Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Brownies with Walnuts

It's been forever since I posted a recipe, but I had requests for this one on Facebook, so I thought I would post it here.

This is really a basic brownie recipe...so easy to mix up and change up...try different combinations of chocolate chips and nuts -- leave the sea salt off if you don't like it.  Use the Nestle DelightFulls to add in yet another layer of flavor.  I'm thinking of using the mini York Peppermint Patties (the tiny ones that are unwrapped) the next time.

I don't have a lot of pictures for this one -- just the finished product.


DARK CHOCOLATE SEA SALT BROWNIES WITH WALNUTS

Ingredients:

• 1 cup + 1/2 teaspoon all-purpose flour (divided)
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips (divided)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt (varies according to taste)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 13" x 9" baking pan with foil (this really helps clean up) and lightly grease.

In a small bowl,  combine 1 cup flour, cocoa and baking soda.

In a separate small bowl, combine 1 cup of the chocolate chips with 1/2 teaspoon of flour (this help keeps them from sinking to the bottom of the batter.)

In a large, microwave-safe bowl, microwave butter until melted (I use 40% power on my microwave to help prevent butter explosions.) 

Stir in sugar.   

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well with a whisk or fork after each egg.   

Fold in the 1 cup of chocolate chips that have been coated with flour.

Spread batter into prepared pan and sprinkle the walnuts on top.

Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and salt.

Continue baking for 6 to 8 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out slightly sticky.

Cool in pan on wire rack -- this is the hardest step!!  :)

Lift out by foil edges to cutting board and remove foil carefully.

Cut into bars and store (if they last) in a tightly covered container.

Habanero Glazed Chicken

This is an easy glazed chicken that has a little kick...it has habanero peppers, but it's not a super spicy dish.  Want less heat?  Don't serve with the jelly on the side :)

The prep time is about 15-20 minutes with about 12 minutes of grilling, but allow 4-8 hours for marinating.

INGREDIENTS 

MARINADE

 2 habanero peppers, seeded and chopped (wear gloves)
1/2 cup of orange juice
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 to 2 teaspoons of salt

Mix the marinade and set aside.

CHICKEN

2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 teaspoons of salt
2 teaspoons of pepper
2 teaspoons of garlic powder
3 tablespoons of habanero pepper jelly (Need a recipe?  Check this one out:  Jelly Recipe...you can also use any hot pepper jelly) plus an additional 3 tablespoons to serve with the finished chicken

Place the chicken in a large zip-top bag.  Add the marinade and place the sealed bag in a bowl -- sometimes marinade leaks out.  Place in the refrigerator and allow to marinate for 4-8 hours, turning frequently.

Take the chicken out of the marinade and blot dry on paper towels.  Sprinkle on both sides with salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Grill over medium heat for approximately 6 minutes per side.  Spread the jelly on the top of the breast and allow to cook for about 3 minutes, flipping over briefly to finish off.  Serves 6 (about 1/2 breast per person if they are the large chicken breasts that I used)  - serve with about 1/2 tablespoon of habanero jelly if desired.

 

Basic Table Bread

I got this recipe from ShopCookMake.com....I have made it several times, plain and with add-ins like garlic and cheese :)

Basic Table Bread

 

305g Bread Flour -- if you can't weigh the flour, it works out to be roughly 2 cups
175 ml of warm water
20 ml olive oil
1/2 tsp of table salt
3 tsp yeast


In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients.

Then add the water and oil. 

Knead for 10 minutes using a stand mixer(15 min if kneading by hand) until the dough is shiny and somewhat elastic. 

Cut a few lines on top to make any design you want, or just leave it as is. 

Place in a small baking dish. (I use an enameled cast iron dutch oven from Lodge -- I line it with baking parchment to make clean up effortless.)

Cover the dish.

Place in the oven without preheating. Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes (covered the entire time). Then uncover the dish and bake for another 5 minutes.

Turtle Tassies (Bite Size cups of ooey-gooey goodness)

Finally, a new recipe....

Sorry about the delay in posting a recipe--life has been a bit crazy.  Right after I made these for my work Christmas party, I fought another round of bronchitis.  Then, last week, I flew to Vegas and got married <3

Ok, enough about all that....onto the recipe!!  I found this recipe here:  Turtle Tassies.  I used dark chocolate chips and walnuts instead of semi-sweet chocolate chips and pecans, because that is what I had :)

Turtle Tassies
 

1 Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix

butter and egg called for on the pouch

3/4 cup dark chocolate chips 

2 (14 ounce) bags caramels, unwrapped

1/3 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

 

 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

 

Make dough according to package directions. Make 36 (1-inch) balls. 

 

 

Press each ball into a the bottom of each mini muffin cup and press up the sides.

