Double Fudge Brownies (Whole-Wheat)

 

 We made these to celebrate Jessica's half-birthday (since she's a summer birthday and wouldn't get to celebrate with her school friends otherwise and didn't want to get lumped in with all the other summer birthdays as they sometimes celebrate at the end of the year) and these brownies were DELICIOUS! They are now my go-to brownie recipe (they are not light in any way just so we get that clear and out of the way now - there's a bunch of butter and sugar - but I actually prefer the flavor of whole wheat flour with flour these days. The nuttiness of the flour and chocolatey-ness are a perfect pairing).

 

 

 

 

 Double Fudge Brownies (Whole Wheat!)

(adapted from King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking cookbook)
Yield: 2 dozen (2-inch) brownies
Baking Temp: 350 degrees F
Baking time 30 minutes

Note: These are better made ahead and let to sit 24 hours before cutting into them. The wait gives the wheat bran a chance to soften.

Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces) unsalted butter
2 cups (15 ounces) packed light or dark brown sugar
3/4 cup (2 1/4 ounces) Dutch-process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
1/4 teaspoon cardamom (optional) (you could also use 1/4-1/8 teaspoon ground red chile pepper for a different flavor direction and bit of kick)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) traditional whole wheat flour
1-2 cups (6-12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch pan.
2. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan set over low heat (alternately, you can melt it in the microwave on low as well). Add the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat (or microwave), briefly, until it's hot and starting to bubble. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.
3. Stir in the cocoa, baking powder, salt, spices (if using), and vanilla. Cool the mixture until you can test it with your finger: it should feel like comfortably hot bath water. Whisk in the eggs, stirring until smooth, then add the flour and the chips, again stirring until smooth. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.
4. Bake the brownies until a cake tester or sharp knife poked into the center reveals wet crumbs but not raw batter, about 30 minutes. The brownies should feel set on the edges and in the center. Remove them from the oven and let cool on a rack. Cover when they are cooled completely. Let sit overnight before serving

Nutritional information per serving (1 brownie, 61 g): 7g whole grains, 252 calories, 13g fat, 3g protein, 8g complex carbs, 25g sugar, 2g dietary fiber, 56mg cholesterol, 125mg sodium, 216mg potassium, 76RE vitamin A, 2mg iron, 46mg calcium, 100mg phosphorus.

Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Bread
Note: This batter can also be made into muffins (just bake them in muffin trays at 350 for 23 to 28 minutes).


Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick or 4 ounces) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup (3 3/4 ounces) packed light or dark brown sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) mashed ripe banana (about 3 medium-to-large bananas)
• 1/4 cup (3 ounces) honey
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (8 ounces) whole wheat flour, traditional or white whole wheat
• 2/3 cup chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Light grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan
2. Beat together the butter, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth. Add the banana, honey, and eggs, beating until smooth. Add the flour and chocolate chips stirring until smooth. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and let it rest at room temperature, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
3. Bake the bread for 50 minutes. Lay a piece of foil gently across the top after the initial 50 minutes, and bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 10 to 15 minutes more. Remove the bread from the oven, and allow to cool for 10 minutes before turning it out of the pan onto a rack to cool completely.

Source: King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking

Dark and Dangerous Cinnamon Buns

Dark and Dangerous Cinnamon Buns

These cinnamon buns are DELICIOUS and are now my go-to buns. They contain whole wheat flour and oats and are not dry like some of the other recipes I have tried in the past. And the cinnamon level is great... and I LOVE my cinnamon. They do have a whole wheat flavor but what do you expect?!

I threw all of the dough ingredients in my bread machine and let the good ol' Zo do the work since I had things I needed to work on during the morning... but you can do it by hand as well.

 

Dark and Dangerous Cinnamon Buns

Source: The King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking (recipe by author, Jodi Picoult)

Yield: 16 cinnamon buns

Ingredients

Dough:
3/4 plus 2 tablespoons (7 ounces) lukewarm water
1/4 cup (2 ounces) orange juice
5 tablespoons (3 3/4 ounces) honey
1 large egg, separated (reserve the white)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick, 2 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
3 1/2 cups (14 ounces) whole wheat flour
1/2 cup (1 3/4 ounces) old-fashioned rolled oats
Heaping 1/2 cup (1 1/4 ounces) dried potato flakes or 3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces potato flour)
1/4 cup (1 ounce) nonfat dry milk
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons instant yeast

Filling:
1 cup (7 1/2 ounces) packed light or dark brown sugar
1 large egg white
2 tablespoons (1/2 ounce) ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt

Icing:
2 cups (8 ounces) confectioner's sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter, melted
Pinch of salt
2 or 3 tablespoons (1 to 1 1/2 ounch) milk or cream, enough to make a spreadable icing

Directions

To prepare the dough:

Combine all the dough ingredients, using the egg yolk and setting the white aside to use in the filling. Mix and knead - by hand, mixer or bread machine - until you have a medium-soft, smooth dough. Cover and allow the dough to rise until it's quite puffy, though probably not doubled in bulk, 1 to 2 hours. While the dough is rising, make the filling.

To prepare the filling:
Combine the filling ingredients in a small bowl, stirring until smooth.

Lightly grease a 9x13-inch, 11-inch square, 12-inch round or similar sized pan.

To shape the buns:
Gently deflate the dough, and transfer it to a lightly greased work surface. Roll and pat it into a 12x16-inch rectangle. Spread the filling over the dough, leaving a 1-inch margin along one long edge. If the filling seems too sticky to spread easily, wet your fingers and smear it over the dough as best you can.

Starting with the filling-covered long edge, roll the dough into a log, turning it so the seam is flat against the work surface. Using a long serrated knife or dental floss, gently cut it into 16 pieces.

Place the guns in the prepared pan, spacing them evenly: they won't touch one another. Cover the pan with lightly greased plastic wrap or a proof cover, and allow the buns to rise for 1 to 1 1/4 hours. They won't double in size, but will become about half again as large as they were originally. They should barely touch each other. Near the end of the buns' rise, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

To bake the buns:
Bake the buns, until they're a deep golden brown on top, 25-28 minutes. Remove them from the oven and after 3 minutes, carefully turn them out, upside-down, onto a rack. Place another rack, feet side up on the buns, and invert them once again, so their tops are up. they'll be hot and delicate, so be careful While the buns are cooling a bit, make the icing.

To finish the buns:
Beat together the sugar, vanilla, butter, salt, and 2 tablespoons of the milk (or cream) in a medium mixing bowl. Beat in additional milk or cream if the icing is too stiff to spread. Spread the icing on the lukewarm buns. Serve immediately, or cool completely, cover, and store at room temperature. Buns will keep well, covered, for several days.

Nutrition Information per serving (1 bun 96g)
28g whole grains, 288 cal, 5g fat, 6g protein, 22g complex carbohydrates, 33g sugar, 4g dietary fiber, 25mg cholesterol, 225mg sodium, 225mg potassium, 43RE vitamin A, 3mg vitamin C, 2mg iron, 62mg calcium, 139mg phosphorus