Sitting On the Brownies Fence.

I’ve had Carole Walter’s Great Coffee Cakes for a while now and while i’m always reading through it and tabbing recipes i want to make, i’ve always been all talk and no action until now. It wasn’t a tough call deciding what to go with first- i was in the mood for something chocolatey and given how Carole Walter has tons of recipes incorporating her homemade streusel, chocolate brownies topped with chocolate streusel. more chocolate and almonds sounded really good.

I rarely ever cannot decide if i like something or not but these unfortunately had the dubious honour of falling into that category. While i really liked the streusel and the texture of the nuts and chocolate chips, i can’t say the same for the texture of these brownies. They were really more cakey, a quality that i don’t care for in brownies. I mean if i wanted cakey brownies, i would just have chocolate cake. Don’t get me wrong though, these weren’t bad at all. They just weren’t really my sort of brownies.

But it was nice to know J’s dad and bro liked them. In fact J’s bro only just tasted them- a whole week after i made them- so maybe these do get better with time. While I would happily whip up a batch of them for him, i don’t think these will be making a second appearance in my kitchen otherwise- they really are just too much work for something i don’t really care for. Plus there are a million other things I can’t wait to try from the book.

While i’m at this, can i just completely show off a little playstand i built Coco a couple of days ago. It’s nothing much really, especially compared to other homemade playstands i’ve seen but it works just as well. So now Coco gets to sit with me on his portable playstand while i’m on the computer or reading my book around the house. I just hope of all things, he doesn’t choose to start parroting Barney’s ‘It’s gonna be legen- wait for it- dary!’ with all the How I Met Your Mother episodes i’ve been watching. Gotta love that show

Edited to add- J’s brother just dropped me a note begging (his word) me for more of these brownies, saying they’re the best he has ever had, and the recipe. I know what i’ll be happily doing this weekend

Edited again to add- Okay i just made these again, only rubbing the butter into the flour mixture in making the streusel and underbaking them a little, and they are sooo good this time round! The brownies are slightly fudgey with a crunchy streusel, chocolate chips and almond topping. Mmm. Looks like these are worth making again after all.

Chocolate Chocolate Streusel Squares [Adapted from Carole Walter's Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins & More]

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups sifted plain flour
1/4 cup sifted Dutch-processed cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
85g unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
90g unsalted butter
2 tbsp corn oil
2 large eggs
2/3 cups castor sugar
1/3 lightly packed light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup sour cream
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped almonds

Chocolate Streusel
90g unsalted butter
1 cup plain flour
1/4 cup castor sugar
1/4 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
2 tbsp sifted Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven at 175. Line a 13″x 9″ baking pan with aluminium foil and set aside.
2. To make streusel Place butter in a medium-sized saucepan and heat till almost melted. Remove pan from heat and let butter cool a bit. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and sugars together.
3. Add the dry ingredients in and using your fingers, mix well. Let streusel stand for 10 to 15 minutes and get on with the batter.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder together and set aside.
5. Put the chocolate, oil and butter in a bowl and zap it in the microwave in 15 seconds bursts till chocolate is melted and set aside.
6. Beat the eggs with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add the sugars in gradually, beating well. The mixture should be thick. Add the chocolate mixture in, mixing well.
7. Alternating the flour mixture with the sour cream- starting and ending with the flour mixture- add the flour mixture in three batches and the sour cream in two, mixing till just combined each time. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
8. Sprinkle the streusel, then the chocolate chips and almonds, over the batter, pressing them down gently. Bake the brownies for 30 to 35 minutes till a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.