Fudgy, Chewy, Chocolatey Brownies

I consider myself a connoisseur of brownies. I have eaten hundreds of different kinds of brownies. I, of course, have a checklist of what I enjoy in a brownie and what makes an exceptional one! It has to be soft and chewy. It has to have that rich, fudgy, decadent flavor. Not to bitter and not to sweet. In my opinion, a brownie does not have to be frosted. If it is tasty enough to stand on its own, then let it! But if it is frosted, the frosting has to be good enough to not ruin the brownie. Okay, I’ll stop and just say that this brownie is ALL of these things. It is also easy to make. No fancy ingredients and no weird baking methods. Just a yummy brownie! And just for the record, these babies are good enough to stand on their own. So now it’s for you to decide: Frost or not to frost?

BEST BROWNIES

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 2 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/3 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a stand alone mixer, combine butter and sugar. Then add eggs and mix until combined. Add vanilla, cocoa and salt and mix. Add flour and combine. Do not over mix.

Pour batter into a 9×13 greased baking dish. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out almost clean.

FROSTING

• 2 squares of unsweetened chocolate
• 1 cup butter
• 8 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup milk

In a small saucepan, melt chocolate squares. In a stand alone mixer, cream the butter for about 4 minutes. Add melted chocolate, 4 cups powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix. Slowly add milk until the mixture begins to look like frosting. Then add one cup of powdered sugar at a time and adding milk to achieve the desired consistency. The trick to this frosting is to keep on whipping. Make sure all powdered sugar is blended before adding more.

Cool brownies completely before frosting.

 

 

 

2 steps forward, 1 step back…

At Lucy Jane’s Best, we LOVE our readers… seriously!  And recently many of you have asked where we’ve been lately.  I even had one reader ask me if I would please check my system because she hadn’t been receiving our emails.  No, it wasn’t a problem with our system, it was a direct manifestation of the fact that we haven’t been great about posting lately.  Are you curious as to why?  Well, let us tell you all about it…

Over the summer we were on fire!  We were working really hard on the “all important cookbook”.  We were data entry fools!  We spent several hours each day getting our recipes imputed in the proper format, editing the recipes (thanks Mom), submitting them to our type setter, getting the artwork completed (thanks Leisa), making the food, photographing the food, etc, etc.  We were lucky to have 3 weeks together (we live in different states) to coordinate our efforts and really try to pull things together.

It was all flowing seamlessly and then we hit a bump in the road, as we’re sure has happened to anyone who has ever tried to publish a book.  We’re here to tell you, it’s not easy.  Unless you have a TV show, or a popular restaurant, or branded food item it is TOUGH to publish a cookbook.  We won’t go into details about the problem, just suffice it to say that it really threw us for a loop.  We have been trying to recover and regroup since then.

We are happy to say, that we have landed on our feet and are excited to refocus our efforts on our blog, and on the cookbook.  No, it’s not dead!  Yes we will persevere , and we will get that book published (might just take a little longer than we expected).  We are a little sad that it won’t be available for the holidays this year, but hopefully by next year we will have an awesome cookbook out there for all of you!

So we just want to say to all of you, thank you for sticking with us.  Thank you for having faith in us.  Thank you for your encouragement.  And thank you for your readership!  We LOVE you all!

Now get ready for something yummy to come your way… blogs restart in just a couple days!

XOXO

Emily & Shannon

Lucy Jane’s Best

Homemade Ciabatta Croutons

I love croutons on salads and soups, and up until recently it had never occurred to me to make my own. Then one night while my kitchen was in the throngs of the remodel, a friend, who is a wonderful cook, brought me dinner  (I know, I have nice friends, don’t I?). Besides the other yumminess, she brought a caesar salad with these homemade croutons on top. Oh, to die for!!! Croutons are so easy to make and taste so much better than even the best store bought. Once you make these, you’ll never go back!  I now keep these on hand at all times.

Homemade Ciabatta Croutons

• 1 loaf good ciabatta bread (I prefer Semi Freddies)*
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 3 teaspoons garlic salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Slice the Ciabatta loaf into bite sized pieces, then place in a large bowl.  Drizzle with 1 Tablespoon of the olive oil and toss.  Then drizzle another Tablespoon oil and toss again.  Repeat a third time until all the bread is coated.  Sprinkle with the garlic salt and toss again to disperse evenly.

