Whole wheat brownies

Whole Wheat Brownies

Yep.  Whole wheat brownies.  Gotta be good for you, right?  Well, if you ignore the cup of butter, I suppose they are.  I was curious if you could really make a good brownie using all whole wheat flour, and it turns out that you can.  These are pretty good.  If you really want to hide the fact that they’re whole wheat, bake them, cover them, and don’t eat them until the next day.  That gives the bran time to soften up and it’s much more disguised.  My kids never knew the difference.

And to help me make these even tastier, I used this coffee extract:

My friend, Ingrid from 3 B’s, was super sweet and sent me these two awesome extracts, so I don’t have to make my own coffee extract anymore!  I was so excited to see coffee and chocolate extracts and spent most of the afternoon they arrived all curled up under a blanket, with a cold rain pelting at the windows, looking for recipes.  Thank you, Ingrid!!!

I found this brownie recipe at King Arthur Flour and based on the reviews it got there, I figured I’d give it a try.  I made an adjustment here and there, and we ate every last crumb.  I’m not sure I’d make them again using all whole wheat flour though, because there was definitely a texture that you don’t find in traditional brownies.  Not that it was bad or anything, but just apparent.  Maybe half whole wheat and half all-purpose flour would have been better.  Or maybe a little patience on our parts would have been better.  After all, the recipe clearly tells you to wait until the next day to eat them, but of course that’s delaying gratification too long for us impatient types.

Recipe:  Whole Wheat Brownies

(adapted from King Arthur Flour)

1 c. unsalted butter, softened

2 c. light brown sugar, packed

3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. coffee extract

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

4 large eggs

1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

1 c. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips

1 c. peanut butter chips

sea salt to sprinkle on top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly spray a 9×13″ pan with cooking spray.  Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat.  Add sugar and stir to combine until sugar dissolves.  Transfer mixture to mixing bowl and stir in cocoa, baking soda, salt, baking powder, coffee and vanilla extracts.  Add the eggs, stirring until smooth.  Then add flour and chips, stirring until combined.  Spoon batter into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes, until a cake tester reveals only moist crumbs, but not raw batter.  Remove from the oven and cool completely.  Cover and sit overnight before cutting and serving to give the bran a chance to soften and become “invisible” in your mouth.

Advertisement