Tuesday, July 13, 2010

TWD—Brrrrr-ownies

Brownies!  In general, love them.  Karen at Welcome to Our Crazy Blessed Life, who I just adore, chose our Tuesday’s With Dorie recipe for today and she picked Dorie’s Brrrrr-ownies.

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They are a basic fudgy brownie with York Peppermint Patties chopped up and mixed throughout them.  They were strange, but if you like chocolate and mint, you’d probably like them.  I have a better, favorite mint brownie recipe, photo below,

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but I’m always glad to try new recipes as either way, it helps me decide on favorites.

I thought the pictures of the brownies didn’t turn out too badly for how rather ugly they are.

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These Brrrrr-ownies were a little strange.  That said, I might have messed them up a bit.  I was halfway through making the brownies right when the boys decided they needed lunch.  Somehow with all the commotion, I ended up adding the flour and salt before adding the sugar.  So I was stirring them all in at the same time, while the melted butter was separating from the batter.  It was strange and annoying.  Sigh.  I hate it when that happens!  Little annoying mistakes.

With the batter in the pan, and butter swimming all over it (I could not get it to mix in and when I melted the butter and chocolate, it was perfect!), I went ahead and baked them anyway.  And I ended up with a pan of brownies that looked like craters of the moon. (Photo courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org) 

Not only was the butter all bubbly all over the top, but the peppermint patties bubbled up and melted all over as well. 

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This was after I took a paper towel and dabbed off all the excess butter pooling on top of the brownies.

My only concern was that it wasn’t just my error of adding the flour at the same time as the sugar because after reading the P&Q's at the TWD blog, it seemed that others had issues with the mint patties melting into a gooey mess.  Oh well.  You win some, you lose some.  Funny thing is, they are still getting eaten, mostly by Kevin and Scott.  I’d remembered that one other time I made some brownies (my favorite, easy, go-to cocoa brownies, adapted from Dorie’s Tribute to Katharine Hepburn’s Brownies.  I make these brownies all the time and with every kind of add in you can imagine.  And I can recite the recipe in my sleep.  When we made them for TWD, I made the brownies three different ways, one of them being brownies with added York Peppermint Patties.  But the patties didn’t melt.  Maybe it was because they were the little baking pieces (which may only be available during the holidays???)  I think the thicker York “bites” are too thick with too much mint filling.  Live and learn.

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Just so this ends on a happy note, Kevin snapped a few pictures of us playing Don’t Eat Pete for FHE.

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A little glimpse.  The dining room is part of the kitchen/family room.  Check out that giant built-in fish tank that looks into Kevin’s den.  He can’t wait to get it up and running.  There’s another big fish tank in the front living room as well.  The door with windows is double doors that open to a back patio.  Four big windows line the back wall to the kitchen/family room.  We are loving our house home.

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Interested in seeing how other’s Brrrrr-ownies turned out?  I am.  Check out the TWD blogroll.  Karen will have the recipe on her blog.  We’re off to Idaho for a family reunion with my family.  I’m SO bummed, we had Kevin’s family reunion last week and I took TONS of pictures the day we went up in the mountains, some gorgeous scenery with a waterfall and some great ones of the boys.  They are not on the camera.  Gone.  We have no idea what happened to them.  They must have somehow gotten deleted before they were downloaded on to the computer.  UGH!

31 comments:

mike said...

I think these look fantastic - since when is a brownie not ugly? They're supposed to be gooey and chewy! Great looking kitchen/dining area and love that fish tank!!! Company when you're baking!

Clumbsy Cookie said...

Oh... hate when that happens (recipes don't turn out and deleted pictures....) The brownies do sound good to me (choc+mint=love) but you're probably right, the little patties must be better. But you know what, even ugly and strange as you say I'd still eat them :)

Unknown said...

Aww! Hate when things don't turn out. But brownies are supposed to be ugly. I would still eat them :P

Kayte said...

Way too much chocolate going on over here this early in the morning, but I have to say, chocolate lovers of the world are going to love this post and eat it right off the screen. OMW that fish tank is huge! Cute photos of everyone. Never once in my life have I gotten to say, "I'm off to Idaho...." and maybe I should correct that soon because it sounds lovely.

