b.patisserie Review & Brownie Cookies

Hi friends.  Sorry I have been quiet lately.  I have been pretty busy eating pastries and packing on the pounds.  That sentence is hilarious (not hilarious)  because it's 100% true. Yes, I have been baking a lot the last few weeks but I have been eating a lot more baked goods than normal.  A lot. People keep BRINGING me things and I can't say no.  And I really, really, really couldn't say no when my company's president walked through the door with a box of pastries from b. patisserie for me.  Yes, a box for me.  To myself.

b. patisserie is a new bakery that opened in San Francisco a few weeks ago.  The pastry chef is Belinda Leong.  She bakes MAGIC.  There's no way to describe it but magic.  I first had her  infamous kouign amann last fall at an underground food market.  There was frozen custard in the middle of it so it was delicious for sure but the pastry was the star.  I had to find out what it was, who made it and of course how to pronounce this "kouign amann" thing.  Because it really was amazing - life changing and I have honestly stalked her since.  You can read the many good reviews here, here, here... the list goes on.

When I found out she was opening up her own bakery and I would be able to get those bad boys with so much more ease, I was ecstatic.  I told everyone, including my co-workers.  I also whined a little (a lot) about how far and inconvenient it is from work.  (I may work in the city but I only know how to get to the ballpark to see my Giants on MUNI, nowhere else. )  Which is why despite my excitement, I dragged my feet at actually visiting the shop.  I still have to!  I must.  There are too many friends with sweet tooths that I plan to bring here.  The shop has a macaron tree.  A MACARON TREE.  How can I not go?

In any case, I was brought back the delicious kouign amann - think of a croissant but sweeter.  The sugar actually pools inside the middle of the pastry.  It's divine.

And a raspberry grand macaron.  Yes, it tastes as good as it looks.  It's about 3x the size of your average macaron. That's why it's a grand  macaron.

Best macaron I have ever had.  The fresh raspberries totally make the treat.  I wish I had one right now.  So did my little kitchen mascot, Andy. I didnt give him any though.  (Meet Cupcake Andy.  He likes sweets.   He's as big as a grand macaron.)

What does this have to do with cookies you may ask?  Well, while amiss my stalking the poor  pastry chef online I stumbled upon a link to a recipe of hers featured in Food & Wine.  Brownie Cookies!  They're cookies but they taste JUST like brownies.  I printed out the recipe immediately and made no adjustments to the recipe.  I have some tips, of course I have tips, but no adjustments.

THESE ARE SUPER CHOCOLATEY.  You have been warned.  If you don't like chocolate, I can see how they could turn you off.  But if you love chocolate like me, then YUM.  A tall glass of milk next to you is recommended though.  :)

Brownie Cookies

From b. patisserie pastry chef Belinda Leong, as found in Food & Wine
Makes 3 dozen, bake at 350% for 10 minutes.

Ingredients:
1 pound semisweet chocolate, chopped
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
One 12-ounce bag semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1.In a large bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chopped chocolate with the butter, stirring until smooth.
2. In another large bowl, using a handheld electric mixer, beat the eggs with the sugar at medium speed until thick and pale, about 5 minutes.
3. Beat in the vanilla and salt.
4. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the melted chocolate.
5. Fold in the flour and baking powder.
6.Stir in the chocolate chips.
7. Scrape batter into a shallow baking dish, cover and freeze until well chilled and firm, about 1 hour.
8. Working in batches, scoop 2-tablespoon-size mounds of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.
9 .Bake for about 10 minutes, until the cookies are dry around the edges and cracked on top. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely before serving.

See below for what the cracks looks like.  This is okay.  It means the delicious is trying to break through!

My tips to you is to melt the chocolate very carefully, make sure that the water does not boil or hit the bottom of the bowl to prevent your chocolate from seizing.  Also, when it says to work in batches that means that the dough is very very melty. There is hardly any flour in these, so keep it in the freezer in between your batches.  Also, bake them exactly as directed.  Lots of cookies will taste okay or even better slightly under cooked but not these.  Make sure the tops are cracking to prevent having raw cookies.

I brought them into work and they were gone by 11:00AM.  They called me a cookie monster.

Do you see the compact chocolaty goodness in there? Yeah, I do too.

So in summary, because Yes I am aware that I ramble, make these cookies if you love chocolate and have a tall glass of milk.  And go to b. patisserie right now.   Just make sure "right now" is before 11:00 AM because they run out of pastries fast.  The first time my co-worker went, it was 1:00 PM and all she could bring me back was their business card.  Don't make the same mistake. Unfortunately, it is not edible so it cannot satisfy your sweet tooth.

xoxo,
Anna


Update July 2013:

I went!!! And it was Amazing.  The Macaron tree had changed over to Summer already.

The details are actually pretty amazing on this tree.  I was impressed.

I pined after the pretty yellow chairs.

Stared open mouthed at the stack of FRUIT filled Kouigns.

And then enjoyed a pastry... or two WITH a cup of coffee.   All is well with the world!!!

Salted Caramel Chocolate Chunk Brownies

Sometimes, like this weekend, I've got things to do.  Like trying to sneak in a 90 minute work out, running errands, showering, getting dressed cuz I need to be ready 20 minutes ago, cleaning up my room and shoving some kind of nutrient down my throat all while baking something amazing that will make a hot boy with abs fall in love with me.

