Tuesday, November 30, 2010

cinnamon brownies

Close your eyes. 
But open them actually, so you can read this... just squint. 
Imagine a cold evening. 
Your oven is on, heating the kitchen (and your cold toes), 
and the smell of brownies is dancing through the air. 
You pull them out. 
they're hot! 
But you dig in anyway. 
You may burn your tongue, but it's all worth it. 
Nothing beats straight-from-the-oven brownies....am I right?? 
Brownies always sound good to me, but I especially love them on cold nights. I saw this recipe over on hannah's blog a few weeks ago and knew I had to try it out. And just as I suspected, they're perfect! 
I swapped out the vanilla for mexican  vanilla (because I do that with about everything in the fall/winter) and added a bit of cinnamon....just to mix it up a bit.
cinnamon brownies

Cinnamon Brownies
original recipe from smitten kitchen

10 tablespoons butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons  unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon mexican vanilla
2 large eggs, cold
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon


Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8×8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.

Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and place in the microwave, cooking in 30 second increments as not to over cook. Stir after each 30 seconds. Cook until butter is melted, and ingredients are well combined--it looks fairly gritty at this point, but it smooths out once the eggs and flour are added. If you don't have a microwave, a double boiler will work just the same.

Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Spread evenly in the lined pan.

Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 20 to 25 minutes.
Dig in with a fork.....or if you are patient,  let cool completely on a rack and then  lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into squares.

enjoy!

20 comments:

Hayley said...

I would be such a fat lard if I lived at your house. These look awesome.

hannah queen | honey & jam said...

oh man now i've got to try them with cinnamon! i love chocolate and cinnamon together!

Heather said...

SHUT UP!! I'm making these T-O-M-O-R-R-O-W.

SoOhCliché said...

Mouth watering to say the least :) And Christmasy too ! Perfect for the season !

Jackie Norris said...

Oh man. It's raining here today which means I'll probably stay home and make these. They look great!

Emilia Jane said...

definitely making these this weekend. they look delicious!

tanalicious said...

oh my! i've been wanting brownies for weeks and weeks. but brody is dieting and i've been banned from any baked goods.

maybe if i make these during the day, i can eat them all before he gets home!

summer said...

mmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Jill said...

i just ate three from the piping hot batch on my counter top. they are heaven. pure heaven, i tell you. thanks for sharing the love!!!

Alex said...

Made these last night...delicious!!

Ang said...

I discovered Honey & Jam just a couple of weeks ago and threw these on my "to try someday" list ...they just moved up a few spots on the list!

Marilisa said...

I almost screamed with glee when I read this in class! I CANNOT wait to make these with my roommates. And one of my friends just brought back Maxican vanilla from her trip there over break. Destiny!

Jana said...

Linking up...yummy
xo jana

jonahliza said...

these look dangerous.. cant wait to try them <3

Anonymous said...

They look stunning. As soon as I have some spare pennies I'm going ingredient shopping!

Tanya said...

Thank you for sharing this recipe. I made these last night and my hubby said they were the best brownies I've ever made! I used Kaluha instead of mexican vanilla -- so yummy!!!

TSS said...

I just saw this smore page

http://www.smorepages.com/my-perfect-winter-combo-cinnamon

That mentioned this recipe

I LOVE IT!

it's not as cold in Israel as in the US but it sure did warm up my evening! (the pan was almost empty after half an hour!)

Aathira Nair said...

This is just such a fabulous recipe. Downed quite a bit of the produce with vanilla ice cream! Saving some for dinner tonight!

Lucy said...

These look good, but when do you add the cinnamon?

Unknown said...

Such a breeze to make/clean up. I’ve made it plain, with choc chunks, peanuts, walnuts, pretzels- each variation amazing!