Mad about Minis: Mad Gourmet’s Single-serve Low-fat Molten Fudge Brownie

OK – Enough fooling around. Let’s get back to chocolate…

I have not made brownies in a while and am craving for one. However, I recently found out that my Hubby is not into brownies (although he is the first one who would try the batch). Since I am into single-serve recipes lately… I thought I would look for a mini version.

I think I found the Healthy(ish) Vegan Molten Fudge Brownie in Pinterest. This appeals to me because it is “healthy…ish”, “vegan-ish” (I used butter the first time I made this), and molten. I’ve been trying to make a molten brownie for a while now and this would be a good opportunity.

The first time I made this, I followed the recipe exactly. My option was not vegan (the butter, remember). I really like this recipe and have been one of my emergency desserts. However, in my third (or was it fourth – lost count) time, I decided to try out my healthy brownie recipe option and use mashed bananas and add walnuts.

The result is below… let me know what you think.

Low-fat Molten Fudge Brownie

Adapted from Top With Cinnamon’s Single-Lady,Vegan, Molten Fudge Brownie

 

Ingredients

• 1.5 tsp mashed banana
• 2.5 tsp of agave, honey, or maple syrup (use liquid sweetner, otherwise it would be too dry)
• Pinch of baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 2 tsp almond flour (if you don’t have almond flour, just use all-purpose flour)
• 1.5 tsp of whole wheat flour
• 0.5 tsp coconut flour (if you don’t have coconut flour, just use whole wheat)
• 1 Tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp walnuts
• 1 tsp chocolate chips

Directions

1. Mix in all the dry ingredients (except for the walnuts and chocolate chips) and combine well.
2. Mix in the banana and agave.
3. Smooth the dough in the dish and scatter over the chocolate chips, and walnuts pressing them in slightly.
4. Bake for 10-15 minutes (15 in my toaster oven) until it has risen slightly, and is still pretty soft in the center. Eat while still warm.

Verdict

Trying out a cookie... not quite there yet.

I love this recipe. I’ve already made this several times and it inspires me to get tiny shaped oven-proof dishes (just like Top With Cinnamon’s).  It is great for minimal cleaning: mixed everything in the ramekin, and only used my 1/2 tsp measuring spoon (occasionally my 1 TBSP).

I even tried it as a cookie, but it is not as successful… yet!

As suggested, for a gluten-free version, replace the coconut oil with 2 teaspoons of almond butter (or another nut butter or bananas!!!!) and completely replace the flour with 1 Tablespoon of ground almonds (or almond flour – is that gluten-free?).

Peanut Butter + Chocolate + Bananas = Healthy Peanut Butter Brownies = Yum!

Time for another Brownie experiment! My husband has been enjoying peanut butter and chocolate candy bars, so I thought I would make him Healthy Peanut Butter Brownies. Bananas are great with peanut butter, so I decided to use one of my variations and use mashed bananas instead of butter.

As for the peanut butter topping, I decided to start my search in AllRecipes.com. since I’ve had good luck with their recipes. I found Michelle’s Peanut Butter Marbled Brownies. I used Adam’s Creamy Peanut Butter since it only contains peanuts and no additional oils, partially hydrogenated or not.

I also opted to use My Basic Brownie Recipe. Besides, I have already tried mine with mashed bananas, and I think it’s great.

Here's the recipe...

Mad Gourmet Peanut Butter Marbled Brownies
Based on Michele’s Peanut Butter Marbled Brownies from AllRecipes.com

Ingredients

For the Healthy Banana Brownies:

• 1/2 cup mashed bananas, preferably over-ripe
• 2 tablespoon melted butter 
• 2/3 cup brown sugar  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Peanut Butter Topping:

·       6 oz (light) cream cheese, softened

·       1/2 cup peanut butter

·       1/4 cup white sugar

·       1 egg

Note: The original recipe required milk, but I (accidentally) left it out of the recipe. The brownies came out well without it. However, if I do use milk, I may try unsweetened almond milk instead of regular milk.

Directions:

1.     Follow steps 1 & 2 of the Basic Brownie Recipe. Set aside about 1/3 cup of the batter, before spreading it evenly into the greased pan. Remember, ½ c melted butter is replaced by ½ c of mashed bananas and 2T of melted butter.

2.     In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, peanut butter, 1/4 cup white sugar, and 1 egg, until smooth. Set aside.

3.     Spread the peanut butter filling over the top. Drop the reserved chocolate batter by teaspoonful over the filling. Using a knife, gently swirl through the top layers for a marbled effect.

4.     Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out almost clean. Cool completely, then cut into bars.

Verdict:

These peanut butter brownies are delicious. My husband loves these and did not last that long.  An added bonus is that they make the kitchen smell awesome. After all who can resist peanut butter and chocolate.

