Brownie Buttons : Free and Easy Bake-Along No. 16 - Theme : Brownies

I am late for my own Bake-Along "Brownie" posting. I was absent for a week as there was some personal matters that I have got to attend to and now that everything is fine, I can't help thinking about baking something! So here's my brownie!

This is a fairly easy brownie to make, really quick, it was done in about 20 minutes. It has a moist and soft cake-like texture. Do not skip the white choc coating, I think it taste better with the white chocolate.

If you have not visited my baking buddies Lena and Zoe, do hop over to their blogs and see their lovely brownies. Also please do visit our other baking friends delicious brownies,  in the linky below. For our next Bake-Along, we will be baking Cherry Vanilla Teacake with Vanilla Sugar, from Bon Appetit Desserts cookbook, or you may get the recipe here.  We will post it on 30/01 and our linky will stay open for 5 days, please do join us. See you!

Brownie Buttons
(adapted from "Baking From My Home To Yours" by Dorie Greenspan)
Grated zest of 1/2 orange (optional)
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
2-1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar (I use scant 1/3 cup, loosely packed)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg


For the glaze (optional)
2 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped


GETTING READY :

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter two miniature muffin pans, each with a dozen cups, and place them on a baking sheet.

If you're using the orange zest, combine the zest and sugar in a small bowl, rubbing them between your fingertips to blend, set aside. Whisk together the flour and salt.

Melt the butter, chocolate and brown sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over very low heat, stirring frequently with a heatproof spatula and keeping an eye on the pan so nothing overheats or burns. When the mixture is smooth, remove from the heat and cool for a minute or two.

Stir the vanilla, egg and the zest, if you're using it, into the chocolate mixture. When the mixture is well blended, add the flour and stir only until it is incorporated. You should have a smooth, glossy batter.

Spoon the batter into 16 of the muffin cups, using about a teaspoon of batter to fill each cup three-quarters full. Put 1 teaspoon of water in each empty cup.

Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, or until the tops of the buttons spring back when touched. Transfer the pans to racks to cool for 3 minutes before carefully releasing the buttons. Cool to room temperature on the racks.

TO MAKE THE OPTIONAL GLAZE :

Melt the chocolate in a small heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir constantly and don't leave the chocolate for even a minute - white chocolate scorches easily. As soon as the chocolate is smooth, remove from the heat.

One by one, dip the tops of the buttons into the chocolate, twirling the buttons so that you get a little swirl at the center of each one and the excess chocolate drips back into the bowl. Refrigerate the buttons for 15 minutes to set the glaze.

kitchen flavours notes :
Watch out for the baking time, mine was done in about 10 minutes.