Lisa Ernst said...

Yikes, I've had that problem too, when the butter separates and creates a greasy perimeter around the brownies. I've yet to try the Katherine Hepburn brownies, but I have an event coming up where I need to take something sweet, so this might be my chance. Yea! So glad you're enjoying your new home. If you ever need some art, you know where to look. :-)

Pamela said...

Looks good to me, Katrina!!

Adventures in Domestic Cooking said...

Perfectly wonderful brownies!!

Anne said...

I think prettiness doesn't matter with brownies much because they are all delicious! I love the chocolate frosted mint brownies especially, too.

Diana's Cocina said...

I'm sure the brownies tasted wonderful!

Amanda said...

Oh no! So sorry about the pictures! :( :( That stinks. The kids look like they are really enjoying the new home :) I'm sad you moved even farther away from me, but luckily I still have you in my computer :)

Heather Davis said...

Great story about your brownie adventure but sorry to hear about your photos. That is so annoying! I will try your favorite mint brownie recipe next time. Those look good :)

Welcome to our crazy blessed life said...

I adore you too! :) Even though they are all cratery they still look tasty! Thanks for baking with me this week!

Peggy said...

I think they look delicious. Love that you have the pie shapes. I"m just not a big fan of mint and chooolate mixed so I used the peanut butter cups.

Kimberly Johnson said...

Your brownies look just like mine! My peppermint patties bubbled up, oozed all over, and stuck to everything. They were tasty though!

Jules Someone said...

These look lovely! I had craters on the top as well.

Natalie said...

ugh deleted pictures are the worst! I'm so sorry!

Have fun with your family!!

Mimi said...

We liked these brownies, they had the perfect mint flavor and they looked similar to yours.
So sorry about your pictures. I went to my daughter's HS graduation and just before it started I realized I left the battery out of my camera. I had to use my cell phone!

Susan said...

These were definitely not the prettiest kids on the block, but they sure were tasty. :) Love the fish tank. What a cool idea. :)

Paula said...

The moon picture made me laugh. On the other hand, the picture of your favorite mint brownies made me hungry. I probably won't be making these again either.

spike. said...

I like the look of your favorite version of mint brownies. I made this recipe for a friend who loves mint & choc and she loved them. I prefer my brownies plain though

Mary @ Bites and Bliss said...

This post has me drooling! Even though brownies used to make me sick and they actually still kind of do..it must be because they're so rich. But still, these are tempting!!

Rachel said...

such cute pictures of your family! sorry you didnt' love these--your other mint recipe looks great though--i will have to try it sometime!

Eliana said...

Even though they weren't your favorite brownies they still look pretty tasty.

Jane said...

If you are possibly interested in another mint brownie recipe I highly recommend Martha Stewart's peppermint patty brownie recipe. The patties are left whole and layered in a shingle fashion between two layers of batter. They are rich in chocolate, cool from mint, just flat out fantastic!

Nickki said...

Lol I've made brownies that look just like that moon craters picture! Mine weren't that pretty looking either, but they were still delicious!

Anonymous said...

If I wasn't the only one in the apt who liked chocolate and mint I'd so be all over these. But alas hubby isn't into it and Sam well, hopefully she'll get some of her Mammy's likings when she's older.

Liz said...

I'm sure there's some French saying about "the uglier the brownie, the prettier the taste" or something, right? No worries! And also, the fish tank is amazing.

Monet said...

Just found your blog this evening, and I'm loving it! I think these look wonderful (I'm a big fan of mint and chocolate, and my brownies always look ugly).

Anonymous said...

Sorry for the trouble with those brownies. I bet they tasted good! Love your house!

Barbara Bakes said...

I think we all make simple mistakes like that when we're hurrying. It sounds like a wonderful combination. I'll have to go check out your favorite recipe now.

Anonymous said...

Well it sounds like they were a hit even though you thought they were kind of strange! Candy and brownies together can't be too terrible!