Spread the bread cubes onto a jelly roll pan in a single layer.

Bake at 350 degress for 15 minutes, or until croutons are crisp and golden brown.

Remove and let cool.  Store in an airtight container.

*Note: You could substitute any good crusty bread to make the croutons.  I’ve used french baguettes, sourdough, pugilese, rustic italian.

Ultimate German Chocolate Cake

Did you all have a nice Mother’s Day?  Mine was pretty good.  I got to spend all day in my kitchen, cooking up a storm, and then my kids all cleaned it up for me at the end of the day.  For me, that’s perfect.  I love to cook, but I hate to clean, so it was a real treat to know that I could just run wild and not have to worry about the mess!

One of my favorite treats is a yummy German Chocolate Cake, so what else would I make on Mother’s Day?  Now if there are any of you out there who don’t like German Chocolate cake, I have to say it’s only because you haven’t tried this one.  The grocery store and even the bakery versions are not the same.  In fact, they are so different that I would NEVER buy one.  Not worth it, in any way shape or form.  The homemade German Chocolate Cake is a whole different delicious animal!

In fact, by the time it was completed and ready to serve, I was so anxious to dive in for a piece that I forgot to take a picture of the entire cake, so you’ll have to settle for this one of just a slice.

I will preface this recipe by saying… as you can probably tell by the ingredients and instructions, the baking of this cake is not for the faint of heart.  It takes a while, and there are a lot of steps, but it is well worth it!  (And it helps if you have a few kids cleaning up your mess behind you, like I did)

GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE

Cake:

• 4 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips
• ½ cup water
• 2 cups flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs, separated, at room temperature (it’s easier to separate the eggs when they are cold, so do that and then let them come to room temp)
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup buttermilk

Coconut Pecan Filling:

• 1 ½ cans (18 ounces) evaporated milk
• 6 egg yolks
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup butter, cut into pieces
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 4 cups sweetened, shredded coconut
• 2 cups coarsely chopped pecans

Chocolate Fudge Frosting:

• ½ stick butter
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• ½ cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour 3, 9 inch cake pans.  Then line with parchment paper.

For the Cake:

In a small microwave safe bowl, place the chocolate chips and water.  Heat for 1 minute.  Stir to combine the water and chocolate.  If the chocolate isn’t melted, heat for another 30 seconds, and stir again.  Set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks.

In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).  Add the egg yolks and mix to combine.  Add the chocolate mixture and mix to combine.  Add the vanilla and mix to combine.  Add the dry ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk, in 3 parts.

In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until soft peaks form.  Fold into batter.

Divide batter among the pans and bake for 25-30 minutes, until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.  Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire cooling racks.

For the coconut pecan filling:

In a large saucepan, beat together the milk and egg yolks.  Stir in the butter, sugar and vanilla.  Turn heat on to medium and cook 15-18 or until thick, bubbly and golden.  Remove from heat.  Add coconut and pecans.  Cool to room temperature.  (About 2 hours.  Frosting will thicken as it cools)

For the Chocolate fudge frosting:

In a medium saucepan, over low heat, melt the butter and the chocolate, stirring to combine.  Remove from heat add powdered sugar, vanilla and milk, and beat until smooth.

When cake and frosting have cooled, spread coconut pecan filling between layers of cake.  Then using the chocolate fudge frosting, seal the sides of the cake.  Then finish with the coconut pecan filling on top.

Baby Shower Edition Part IV…The Party Favor

So what is a baby shower without a little something your guests can take home? Jordan almonds perhaps? (One of my faves!) Or maybe a cute decorated sugar cookie? I decided on a homemade brown sugar scrub. So easy to make and definitely affordable! And did I mention that Shannon was actually out here this weekend for a visit? So I put her to work! We tested our homemade recipe and made a few changes, but it turned out great. (she was nicknamed “The Drizzler” because her job was to drizzle the oil on the sugar mixture.) Seems like an easy task, right? After trial and error, Shannon came up with the perfect sugar to oil ratio. Good job, Drizzler!

