OREO FUDGY BROWNIES

 28.08.2020: Biryani is my nemesis!

Why is Biryani mentioned in a Brownie post, you may wonder?

I had promised D that I would cook egg biryani for him and though we have been making plans for some time now, the virus, a trip, a vegetarian phase, a sneeze have put this plan on hold.

D was to finally have the egg biryani on the 29^th. I decided to bake a brownie for him the previous day.

The Oreo Fudgy Brownie was on my list. I had been saving a pack of Oreos for this. The recipe is from Baker by Nature. I have reduced the quantity of sugar by 100 gms and choco chips by a few grams in this recipe.  

As the brownie came out of the oven and I admiringly took it to my balcony to click pictures for the blog, Skip hovered around impatiently tapping his foot. I cut two tiny slices and said the remaining was for D. I sent D a picture of the brownie.

As luck would have it, the next day D couldn’t make it. When I told Skip this, a smile broke out on his face and he headed to the kitchen.

I love brownies and there are so many different recipes available. The kind I like best are the ones with crinkly crusts, chewy edges and fudgy centres, with bits of walnuts and choco chips and a sprinkling of sea salt.  

This brownie is all of that plus Oreos. Yumm, yumm! The taste of the Oreos does not overpower that of the chocolate but it does lend a lovely crunch to the brownie. This brownie tastes quite different from the Ooey Gooey Fudge Brownie. You could also try this without the Oreos and it would taste just as great. If you love brownies, you must bake this one and please do follow me on Facebook and Instagram @lucidlucent.

OREO FUDGY BROWNIES

Ingredients:

Unsalted butter – 170 gms (3/4^th cup)

Sugar (granulated) – 200 gms (1 cup)

Oil – 35 gms (3 tbsps)

Vanilla extract – 2 tsps

Eggs – 2 large plus 1 egg yolk

All-purpose flour (maida) – 95 gms (3/4^th cup)

Cocoa powder – 43 gms (1/2 cup)

Chocolate chips – 100 gms (1/2 cup)

Oreo cookies – 12

Salt – a pinch

Method:

1.     Preheat the oven to 175C and grease a baking dish.

2.    Combine butter and 100 gms sugar in a saucepan and cook until the butter melts completely. (I took it off the heat once the butter had melted, please note the sugar hadn’t melted)

3.    Remove from heat and while the mixture is still hot, stir in the oil and vanilla. Set aside.

4. In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, egg yolk and remaining sugar until well combined.

5. Slowly add the warm butter mixture into the egg mixture, very gradually, whisking it constantly until it is well combined.

6.   Add the flour, cocoa powder and salt to the above mixture and gently fold with a rubber spatula until it is just combined.

7.    Chop the oreos roughly and fold in half with the choco chips.

8.  Pour the batter into the baking dish and arrange the remaining oreo cookies on top.

9.     Bake for 27-30 minutes or until the top is shiny and slightly cracked.

10. Done.

Recipe Notes:

·       The original recipe calls for 300 gms sugar. I have reduced it to 200 and the brownie was sweet enough.

·       The original recipe calls for cooling the brownie for 2 hours before slicing it. Hmm… I waited for half an hour (and that itself felt like an eternity) and then sliced it.

OOEY GOOEY FUDGE BROWNIE

What kind of brownies do you like?

I like the dense, fudgy ones the best. The ones with crinkly tops, crumbly edges and gooey and chocolatey centers. I have been on a quest for that perfect fudgy brownie recipe since a long time and then Shugz shared this picture of the most delectable brownie ever. After zooming in and out of the picture a few times, I asked her for the recipe, which, as usual, she promptly shared. I have three other brownie recipes in my book, against which I put a tiny cross after I baked this one.

What I love best about these brownies is that they can be fudgy, chewy or cakey. When eaten on the same day, it’s fudgy. After a night in the refrigerator, they are chewy and if baked for slightly longer they are cakey.

These brownies are best when baked a day in advance and then stored in the fridge, so you can serve them either warmed in the microwave oven for 40 seconds and then topped with ice cream, caramel sauce and chopped nuts or just let it thaw and eat them plain.

A brownie isn’t a brownie without that crinkly crust. The first time I baked it, I used the beater to mix the ingredients and the crust came out looking smooth, though the insides were fudgy. I then learnt from Shugz that one shouldn’t ‘over-beat’ the brownie batter.

Hence, this time I used the beater only to mix the sugar and butter as Skip said it would be no fun baking a cake if we didn’t use the Jhurrrrrr. I then gently folded the remaining ingredients with the whisk that Hershey gifted after my ‘beating eggs in the food processor/mixie and cake falling flat’ episode.  *eye-roll*

This is a picture of the finished batter. It is supposed to be thick and gritty.

OOEY GOOEY FUDGY BROWNIE

Ingredients:                                                                            

Unsalted Butter (melted and cooled)- ½ cup

Sugar – 1 ½ cups

Eggs- 2

Flour- ¾ cup

Unsweetened cocoa powder- ½ cup

Baking soda- ¼ tsp

Salt- ¼ tsp

Chocolate chips – 1cup

Vanilla essence – ½ tsp

Walnuts- ½ cup (optional)

Method:

1.      Pre-heat oven at 180C.

2.  In a bowl, combine sugar, melted butter and vanilla extract until smooth and fluffy.

3.      Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda.

4.      Beat the egg, one at a time into the sugar/butter mixture. Mix well.

5.      Add the dry flour mixture in 2-3 additions mixing slowly until combined.

6.      Toss choco chips and walnuts in about 1 tbsp of flour and fold into the batter.

7.    Pour into greased dish. Bake at 180C for 20-25 mins. DO NOT OVER-BAKE. The toothpick should not come out clean. There will be streaks of batter/melted chocolate on it.

8.      Done.

Recipe Notes:

·       I’ve sprinkled powdered sugar on the brownie.

·    Instead of chocolate chips, I’ve used chunks of cooking chocolate. It makes the brownie even more chocolatey. As these chunks are also sweet, I reduced the quantity of sugar to 1 ¼ cups.