caramel-coconut pecan brownies (one bowl, no mixer)

After the huge success with the one bowl, no mixer, decadent/borderline gourmet brownies,
I just had to make more.  More with add in's, to, well, you know kick it up a notch.
Because once you have a solid base recipe, the next best step any chef will do is to make it even better!
This time I wanted to add in my kind of ingredients:
coconut and caramel to eat all for myself  as a recipe creation for you.
I just love that taste of caramel, coconut and pecans all at once.
So needless to say, these brownies were very good.
And just as easy as one bowl.
I'll let the photos tell the rest of the post....


>
Of course you can add in whatever you wish....

If you can use salted caramels even better.
Just keep them away from the edge as it's very hard to remove baked on caramel from metal!



Oh I do hope you can see that nice caramel middle?
Mmm hmm, that's right.


Please make sure to read the cook notes before making.

caramel-coconut & pecan brownies (one bowl, no mixer)
print recipe

14 TB butter, plus 1 TB more for greasing pan
dusting of high quality unsweetened cocoa powder for coating brownie pan
1 cup high-quality bittersweet chocolate chips
¾ cup sugar
¾ ts sea salt
1 1/2 ts vanilla extract
1 cup flour
2 eggs, room temp, beaten well
9-12 caramel candies, unwrapped (salted caramels even better!)
1 cup of roasted pecans, rough chop
couple handfuls of coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
extra sea salt for the tops of the brownies before baking

cook notes:
The benefits of using high-quality chocolate really make these brownies.
Choose a chocolate like Ghirahdelli, Valrhona, Scharffen Berger, etc… that has a high cocoa count (50-80% is perfect).  I use Ghirahdelli chips and cocoa powder (Walmart has really good prices of this brand).
The sprinkling of the sea salt on top of the brownies is not mandatory and will not make the brownies “salty”; it is meant to enhance the flavor of the chocolates in the batter.  This is a deep chocolate tasting brownie and they need a little more salt to truly bring out the chocolate.
When you melt the butter and chocolate, please use a nice low flame so the melting goes smoothly and the chocolate doesn’t get too hot, which will make it taste bitter/burnt.  And let this liquid mixture cool a bit before adding to the egg mixture.
Next time I make these I will use toasted coconut, for that extra ‘crunch’.
I didn’t load on the caramel pieces as they really spread when they melt, so keep that in mind when you want to be adventurous.

Preheat oven to 350°.
Butter up well an 8 x 8 baking pan, then coat with unsweetened cocoa powder. Set pan aside.
Melt the butter and chocolate chips together in a small saucepan over LOW heat, stirring constantly. When melted take off heat, set aside to cool a bit.
In a large bowl, mix the eggs with the sugar, beat well, add in the vanilla extract, and mix.
When the melted chocolate has cooled down a bit (warm ok) slowly add it in to the egg mixture, a little bit at first, mix really well, then more as you go along.
Next dump the flour right on top of the mixture, then sprinkle on the sea salt.
Using a spatula mix until JUST combined, lumps are ok!
Add in half the pecans and mix.
Pour 2/3 of batter into greased and cocoa-dusted baking pan.
Place down a couple handfuls of coconut, making sure not to go to the edges.
Then place down caramel candies, making sure not to go to edges.
Sprinkle on remaining pecans--ok to go to the edges.
Use remaining 1/3 brownie batter, carefully place on top, and if necessary using wet fingers gently move batter around to evenly coat.
Sprinkle top of batter with just a little bit of sea salt.
Bake for 30-38 minutes. Mine were done at the 35-minute mark.
They take a while to firm up, so if you try to remove them from the pan they will break apart.  Very very gooey when hot from the oven!
These really need to cool down since the caramel will be very hot.

Makes 9 brownies.

My best, very best brownies (one bowl, no mixer)

For me a good solid, I can eat anytime brownie is one that is not gooey, not fudgy, but almost like a deep, rich heavy, dense cake-like texture with flaky, crispy top and edges.
Don't get me wrong I like gooey, but not all the time.
If I'm making brownies with quality chocolate, I want them to taste like a rich cake.
They say a truly good brownie is one that leaves you very thirsty.
I bring you such a brownie.
Get out your ice cold milk.....

This will be your go-to brownie.

Ridiculously easy to make, since we do it all in one bowl.
I stress in the recipe (cook notes) and I have to stress here to use a high-quality chocolate with a high cocoa  count--it truly makes all the difference in taste, texture and how it melts.