So here is the easiest,affordable baby shower favor! And in case you are wondering, it works super fabulous! The sweet almond oil softens the skin, and the sugar is an amazing exfoliator! I have the softest elbows and heels on the block! Maybe there are no baby showers in your future, I still say make some of this to enjoy in your own shower or tub!  (To fill 24 half pint jars, I made about 6 batches of this scrub)

Brown Sugar Scrub

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1-2 teaspoon vanilla extract (for smell purposes!)
• 1-2 (8 ounce bottles) sweet almond oil
• mason jars (choose a size you like! I used wide mouth half pint jars)

In a large mixing bowl combine brown sugar, white sugar and vanilla. Mix well. Transfer sugar mixture into single mason jars. Drizzle the almond oil on top of the sugar mixture until coated, then drizzle a wee bit more. Use a fork to combine oil into sugar mixture. (if you like a less oily scrub, use less almond oil. If you find you like it more oily, add some more) Put lids on mason jars and close tightly.

Baby Shower Edition Part I…The Decor

It was my honor to throw a baby shower for a friend this weekend. She is having a baby girl! Ah, my favorite! I love my baby boy, but there is something about a baby girl that makes my heart smile! All that pink and all those ladybugs, flowers, butterflies, and glitter! Yes! I wanted to keep it simple, yet girly. I had so much fun scanning Pinterest and planning for this party, that I wanted to share it with you!

Started by making these adorable pom poms…

I am seeing these pom poms all over the place and love them! Thank you Martha Steward for your easy tutorial! Go HERE if you want to make some, too! I hung 6 of them from our ceiling, and they added such flare and happy girl vibes, that I was sad to take them down.

For the table decor, I chose to use simple pink and white gerbera flowers dispursed thoroughout the house in decorated mason jars. So easy! I bought the large mason jars at my grocery store and wrapped a piece of burlap around them (hot glued the ends together). Then I tied a satin ribbon around the burlap.

So, I wanted to do something different for the outside of the house. Ya know, people usually just get a bunch of pink balloons and tie them up out front? I am fine with balloons, but wanted to try something different. Wow, check these out!!

They are ballon flowers! Go HERE if you want to make them, too! Found these babies on Pinterest. Cheap, easy and dang cute! It was really windy the day of the shower (of course!) and so it was hard to capture a good picture. I put one flower balloon on my front door and 2 out front on either side of the garage. It was a cute way to let people know where the party was!!

Kitchen Upheaval

You may have noticed that it’s been a while since I, Shannon, have done a post.  And here’s the reason why…

I am in the process of gutting and rebuilding my kitchen.  This picture was taken part way through day 1 of what will be a 6 week process!

I am so excited to be at the end of it though!  Say good bye to those nasty tile counter tops with grout that was entirely to difficult to keep clean.  All the bleach and scrubbing in the world couldn’t do it.  Hurray for the granite that will soon grace the counter tops!

Day 2 looked a little something like this.  There is something about knowing that EVERYTHING in my kitchen will be new.  For those of you who live close to me, you know exactly what I mean.  For those of you who don’t, let me explain…

I live in a cute little neighborhood in Northern California, just outside of San Francisco.  This neighborhood is considered by realtors, and all who live here to be highly desirable and sought after for any number of reasons (schools, proximity to the city, safety, great dining, great extra curricular activities, family oriented… I could go on and on but you get the idea).  So, yes it’s a great neighborhood, but it was built in the late 60′s early 70′s… over 40 years ago.  And let’s face it, the 70′s aren’t know for the architectural beauty it produced and this neighborhood is a testament to that.  The houses are “cookie cutter”, in a bad way.  But we all love the neighborhood, so we remodel, we fix up, we do without that fancy 3,000 square foot brand new house, and we are ok with that, because we do love it here!  Now, that you understand that, you understand my great delight in having something “new”!  Cabinets that soft close instead of pulling completely out and dumping your silverware all over the floor… YES!  New glimmering hardwood flooring that isn’t buckling and warping at every joint… YES!  A sparkling stainless steel deep bowl sink that doesn’t require daily scrubbing with comet to keep clean… YES!  Recessed lighting and pendants over the island instead of flourescent box in a dropped ceiling… YES!  Stainless steel appliances… YES!  Gas cooktop… YES!!!!

Can you tell I’m excited??  Only 4 more weeks to go!

In the meantime, I’ll try to put a post up every now and again.  Keep in mind I am working with a toaster oven, a microwave and an electric skillet.  Handy little tools when you have no kitchen, but hardly enough to keep up with a food blog.  But if I stumble upon something great, I will post!

