Yesterday I talked about my take on Valentine's Day...and part of that was doing something kind for folks aka showing the love. As you know, one of my favorite things to do is bake (duh...in fact, it's becoming a bit of an obsession) so I thought I'd share with you some delicious ideas for making someone's heart sing and their tummy rumble in happiness...
Here's what you'll need for a pan of brownies (and other ideas listed below):
1 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
6 tbs cocoa powder
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup veg oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl combine and sift the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and cocoa powder. In another bowl combine the water, oil and vanilla. Add the dry mix to the wet ingredients and use mixer to thoroughly combine. Fold in chocolate chips.
Add mix to a thoroughly greased 9x9 (other sizes will work as well but might have different cook times) and cook for 15-20 minutes for a more dense texture, 20-25 minutes for a more fluffy cake-like texture or until toothpick pulls clean. Make sure to rotate the pan halfway through the cooking process to ensure even browning.
Wait until completely cool before cutting.
Alternative versions:
Top cooling brownies with a whipped peanut butter and powdered sugar blend. Oh-so-rich...
Or, spoon mix into mini cupcake pans, top with seasonal stencil and sprinkle with powdered sugar. That's what I did for those pictured (those of you who follow me on Instagram @grits_and_moxie saw these a while ago) and I was able to make dozens and dozens of bite-size goodies!
Or, top with a favorite jam and lightly swirl before cooking. Yum...
Feel free to add your favorite version and let me know if you're baking anything for those you love!
