SoNo Brownies

A couple of weeks ago, my daughter's friend came over to our house, to spend the afternoon with her. I made a simple lunch, but there's nothing to snack on later! With three teenagers in the house, I thought of baking, definitely something with chocolate, and brownies came to mind, as brownies are really easy and quick to put together, and do not take that long to bake. A quick browse thru my cookbook collection, and found this delicious recipe from "The Sono Baking Company Cookbook" by John Barricelli, a lovely book indeed.

These brownies are really quick and easy to make. Firstly, mix all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Then melt the butter in a saucepan, add in the sugar and corn syrup, then the eggs and the vanilla, whisking to combine after each addition.  Add in the dry ingredients, fold until the flours have been incorporated, then fold in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into baking pan and bake for about 30 minutes.

These brownies are so good! Very moist, soft, tender, and chocolaty good! A hit with the kids! And a request to make this again. :)

SoNo Brownies
(adapted from "The Sono Baking Company Cookbook", John Barricelli)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar (scant 3/4 cup)
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Set the oven rack in the middle position. Preheat the oven to 350F. Coat an 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray, or brush generously with softened butter; set aside.
2. In a bowl, whisk the flour with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.
3. In a saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the sugar and corn syrup and whisk to combine. Whisk in the eggs one at a time, whisking until well blended after each addition. Whisk in the vanilla.
4. Add the dry ingredients and fold until the flour has been incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
6. Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack, then cut into 2-inch squares.

I'm linking this post to :

Cook-Your-Books #12 @ Kitchen Flavours

Lemony Madeleines

I've bought a few baking books from the recent BBW sale, two of those are, John Barricelli's, "The Seasonal Baker" and "The Sono Baking Company Cookbook". These are beautiful cookbooks, and of course, as soon as I've browsed thru them, many recipes are bookmarked! So for a start, I've decided to make these easy madeleines from "The Seasonal Baker".

According to the author, these French little cakes are traditionally made with melted butter, and must be eaten the day they are baked or they lose their airy softness. So to make it practical for the home kitchens, his recipe is a mixture of melted butter and oil, to extend their shelf life to a couple of days.

Just like most other madeleines, the batter is refrigerated for at least 2 hours before baking. I have reduced the amount of sugar to 1/4 cup (original is 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons), which turns out just right.

These madeleines are soft and lemony. Perfect as an afternoon treat with a cup of warm tea. Best eaten, especially warm, fresh from the oven!

Lemony Madeleines
(adapted from "The Seasonal Baker", John Barricelli)
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar (I use 1/4 cup)
2/3 cup cake flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the pan
2 teaspoons lemon extract
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1/8 teaspoon coarse salt (omit this, use salted butter)

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, and baking powder ; set aside. In a small bowl, combine the oil, melted butter, lemon extract, and lemon zest; set aside.
2. In another medium bowl, whisk the 2 whole eggs plus the egg yolk with the salt until frothy. Whisk in the sugar-and-flour mixture until the dry ingredients are combined and the batter is smooth. Fold in the oil-and-butter mixture with the whisk. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
3. Set a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350F. Brush a 12-mold madeleine pan well with melted butter or spray with nonstick spray. Dust the molds with flour and tap out the excess.
4. Fill the molds about two-thirds full, about 1 tablespoon in a standard mold; do not overfill. Bake until golden brown and rise, 14 to 16 minutes, rotating the pan two-thirds of the way through the baking time.
5. Immediately invert the madeleines onto a wire rack and let cool completely. Let the mold cool completely. Then butter and flour 8 of the molds, fill with the remaining batter, bake, and cool.

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I'm linking this post to :

Little Thumbs Up, ingredient for this month is Lemons, an event organized by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids and Doreen of My Little Favourite D.I.Y. and hosted by Grace of Life Can Be Simple.

Cook-Your-Books #9 hosted by Kitchen Flavours

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Upcoming Event !!!

Cook Like A Star will be entering it's third year this March! How time flies! To celebrate Cook Like A Star's 2nd anniversary, for the months of March and April, Cook Like A Star is having an All Star Anniversary Party! Isn't this exciting? We have the choice to cook or bake from any of the previous featured chefs recipes, and they are :

Ina Garten

Jamie Oliver

Nigella Lawson

Curtis Stone

Ree Drummond

Bill Granger

Masterchefs

Martha Steward

Delia Smith

Donna Hay

The hosts for All-Stars Anniversary Party are, Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids, Mich of Piece of Cake and Joyce of Kitchen Flavours

Everyone is welcome to join us, cook or bake from any of the above chefs' recipes and link your posts to the linky which will be provided at the hosts' page. Your post must be current. Feel free to use the above logo in your blog post. Please mention the following :

I'm linking this post to Cook Like A Star, All-Stars Anniversary Party, hosted by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids, Mich of Piece of Cake and Joyce of Kitchen Flavours.

See you at the Party!

From 1st March to 30th April!