Luckily I have some great friends who will be bringing me meals and will be featured guest bloggers!!!  Last night Michele brought her signature dish, Chicken Enchiladas, and they were, as always, delicious!  I even have some left over for my lunch today!

Thanks for sticking with me through the process, I will keep you updated, and I promise there will be great things to come when my new kitchen is up and running!!!!

Homemade Luna Bars

For anyone who knows me, Emily, I like to run. I am not fast or competitive or amazing at it, I just like it. And everytime before I go running I undoubtedly eat a Luna Bar. It is the perfect pre-run/pre-exercise snack. Have you had one? They are super fab and designed just for women. There is not a lot of sugar in them and lots of protein. I haven’t decided if I like the Chocolate Dipped Coconut or White Chocolate Peppermint Bark the best. Since I love the Luna Bars so much I decided to try my hand at making them! This is the Chocolate Dipped Coconut version. And also for anyone who knows me, I am not a health nut. I may be the opposite, in fact. BUT, specifically for this recipe and to keep up with the good nutrition of  the Luna Bar, I used organic or high protein products. I think I just may like the homemade Chocolate Dipped Coconut bars better homemade. Try them, then go exercise off those Double Peanut Butter Blossoms you just made!!

Homemade Luna Bars

• 3 3/4 cups Rice Crispies cereal (I used a brown rice store brand)
• 2 Tablespoon almond butter
• 5 Tablespoons sweetened coconut flakes
• 4 Tablespoon coconut oil
• 4 Tablespoon agave nectar (found in the same place as sugars and artificial sweeteners)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (12 ounce) bag of semisweet chocolate chips

Put Rice Crispies in a large mixing bowl. In a small bowl, mix your almond butter, vanilla extract, coconut, coconut oil, agave nectar, and salt. Melt in the microwave (30-60 seconds) or on the stove. Pour the mixture over the cereal and and stir. Make sure to coat all the crispies and smash them with the back of your spoon or fork. Add more crispies if the mixture seems too liquidy and more liquid (coconut oil or almond butter) if it’s not sticking together.Line a square or rectangle pan (I used a 9×9 pan) with wax paper and spread the mixture evenly. Place a sheet of wax paper on top of the mixture and use the bottom of a glass to press the mixture down as firmly as you can. Stick it in the freezer. While your pan is in the freezer, melt your chocolate. I put the chips in a microwaveable bowl and melt on 30 second intervals, stirring after each time. After 30 minutes, bring the bars out of the freezer and coat the top with the melted chocolate. Stick the bars back in the freezer for another 30 minutes. Remove the bars from the pan and slice into about 12 rectangles. Wrap each individual bar in aluminum foil. Keep frozen until your are ready to use!

Linking up at : Lady Behind the Curtain

And the Winner is….

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway! And thanks to everyone for your support as we have been getting this blog rolling. We are still in the middle of trying to get the cookbook published and ready to sell. We are finding it is all about patience and finding what is right for us! We have something very specific in mind and know that you will all love it!

I took all the names and entries to Random.org and used their List Randomizer. Then I had Random.org draw a number. The winner of our $50 gift card to Williams Sonoma is:

LEISA WALDRON

She entered four times!

Please contact us at lucyjanesbest@gmail.com with your address and we will send it to you ASAP!

300 “Likes” Giveaway!

We officially started Lucy Jane’s Best in August 2011. We wanted to hit 300 “Likes” on Facebook by the end of the year. With your help, and love, and support, we hit 300 last week! To show our appreciation we would like to do a giveaway! It’s our 300 Likes Giveaway and we want YOU to win! And what is it that we are giving away? How about a $50 gift card to Williams Sonoma? Yes, that’s right. One of our favorite stores!

I know I could use some new kitchen towels and have you seen that cookie holiday baking gift set? So cute and it happens to be $49.95!

There are 5 ways to enter:

1. One entry for “liking” us on Facebook.

2.One entry for following us on Twitter.

3. One entry for being a subscriber.

4. One entry for announcing our giveaway on your Facebook page. 

5. One entry for tweeting about the giveaway.

You must leave a separate comment for each entry, and tell us what you did!! We will announce the winner on Monday! And thanks again for all the love and support! We couldn’t have done it without you!