Lovin' From the Oven

Whopper Brownies

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Whoppers galore! They’re not the easiest thing to chop, though.
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Pre-baking..
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Baked!
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Whoppers vs. Maltesers. Who wins? I never even knew what Maltesers were until my parents’ friends brought some over from Australia. A little red bag full of malty goodness? Count me in!
Now, whenever I bring up the subject of Whoppers vs. Maltesers, most people swear by Maltesers. I was convinced they were better because so many people told me so, but I finally sat down one day and had one right after the other. The result? Well, I’m all for the American Whoppers. I feel like the malted powder is finer and melts in your mouth, whereas Maltesers have a tougher and stickier texture.

Does that sound crazy? Either way, when you bake the Whoppers (as I surely found out), they turn hard and crispy. Not necessarily bad hard.. just a little chewy, tough on your teeth, hard. The brownie itself wasn’t bad, but I prefer the fudgy type. The recipe is from How Sweet it is, who got it from Martha.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 10 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup (about 4 1/2 ounces) malted-milk powder
  • about 1 1/2 cups of Whoppers or Maltesers, plus some extra for the top
  • 1 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan and set aside.
  2. Combine chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over simmering water; stir until melted and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly, about 5 minutes.
  3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat sugar and eggs until thickened and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in the melted chocolate mixture and vanilla. Fold in the flour, malted-milk powder, and malt balls until just combined.
  4. Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading it evenly. Sprinkle some chopped malt balls on top (optional). Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs on it, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer brownies to a wire rack to cool.

Banana Coffee Cake with Chocolate Chip Streusel

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I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Halloween! I spent mine at home, handing out candy to all the little (and not so little) trick or treaters. I also ended up watching “Isolation” with my DB. Yes, another bad scary movie to feed my guilty pleasure. Actually, the movie was quite enjoyable… despite the fact that it’s about cows having killer mutant babies.

Did anyone watch the premiere of The Walking Dead? I can’t get enough of it! I am desperately counting the days until Sunday again, when I can finally see the next episode. Zombies are just so intriguing to me.
My DB’s biggest fear is actually the zombie apocalypse (not that it’s ever really going to happen). When he was little, he used to shower with goggles on so that no one could sneak up on him without him seeing first. He’s gonna kill me for writing that, but it’s just too cute not to share.

These banana bars were a huge hit at work. Banana’s always a safe bet when bringing something to a group event. They were moist, had a wonderful topping, and kept people coming back for seconds. This recipe is adapted from Bon Appetit. Bon appetit!

  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 2/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 large egg
  • about 4 mashed bananas
  • 3 tablespoons buttermilk
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Butter and flour 8x8x2-inch baking pan. Stir chocolate chips, brown sugar, walnuts, and cinnamon in small bowl until well blended; set streusel aside.
  3. Mix the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into medium bowl. Set aside.
  4. Using electric mixer, beat sugar, room temperature butter, and egg in a separate bowl until fluffy. Beat in mashed bananas and buttermilk.
  5. Add dry ingredients and blend well.
  6. Spread half of batter in prepared baking pan. Sprinkle with half of streusel. Repeat with remaining batter and streusel.
  7. Bake coffee cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool coffee cake in pan on rack.

Chocolate Buttermilk Cookies

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Man, was this week draining. So draining that it made me a little sickly child! 🙁 I had to leave work early today because I was scaring away customers with my man-ish cough. Oops.
The first thing I did was run straight to the store and buy 10 cans of soup. My go to is Campbell’s tomato bisque, but for some reason, I couldn’t find it at two different grocery stores! What the heck! So instead, I grabbed tomato soup in six different brands and hoped for the best.
Although, for the past hour, I’ve been watching the Food Network’s “Meat and Potatoes” and could really use some sweet BBQ right about now. A girl can dream.
These cookies are slightly adapted from spache the spatula, but they just didn’t tickle my fancy. I was intrigued by how much liquid was going into the batter (plus I had buttermilk to use up), so I gave them a shot. Needless to say, they failed my taste AND texture test. These tasted kinda funky and were just too soft. Is that even possible for the girl that loves soft and chewy cookies? Yes. Who knew? I felt that I was biting into a slice of bread rather than a cookie. That just ain’t right.
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
  • 3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 2/3 cup buttermilk
  • about 1 cup chocolate chips
  1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the cocoa powder and melted butter until very smooth. Add in the sugar, vanilla, and buttermilk. Slowly add in the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
  3. Refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours. Then, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  4. Scoop the dough onto the lined baking sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart.
  5. Dot the dough with chocolate chips (about 4-5 per cookie).
  6. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool further.

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