By Sheri
OOPS! DON”T FORGET THE PECANS, WALNUTS & ALMONDS!
Rich, fudge-like brownies are even better when they’re packed full of pecans, walnuts and almonds. You can make a large pan of nutty brownies (recipe below), frost and cut half into bars and use the rest as a base for warm, delicious desserts. Being creative in your choice of dishware can make simple brownie desserts perfect for a casual dinner party.
To reheat baked brownies for desserts just place them for about 10 – 20 seconds in a microwave or cover with foil and heat up to 10 minutes in a conventional oven (of course never use foil in a microwave, only a conventional oven) set on low heat. Don’t overheat! Serve immediately with…
SAUCES, CREAMS AND FRUITS:
Arrange heated brownie slices in serving dishes. Try these topping combos or dream up your own:
Strawberry Brownies
Pour on some thawed frozen strawberries and their juice on the warm brownie slices and top that with whipped cream. It’s a yummy winter alternative to strawberry shortcake.
Triple Chocolate Heaven
Add chocolate ice cream and hot fudge sauce to the warm brownies.
Create Your Own Brownie Sundaes
Set out toppings such as whipped cream, fudge and caramel sauces, bananas, shredded coconut and small candies and let quests make their own desserts. Pre-freezing separate scoops of different flavors of ice cream in a pie plate or other dish makes for easy placement onto the warm brownie slices.
TRIPLE NUTTY BROWNIE RECIPE:
1.) On a low heat stove setting using a double boiler or saucepan, melt these together:
1 cup butter
8 squares (1 ounce each) unsweetened chocolate.
2.) Leaving the chocolate and butter mixture aside, blend the following ingredients together in a mixing bowl using a whisk or electric mixer:
3 cups brown sugar
5 eggs
2 Tablespoons pure vanilla extract
3.) Fold the butter and chocolate mixture into the blended ingredients in the mixing bowl. Don’t over-mix.
4.) Blend in the following to the rest of ingredients in the mixing bowl:
1 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup all purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt
5) Lightly blend in the nuts:
1 cup toasted walnuts – chopped
1 cup toasted pecans – chopped
1 cup toasted almonds – chopped or sliced
(Note: Toasted nuts have more flavor and it’s simple to do. Just spread out a layer of nuts on a cookie sheet and bake at 350F for just a few minutes only. Don’t allow them to brown.)
6. Pour the brownie batter into a lightly greased 9” x 13” pan. Bake at 350F for 30 – 40 minutes or until a knife blade or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.