the Bucket Brownies

Since I'm an on-again, off-again, pseudo vegetarian, I look to peanut butter as a source of protein. (That's a good excuse for stealing a few spoonfuls here and there, right?) Well, apparently yesterday was National Peanut Butter Day...and I didn't even have so much as a piece of toast, or smear of jam to mark the occasion.


For as much as I love to bake, I have so many...so so many, recipes that I have either printed out or stolen from waiting room magazines. Sometimes it's all too overwhelming. Tuesdays with Dorie was perfect because it gave my erratically spinning bakers' compass an actual destination.

Now that TWD has come to an end, I'm kind of all over the place. Maybe I should just mark my calender with foodie holidays?


These brownies didn't even make a dent in my to-bake list. Someone gave me a few bags of various Guittard baking chocolates for Christmas, and I've been chomping at the bit to put them to use.

Guittard chocolates have a destiny, one that doesn't involve being noshed upon straight from the bag.

Please don't freak out if you don't have any Guittard chocolate in your cabinet (it was a first for me). This recipe is very flexible, and you can use just about anything you have stashed in the pantry. You could go all-out chocolate chip, or mix things up with white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, or peanut butter chips! The great thing about blondie brownies is that they're hard to mess up.

Regardless of what kind of extras you toss in, the brownies themselves are chewy, thick, and addictive. And since they're not too difficult to make, this just might be you're new favourite go-to, must-have-now, bar recipe.

Happy National Irish Coffee Day! (kinda love this one!)




the Bucket Brownies (adapted from Guittard)

ingredients
1/2 cup (that's 1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
2 cups (12 ounces) Guittard Choc-au-Lait Vanilla Baking Chips (if you prefer, you can use white chocolate chips instead)
2 large, room temperature eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dark/bittersweet chocolate chips (if you prefer, you can use milk chocolate instead)
1/2 cup Guittard Cappuccino chips (feel free to use peanut butter or butterscotch chips instead)

method
Preheat oven to 325ºF. Line an 8x8 inch square pan with foil, leaving about a 1-inch overhang along the edges. Lightly butter the foil.

Combine the sliced butter and 2/3 cup of the vanilla chips in a large, heat-proof bowl. Place the bowl over a large saucepan that has been filled with about an inch of water (make sure that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water). Bring the water to a simmer. Stir the butter and vanilla chips together until melted and smooth. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and set the vanilla-butter mixture aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, and salt. Beat on high speed for about 5 minutes, until pale and thick. Add the melted vanilla-butter mixture and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed until combined. Use a large rubber spatula or wooden spoon to mix in the flour until just combined. Stir in remaining vanilla chips, chocolate chips, and cappuccino chips. Pour the batter into prepared pan.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out almost clean. Top should be slightly browned. [Note: If the edges look like they're browning too fast, cover them with the foil overhang.]

Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Makes about 16 servings