Weis - Extreme brownies: 50 recipes for the most over-the-top treats ever

extreme brownies

text copyright 2014 Connie Weis. Photographs copyright 2014 Rene Comet. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of reprints in the context of reviews.

Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC
an Andrews McMeel Universal company
1130 Walnut Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64106

www.andrewsmcmeel.com

ISBN: 9781449458560

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014930777

Design: Holly Ogden
Photography: Rene Comet
Digital/Photo Assistant: Steven Redfearn
Prop Stylist: Audrey Weppler

Ebook edited by Kristen Liszewski

attention: schools and businesses

Andrews McMeel books are available at quantity discounts with bulk purchase for educational, business, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail the Andrews McMeel Special Sales Department:

On the cover, from top to bottom:
Holy Heavenly Hash Brownie
Cuppa-Cappuccino Brownie
Chocolate Amaretto Cheesecake Brownie

This book is lovingly dedicated to my husband, don, who has always encouraged me to pursue my dreams, even when I wanted to be the chick singer in a rock band.

Also, to the late peter coe, founder of the Taste Unlimited specialty food stores, who brought me into the foodie world, where I always wanted to be.

I didnt fit into the mold of a cookbook author that publishers pursue in todays world of high-profile celebrity chefs: those that have (or competed on) a TV show, own a string of successful restaurants, or maintain a food blog with thousands of followers.

Still, there are some wonderful people who recognized my passion for baking and believed in me enough to encourage me in my pursuit to have my cookbook published. Those include Michael L. Sand at Little, Brown and Company, who was kind enough to respond to my terrible proposal and gently encourage me to enlist the guidance of a literary agent. My slightly improved proposal landed in the hands of literary agent Sharon Bowers, whose personal knowledge of food and baking made her able to see that the recipes were the real deal and took me on as a client.

I also want to thank my editor, Jean Lucas, who again took a chance on a no-name and has guided me every step of the way in this journey, even though I am a computer idiot and have driven her crazy.

Huge thanks to the folks (all unpaid volunteers) that run the Old Beach Farmers Market in Virginia Beach, Virginia, specifically Laura Habr and Duff Kliewer. Without becoming a brownie vendor, the recipes in this book would not have evolved into being. I also am so grateful to all of my customers at the market, many of whom have become dear friends. You have supported me week after week, even when I didnt bring your favorite brownie and promised you the week before that I would.

Finally, thank you to Hoda Kotb and all of the folks at the Today show, who enjoyed my brownies and invited me on to do a cooking segment. Hoda, your favorite brownie recipe is here but I know you wont bake it, so just let me know when you have a craving and Ill hook you up.

How did I become so obsessed with brownies (and blondies) that I literally made them my lifes work?

For starters, being an addicted chocoholic, I needed to get my fix, and I found that the brownies I purchased were lacking in true chocolate flavor and chewy texture. Even those from high-end bakeries and specialty food stores didnt deliver the goods, so I set about experimenting to create my own calorie-worthy over-the top treats.

Once I started rolling, I just couldnt stop. Here you will find fifty of my favorite creations, including my best-selling Caramel-Stuffed Sea Salt Brownies, Espresso Cacao Nib Coffee Marshmallow Brownies, Luscious Lemon Coconut White Chocolate Blondies, Holy Heavenly Hash Brownies, Raspberry Ripple Cheesecake Brownies, Triple Blueberry White Chocolate Blondies, Harlequin Truffle Brownies, and many others. Also included is Today show host Hoda Kotbs favorite, Connies Today Show Peanut Butter Cup Brownies.

I call my concoctions extreme because they are. These are not the plain old chocolate and blond squares you have come to expect. My brownies look like none youve ever seen, and taste even better than they look. Theyre irresistibly fat with gorgeous glazes, frostings, nuts, fresh fruit sauces, candies, and layers of cheesecake and handmade marshmallows.

Fortunately, extreme doesnt equal difficult. Yes, many of my brownies and blondies have several steps, but if you look closely at the detailed instructions, they are all quite easy, and most steps (e.g., for glazes, frostings, and candied nuts) are accomplished in a matter of minutes. The end result will garner rave reviews from family and friends. I can attest to that, because after years of working on the recipes, I decided it wouldnt be a bad idea to jump on the farmers market bandwagon and sell my creations. For four years, I have owned and operated a very successful brownie business at the Old Beach Farmers Market here in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

This cookbook is my passion, a culmination of my lifes work, and its finally time to share my recipes with others. Until now, my recipes were closely guarded, but Im finally unlocking the vault to not only reveal my recipes but to provide the complete knowledge needed to make them exactly as I do.

With that in mind, the next time youre in the baking aisle of your local supermarket, bypass those boxes upon boxes of un-calorie-worthy brownie mixes and proceed directly to the baking ingredients.

I promise you, it will be well worth it!

baking chocolates

bittersweet

Look at the cocoa mass percentages on the label. I tested all of the recipes in this book using Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chips, and now its my bittersweet chocolate of choice. If using other brands, do not exceed 63 percent cocoa mass.

milk

Preferred: Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Baking Chips.

semisweet

Preferred: Hersheys Special Dark Chips. They are packaged as mildly sweet (not semisweet), but I love the flavor and size, and they melt beautifully for my chocolate drizzle. Acceptable substitute: Nestle Real Semi-Sweet Morsels.

unsweetened

Preferred: Guittard Classic Oban Cocoa Liquor (Unsweetened Chocolate) Wafers. Available from www.worldwidechocolate.com. Acceptable substitute: Bakers Unsweetened Baking Chocolate Squares.

white

Preferred: Bakers Premium White Chocolate Baking Bar or Ghirardelli White Chocolate Premium Baking Bar. Avoid white chocolate chips for your white chocolate blondie batter; they have a stabilizer that turns them into a gloopy mess when melted with butter.

baking powder

Preferred: Rumford brand. Make sure that whatever baking powder you use has aluminum free on the label to avoid a tinny flavor.