Follow along with me...it's just so easy to do....










They are seriously the best I've ever made.
Please make sure to read through the cook notes before baking.

my best one-bowl, no mixer brownies
from vanillasugarblog.com (loosely based on Boston Cooking School recipe)
print recipe

14 TB butter, plus 1 TB more for greasing pan
dusting of high quality unsweetened cocoa powder for coating brownie pan
1 cup high-quality bittersweet chocolate chips
½ cup high-quality milk chocolate chips
1 cup sugar
¾ ts sea salt
1 1/2 ts pure vanilla extract
1 cup flour
2 eggs, room temp, beaten well
1 cup chopped walnuts
extra sea salt for the tops of the brownies before baking

cook notes:
the benefits of using high-quality chocolate really make these brownies.
Choose a chocolate like Ghirahdelli, Valrhona, Scharffen Berger, etc… that has a high cocoa count (50-80% is perfect).  I use Ghirahdelli chips and cocoa powder (Walmart has really good prices of this brand).
The sprinkling of the sea salt on top of the brownies is not mandatory and will not make the brownies “salty”; it is meant to enhance the flavor of the chocolates in the batter.  This is a deep chocolate tasting brownie and they need a little more salt to truly bring out the chocolate.
Please make sure your walnuts have a rough chop; keeping them whole won’t taste as good.
When you melt the butter and chocolate, please use a nice low flame so the melting goes smoothly and the chocolate doesn’t get too hot, which will make it taste bitter/burnt.  And let this liquid mixture cool a bit before adding to the egg mixture.

Preheat oven to 350°.
Butter up well an 8 x 8 baking pan, then coat with unsweetened cocoa powder. Set pan aside.
Melt the butter and chocolate chips together in a small saucepan over LOW heat, stirring constantly. When melted take off heat, set aside to cool a bit.
In a large bowl, mix the eggs with the sugar, beat well, add in the vanilla extract, and mix.
When the melted chocolate has cooled down a bit (warm ok) slowly add it in to the egg mixture, a little bit at first, mix really well, then more as you go along.
Next dump the flour right on top of the mixture, then sprinkle on the sea salt.
Using a spatula mix until JUST combined, lumps are ok!
Dump the walnuts and milk chocolate chips on top, and with 3-4 strokes fold into batter.
Pour batter into greased and cocoa-dusted baking pan.
Sprinkle top of batter with just a little bit of sea salt.
Bake for 30-38 minutes. Mine were done at the 35-minute mark.
You know they are done when the center is not runny/jiggly.
If you use a cake tester you will get some crumbs; this is fine.
They take a while to firm up, so if you try to remove them from the pan they will break apart.
Let em cool a bit, before removing from pan.

Makes 9 brownies.

friday links

Happy Friday!

We survived another massive storm and we still have power.
I'm really happy for having power. Last year we lost power for 4 days in 35 degree days and 18-20 degree nights!
Not fun, and our house stayed at 43 degrees (yes I monitored it as I was afraid of pipes freezing).
This storm-around, the sustained winds weren't as high as the February 2013 blizzard; winds gusts were 65 mph - 75 mph, and the sustained was at 35- 45 mph!
As I write this, it's 2pm and I have the worst case of cabin fever!
I haven't left the house yet, been stuck inside for about a day and half; hubby is still digging out the driveway.  He started at 11am....
So with these friday links you'll see a lot of links!  Sorry, I got a little bored.
No beach or storm photos...
But I have this one and it's pretty spot on:


Cookbook that I'm loving right now: Baking Sourdough Bread by Goran Soderin/George Strachal.
If you're a homemade sourdough bread lover AND you want to learn how to "kick up" your homemade sourdough breads a few notches, then this is exactly the book for you.
Not only does it show you how to start a good, healthy sourdough starter at home, but it also shows you the chemistry process, ingredients, and the golden rules of sourdough dough, and most importantly how to properly store sourdough which myself included don't know how to do the right way.
Inside you'll find recipes for sweet and savory sourdoughs: rye, wheat, spelt, oat, potato, lentil, wild yeast, crackers, hazelnut bread, beer bread, carrot bread, levain, russian sweet bread, wheat buns, and so many more variations.
I highly recommend Baking Sourdough Bread if you want to learn how to take your homemade breads up a notch.