That said, I do not think these have enough peanut butter. Next time (and there will be one) I may change the cream cheese and peanut butter ratio, maybe 4 oz cream cheese and ¾ cup of peanut butter. I may even use chunky peanut butter and add the almond milk for a nuttier combination.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Krispy Marshmallow Brownies

Brownie time! I still had most of the ingredients for brownies and have marshmallows, chocolate chips, and peanut butter chips left. So I thought - marshmallow brownies. I found the Brownie Mallow Bars recipe in AllRecipes.com and decided to start from that.

Making the Brownie

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish. 
Step 2: Mix brownie mix, oil, water, and eggs in a large bowl until smooth; spread into prepared baking dish. 
Step 3(a):  Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 28 to 30 minutes.

Batter up!

The original recipe used a brownie mix. Instead of using a mix, I used my Basic Brownie recipe, also adapted from AllRecipes (Original recipe is this one). I’ve used that numerous times, and it has the added bonus that I have most of the ingredients for it already.  I am not a huge fan of using brownie mix because I am not sure what preservatives are used in the mix.

Adding the Marshmallows

Step 3(b): Sprinkle marshmallows over brownie and continue baking until slightly melted, about 3 minutes more. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Since I was not sure if my husband would like the marshmallow brownies, I decided to use half of the batter for mallow bars and the other half for regular brownies.  Also, I do not have enough marshmallows left, so this plan works out.

The marshmallows that I had left were regular-sized marshmallows, not minis. At first, I thought I'd cut it in half, but I figured that once it melts, it will shrink a bit (Boy, I was wrong on that one). The marshmallows puffed up; it reminded me of the marshmallow man in Ghostbusters. 

Poofy and Gooey - not too bad!

I thought about scooping some of the melted marshmallows out, but decided to go with what I have. It actually shrunk after it cooled down and gave the brownies a really gooey feel.

Crispy Component

Step 4: Heat chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter in a saucepan over low heat; cook and stir until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in rice cereal. Spread over cooled brownies. Refrigerate until firm; slice brownies to serve.

I followed the instructions for the rice krispies. Instead of peanut butter, I decided to use up the remaining peanut butter chips in the pantry. As I was preparing this, I thought that there were too much chocolate and peanut butter so I started adding more Rice Krispies. I’ve been making my own version of chocolate rice krispy treats for about a month now so I thought that that is the consistency that I needed, I should have looked at the picture, since the proportion of chocolate/peanut butter mix is more in this recipe. Oh well, I ended up with extra Rice Krispy treats!

Yum! See the marshmallows shrunk.

The Verdict

The finished product was extremely decadent. Love the chocolate brownies, the gooeyness of the marshmallows, and the crunchiness of the rice krispies. I think I should have added a bit more peanut butter since I can hardly taste it and my husband, Mr. Peanut Butter Man, would probably not even detect it. Also, for optimum crunch, enjoy these with 2-3 days; they will not last that long anyway.

My Basic Brownie Recipe

I love brownies. Over the years, I had probably spent a lot of money buying a brownie every week. About a year ago, I decided to try to make it myself, primarily so I can save some money. 


I used pre-packaged brownie mixes before, but most of what I found had partially hydrogenated oils in it (translate: TransFats). Mixes also contains a lot of preservatives, so there goes the idea of controlling ingredients. I was thinking to perhaps make it low-fat, wheat-free, or just purely decadent. To get in a healthier mode, I decided to find a recipe from scratch.

I found the Mmm-mmm Brownies recipe from Allrecipes.com. It was simple enough for someone like me, who was just getting back to baking, can follow. After the first try, I decided to change the proportions a bit, maybe substitute the ingredients for something else, and now, it looks like a totally different recipe.

The directions are still similar to the original in Allrecipes, but the revised ingredients and instructions (for your convenience) are below.

Mixing them together.... with nibs, of course.

Mmm-mmm-much Better Brownies

Based on Mmm-mmm Brownies recipe from Allrecipes.com

Original recipe makes 1 9 x 9 inch pan.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2/3 cup brown sugar  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 x 9 inch baking pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the melted butter, sugar, and vanilla. Beat in eggs. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; gradually stir into the egg mixture until well blended. Stir in walnuts, if desired. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the brownie begins to pull away from edges of pan. Let cool on a wire rack before cutting into squares.

Variations

• Add 1/2 cup of chocolate chips instead of walnuts. Better yet, do it in add them to walnuts. I tried using peanut butter chips, but I think this ended up to be too heavy.
• Add 1/3 cup of cocoa nibs for that extra crunch.
• Use rice flour instead of all-purpose flour to reduce the gluten. This makes it friendlier for folks watching their phosphorus. Makes for a softer brownie.
• Replace butter with mashed bananas, preferably overripe. If you prefer, add about 2 Tbsp of butter to keep it moist. Will keep for a couple of days.
• Add coconut flakes on top for a tropical feel.
• And lastly, my favorite! Use mini-muffin tin to bake the brownies. It bakes in about 10-12 minutes and makes the perfect two-bite serving. Great for potlucks! I haven't figured out how to remove the bump though.

Brownie bites with a dusting of confectioners sugar

Happy Baking!