 

 

Bake 8-9 minutes or until edges just start to brown. Meanwhile in a small saucepan place unwrapped caramels and cream and heat until melted. Reduce heat to low.

 

 

Remove pans from oven. Using the back of wooden spoon press down the sides and bottom of each cup to flatten being careful not to make holes. 

 

 

Bake for 2 minutes more. Remove from oven and immediately place 4-5 chocolate chips in each cup.

Spoon about 1 Tablespoon of caramel into each cup and immediately top with walnuts and slightly press them down. 

 

 

 

 

Cool for five minutes then remove with narrow spatula or a knife.

Makes 36 turtle tassies.

 

 

 

Brown Sugar/Basil/Chipolte Pork Chops

Rubbing the pork chops with the brown sugar mixture, then cooking in a skillet, makes a glaze form as you cook. I use chipolte chili powder because I like the smoky, spicy flavor it lends.  Don't like chipolte? Substitute an equal amount of regular chili powder. I used a cast iron grill pan, but they cook up just fine in any non-stick skillet. This is adapted from a Taste of Home recipe.

I apologize in advance if the pics are in odd places....first time using the Blogger app ;)

Brown Sugar/Basil/Chipolte Pork Chops

1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons sweet basil
1/2 teaspoon chipolte chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
4 boneless pork loin chops, about 3/4 inch thick

Mix the first 4 ingredients in a small bowl.  Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and mix to form a crumbly texture.  Rub mixture all over the pork chops.

Heat the remaining oil in the skillet.  Cook about 4 minutes on each side--until juices run clear.

Makes 4 servings.

Nathan's Pork Chops

My very picky grand-nephew Nathan once declared these the "best pork chops ever."  I got this recipe from one magazine or another as Cheddar Chicken.  You can use either boneless chicken breasts or pork chops -- works just great.

The baking time is based on 1-inch thick pork chops -- these were custom cut by a local grocery store from a pork tenderloin.  If you use thinner chops, or chicken breasts, cut the cooking time down to 20-25 minutes. 

NATHAN'S PORK CHOPS
  

1 sleeve of Ritz crackers

¾ cup of shredded cheddar cheese

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

4 boneless pork chops

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil – I use the nonstick foil.

Put the crackers in a large (gallon) zipper bag. Beat them (great tension relief after a frustrating day at the office) until they are crumbs. I suppose you could use a food processor or a blender to do this, but I like to pulverize something once in awhile ;)

Mix the first 5 ingredients in a shallow bowl. (You can use the bag you made the crumbs in, shake-n-bake style, but this seems to work much better when I use a bowl.)

Dip each pork chop in butter, then coat with the cracker mixture, making sure to coat completely. Place on foil-lined baking sheet.

Sprinkle any leftover cracker mixture on the tops of the pork chops. Drizzle any leftover butter along the pork chops. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until golden brown and juices run clear.

Bite-size Cheese Crackers

I won't use the brand name, but you know what I am talking about.  The square cheese crackers that are easy to eat one-by-one, by the handful -- or by the boxful.

When I was working at the call-center for a major pharmacy chain, my coworkers and I were addicted to 'em :)

This is a homemade version of those yummy crackers -- certainly not any lower in calories, but no preservatives.

I got this recipe from cooking ala mel -- mine didn't turn out as bubbly looking as hers, so I am thinking she used self-rising flour, whereas I used all purpose.  I also didn't go the "healthier" route she did -- she used white whole wheat flour, but I just used regular all-purpose flour.  They taste awesome, even if they aren't bubbly -- I'll try self-rising flour the next time (or add baking soda & extra salt to the all-purpose).

In reading her comments, she said that you don't need to shred the cheese if using a food processor -- but I did anyway.  The second batch I used ¾ cup cheddar and ¾ cup pepper jack cheese -- I liked those best.  They didn't turn out too spicy -- just a bit of a "kick".  I will definitely try this recipe with different kinds of cheese.

Cheddar/Pepper Jack Crackers

BITE-SIZE CHEESE CRACKERS

1 ½ cups cheddar (about 6 oz.)

4 tablespoons butter (cold, not melted)

¾ cup flour

¼ teaspoon salt

sea salt, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350.

In a food processor, pulse all of the ingredients together until it forms a ball (about 2 minutes). You could do this by hand, using a pastry cutter or two forks.

Place the ball between two pieces of wax paper, and roll it out to about 1/8" thick.

Using a pastry wheel or small cookie cutters, cut into shapes. 

Place on a parchment lined baking sheet about 1/2" apart from each other

Poke each cracker with a fork or skewer so that they don't puff too much. Sprinkle with sea salt, if desired.

Bake for 8-12 minutes (depending on the size/shape of your crackers), until lightly browned on the edges.

Cool on the baking sheet, and store in an airtight container (if they last that long).

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