Baking Sourdough Bread


Rye Ciabatta bread pg. 42

I had the most amazing greek salad at a local pizza joint, that I shall now call my pizza joint here on the cape.  Zoe's Pizza in Mashpee, makes the best salads I've seen in a long time.  It's hard (if you don't live in the city) to find a good greek salad.  And this one was made with real salad greens not that horrid iceberg, and obviously they give a nice hefty amount of feta.


What I'm reading now:

Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin.
"...one Sunday afternoon, as she unloaded the dishwasher, Gretchen Rubin felt hit by a wave of homesickness. Homesick—why? She was standing right in her own kitchen. She felt homesick, she realized, with love for home itself. “Of all the elements of a happy life,” she thought, “my home is the most important.” In a flash, she decided to undertake a new happiness project, and this time, to focus on home.  And what did she want from her home? A place that calmed her, and energized her. A place that, by making her feel safe, would free her to take risks. Also, while Rubin wanted to be happier at home, she wanted to appreciate how much happiness was there already.
So, starting in September (the new January), Rubin dedicated a school year—September through May—to making her home a place of greater simplicity, comfort, and love.
In The Happiness Project, she worked out general theories of happiness. Here she goes deeper on factors that matter for home, such as possessions, marriage, time, and parenthood. How can she control the cubicle in her pocket? How might she spotlight her family’s treasured possessions? And it really was time to replace that dud toaster.
Each month, Rubin tackles a different theme as she experiments with concrete, manageable resolutions—and this time, she coaxes her family to try some resolutions, as well.
 With her signature blend of memoir, science, philosophy, and experimentation, Rubin’s passion for her subject jumps off the page, and reading just a few chapters of this book will inspire readers to find more happiness in their own lives...."
Happier at Home is really good, written with thoughtful research, not just personal opinions from afar.


Ham on Rye, remember this one?  Did you read this in grade school?
I always loved reading Charles Bukowski; he is a brilliant writer.
What are you reading?


Do you suffer from SAD (seasonal affective disorder)?
I tend to get a hefty touch of it by January & through February.
Last year I finally bought, after reading all the high reviews, the Philips goLite Blue Light Therapy device.
It worked so well last year, I already have mine out for January & February.
I cannot recommend this enough. And I bought it from this retailer on Amazon, safely & soundly.
If you do get it, don't set the light too high in the beginning, start off slow, as it's a strong light.
This works far better than those white, giant, boxy lights; this one mimics the blue sky of summer.
And it's portable!

Around the web:

more benefits of drinking coffee!  YAY!
personalized prize ribbons (brilliant!)
how to 'knock on wood' and why it helps
big sur cabin spray in a bottle (love this, send samples please!)
the dictionary of american regional english is done (charting under-the-radar regional language nationwide)
broccoli beef recipe
easy garlic broccolini
worlds biggest ship graveyard
what is chromium and why do you need it?
most searched diets of 2013
cozy reading nooks
seasonal affective disorder: bring on the light
christmas tree shaped snack cakes! (so cute)
tips for baking oat-porridge bread
creative food art
Mmm dan dan noodles!
3 ways we sabotage ourselves + how to stop
have you been following the ship rescue in Antarctica? 
create a jar of "awesome" for 2014
finding your niche
an apple a day....
exercise & the brain: mental conditioning
the origin of the candy cane
how to make golden brown pizza crust
worst customer service horror stories
cinnamon can help lower blood sugar: which variety?
how to fall asleep when your mind won't shut off
adding years to life & life to years
london artist ron mueck creates real-life sculptures
cabbage patch inspired hats for kids (adults?)
cinnamon roll pound cake
6 year old break-dancing star
must friends, trust friends, rust friends, and just friends
38 haunting abandoned places on earth
most miserable time of year
bourbon sea salt caramels
michelangelo's handwritten 16th century grocery list
how to scald milk
slash your risk of stroke by eating (real) vitamin C
how to clean/repair a sluggish toilet (very handy)
miracle healing wonders of carrot juice
flourless brownie cookies
best & worst places if you had to shop at one store
the teacher fit program
peanut/tree nut allergy lower among children whose mothers ate them during pregnancy
I love love love this!  The joy of cooking with Samin!
raw vs. cooked? (excellent analysis)
lemon marshmallow cookies (heavenly!)
paleo diet manifesto
the BEST selfie ever!

Have a wonderful weekend!

The Best Recipes of 2013 (chosen by you)

Happy New Year!

