, and they sounded yummy and looked pretty (much more so than my picture!). Plus Dave loves peanut butter, so I know they'll go over well and I won't eat the whole batch myself!

They're VERY peanut butter-y which is quite okay right now. I used Nestle's milk chocolate/peanut butter swirled morsels instead of the plain chocolate. Gonna go grab another one now, I think. :)



Ingredients:
1 cup smooth peanut butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, beat together all ingredients until smooth, adding chocolate chips at the end of mixing. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheet and flatten slightly.

Bake at 350F for about 10-13 minutes, until golden brown at the edges. Cool on pan before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 2 dozen.