Skillet Brownies

Ever since Ive transitioned from an IT job to the culinary world Ive always made the desserts for my family from scratch and never bought any since then.When I was doing my masters in Syracuse in 2008, I happened to take home a boxed package of brownie mix to India. I made my mom taste it with vanilla ice-cream and she is a brownie-vanilla ice-cream fanatic ever since.When she visited us last summer, I somehow never got around to making her a brownie. So this time I made sure I made them for her on her first week here.She also likes the American Ice-cream for its creaminess and so I decided to make the very humble vanilla bean ice-cream and pair it with the brownie.

Ive decided to put my cast iron pan to use this time to make a Skillet Brownie. Skillet Brownies are a perfect dessert when you have a small gathering and you want to share a dessert on the table. Pop the brownie in to bake when you sit down to eat and it will be ready by the time you get to the dessert course. Serve it with Vanilla ice-cream and you are in Brownie heaven.The contrast of hot brownie with cold ice-cream and chocolate molten chips-build depth into a dish, hot brings comfort while cold accentuates flavors to make this a crowd favorite.

Since a brownie is a cross between a cake and a cookie, playing around with your ingredients can result in a fudgy brownie or cakey brownie.Ive provided options to modify the recipe to your liking.I hope you enjoy it.

Preparation time	50 minutes
Serves	8
Serving Size	1/4 portion
Calories Per Serving	Approximately 347 per serving
Difficulty	Easy

Ingredients:

5 oz semisweet chocolate( I personally like Guittard semi sweet)

1/3 cup all purpose flour

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup granulated sugar(use only 1/4 cup if you prefer less sweet)
1/2 cup brown sugar

pinch of salt

2 teaspoons instant coffee powder

1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/4 cup chopped walnuts or chocolate chips(optional for crunch)

Procedure:

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.Melt the chocolate with the butter and let cool.

2.Sift the flour,cocoa powder,coffee powder and salt  and keep aside.

3.Gently stir the eggs and  both sugars until combined.We do not want to incorporate air here so don’t beat.

4.Stir in the melted chocolate mixture until incorporated.

5..Sift in the flour and fold.

6.Transfer the mixture to the cast iron skillet, sprinkle chocolate chips on top and bake for 45-50 minutes.

Tips:

Oven times vary and depend on skillet sizes as well( I used the old mountain 6 1/2 inch cast iron skillet), so check with a toothpick inserted, it should have slight crumbs that stick to it, if it has liquidy mixture stuck to it then it needs a few more minutes in the oven.It should not be clean that means the brownie over baked.

Serve warm brownie with vanilla ice cream  and chocolate or caramel sauce.

This recipe is for a fudgy brownie,for a cakey brownie just substitute the brown sugar with granulated sugar and add 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder or an extra egg.You can also play around with the proportions of chocolate and flour to reach the perfect texture that you like.

If you like it to be more fudgier remove 1-2 tablespoons flour and add an oz of chocolate extra.

These can also be served with some powdered sugar sprinkled on top or with milk or coffee.

If you like this post and would like to see more such lovely dishes like my page Yummilicious Recipes and follow my blog.