What good luck superstitious things do you do to ring in the new year?
We like to eat Chinese food and hold money in our hands as the countdown begins.

I complied a list of the top recipes, chosen by you, not me.
These are what my google stats say you clicked on most.

The number one has been, number one for the last two years: coconut truffles.
I love that you love coconut as much as I do. These little cuties got a lot of hits, a lot!


Another savory favorite over the years: cheesy artichoke bread.
What a serious flavor combo, and it's very easy to make.


Blackberry-cream cheese crumb cake made the top 5.
This is made with blackberry coulis, and I promise you, it is so worth the extra time.
One heavenly, decadent crumb cake.


My obsession with cloning some of the best cookies in the world continues on.
The Levain Bakery chocolate chip cookie clone made it to the top 10 of your favorites.


The cake filled peanut butter cups was voted one of your favorite photos of all time.
IN fact, I use this photo as my logo. I think the photo pretty much describes what this blog is all about:
creative recipes & unique eats.


The salted nutella cookie bars were posted a mere couple weeks ago, but they got enough hits to warrant them in the top 15 most popular posts of 2013.


Brownie bundt stuffed with coconut cream cheese.
When I decided to take brownie batter, put it in a bundt to see if it would well, "bundt"?
I also stuffed it with a coconut-cream cheese filling because it needed something extra.
This bundt was the most popular bundt I've ever made.


Homemade cheesy tater tots!  I think we all know why these made the top list.
I need to make these again and show you the step-by-step instructions, since I know a lot of
you might be put off by the deep frying aspect, but truly it's very easy.


Crispy, buttery, sweet and tangy: lemon crunch bars.


My infamous tomato pie.  I made this in 2009 and it still continues to be in the top 10 of all
time favorites. Have you made it?
I also made a hand pie version using pre-made pie crusts!


Quarter pound mint stuffed cookies! Yes a quarter pound cookie (aka a cookie meal).


Pumpkin oreo's.  Kind of glad something-pumpkin made the list, as I make a lot of pumpkin recipes.


Banana-sour cream ice cream made with pudding!  Super easy.
Pretty much one-bowl easy AND no cook!


Chocolate cupcakes with cookie butter crunchies. Seriously? These were heavenly.
Don't they look cute?  And I used some of the batter to make mini loaves. Great as gifts.


And lastly, one of my favorites homemade snowball cakes, just like you remember as a kid only
better because there are no chemicals.


Happy New Year kids!

friday links

Happy Friday!

How was Christmas?  I'm exhausted; I'm ready for a long winters nap.

Early morning fog at Nauset Beach, Wellfleet, MA
So so so soothing; I love this place.

The view from where I take the photos isn't too shabby either.


I discovered this dangerous combo on Christmas eve.


That's right--tis the season for yoga pants all day.


Let's remember this saying for 2014.


Around the web:

this cake, oh this salted caramel ding dong cake has me in a tizzy
ham & gruyere thumbprint cookies
mike's hot honey--well doesn't that sound perfect for fried chicken
cape cod life magazine photo contest 
magnetic flat pack furniture?
this common problem can destroy your willpower
when you're at the end of your rope: 7 tips to help
thundershirt for cats review
candy cane cupcakes!
berries & all their wondrous protective properties
14 excellent sources of clean protein
alexander mcqueen made rugs? (pricey rugs too)
inside the notebooks of authors, artists & visionaries
balloon lamp (I would love one)
google has an online art gallery in the works?
how to manage the chill of winter (let me know if it works LOL)
the broken link: women trusting women
how to store a cake: of almost all sizes
writer bukowski-themed bars are really taking off
I am in love with this bow ear warmer
no-bake protein cookies
5 health foods that are over-rated
god or satan desk signs
how do I substitute coconut oil for butter in baking?
does sleep sweep the brain?
photographer captures people's insecurities on camera
cheesemonger (I love that word) approves a few cheese items at grocery store
best panini recipes of 2013
richard branson's top 10 business tips
'miserable men', an instagram account that captures the sad side of shopping
pantone color of the year is.....(lol)
harvard university snow of past & present
how to write a novel synopsis: 5 tips
homemade mustard (love this)
the weirdest books ever published (I can't stop laughing at this)
24 people that decide "what's cool" in America
10 proven ways to relax (really now?)
in case you needed another fashion blog to bookmark....
(take 5 mins for this...it's worth it) this place


Have a wonderful weekend.