Bet you're a little impressed with me at this point right?  Well  you can be (especially if you're this mysterious aforementioned boy with abs), but this time I actually had some help when I made these salted caramel chocolate chunk brownies (from heaven).  That help was from The Women's Bean Project in Colorado.

Let's explain.  To be specific, the women there helped me out by putting together the brownie mix that I used.  Yup, I used a mix. So these are half from scratch.  And it's okay for three reasons.  1).  I am not good at making brownies.  I have burnt more than one flat, lack luster batch. I am awful at it, so someone taking over the difficult task of telling me how to put it together is quite welcomed.  Especially when they TASTE good.  2). I looked at the ingredients first.  Flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, vanilla.... all legit stuff i'd be using anyways!  Nothing weird or artificial.  3)  I get to tell you about this great non profit-org that you probably have never heard of before.

The Women's Bean Project is a social enterprise that offers a transitional job in gourmet food manufacturing to women.  The women hired at the Bean Project have histories of poverty and unemployment.  The program is designed to provide immediate income, arrange support services to overcome barriers to employment, and teach the job readiness skills needed to get and keep a job.  The Women's Bean Project does not employ women to sell its products.  They sell its products in order to employ women.  

My friend Samantha (who I met while vacationing in Europe last year) works there and contacted me earlier this month to ask if she could send me a few of their mixes for me to try out.  The aim was to find a few new and interesting ways to spruce up the mixes.  So I googled the organization and their products and was more than stoked to try something out.  Their gourmet products include cookie and brownie mixes.  Right up my alley!  Hopefully you will see 1-2 more post about them in the coming weeks.  Because as Sam promised, a big box arrived at my house a few days later  from the Women's Bean Project.  Every mix was hand packaged by someone.  So thanks Gloria, whoever you are, for putting together "Cindy's Sinfully Chocolate Brownie Mix" for me.

The recipe below can be used with any boxed brownie mix but hopefully if you know that you'll be busy this holiday season, (and I mean who wont be?) and want to stock up on brownie mix you'll skip the Duncan Hines ready mix and consider helping The Women's Bean Project instead.  You can find more information about them here, and purchase their affordable products here.

To continue with my September caramel theme, I decided to slather a whole bunch of it on top of the brownies.  With some coarse salt because salted caramel is the only thing better than regular caramel.  But it needed a layer of chocolate chunks too so that came first.


Salted Caramel Chocolate Chunk Brownies 

1 bag of Cindy's Sinfully Chocolate Brownie Mix
1 4 oz bar of good chocolate, chopped coarsely  (I used Ghirardelli cuz im a SF chocolate snob)
8 oz unwrapped caramels
1/4 cup heavy cream
coarse salt for sprinkling

Directions:
1. Mix brownie batter, per recipe instructions.
2. Line an 8x8 inch pan in aluminum foil and butter/spray.  This will aid you in easier clean up, removal and ultimately consumption.  Fill pan with brownie batter.
3.  Place pan in oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, just enough for the batter to start to set but not for it to bake completely.
4.  Remove pan from oven and spread chocolate chunks over the top of batter.  Return to oven to finish baking; approximately 10-15 minutes. When done remove from oven and set aside to cool.
5. While brownies are baking, place unwrapped caramels in a saucepan with heavy milk and stir until melted.
4. Once caramel sauce is ready, drizzle over the tops of the brownies.  You can either do this with a spoon or use a bottle.
5.  Sprinkle brownies with coarse salt.
6. Once cool, remove foil and brownies from tray and discard foil.  Cut brownies into small pieces.

The result?

Just this.  Fudgey, crunchy, sweet and savory.

The brownies are super fudgey and moist, just as promised.  The added crunch you get when you let them cool and the top chocolate chunk layer has solidified itself again. (Not that there is ANYTHING wrong with eating a warm brownie, of course.)  The caramel is the sweet, and those pretty salt flakes is what makes the savory.

This week's eating well was a total wash, MyFitnessPal is super mad at me, and I am going to have to eat spinach with dust dressing for the next 30 days to stop being so squishy for my upcoming cruise.  Though I will admit, it was super worth it.

Go make these, nao. Serve them up on platter for you and your friends.

They'll be glad you did. You'll be glad you did.  Heck, i'll be glad for you too because I hope you're the sharing type.  I might kinda be out already...

Oh and pro tip;  put some vanilla bean ice cream on top of these if you're feeling daring. Ah-mazing.

xoxo,
Anna

Domo-kun Brownies

Okay so these aren't exactly cupcakes. Or even home made. There's a funny story behind these actually. They were for an ex boyfriend's birthday. He said he wanted brownies, not cupcakes. So a-baking i did go. But burnt them. There might have been tears. And a midnight run to Safeway to buy premade brownies. Details Details.
After the hard task of taking the brownies out of the box (hey that plastic is tricky!), i used gel to dot the eyes. Then i used two air heads, white and red. I painstakingly cut the white air heads into teeth. It was a pain in the ass. Real talk.




But they came out well! And i learned that i should stick to cupcakes, not brownies. haha. I haven't even attempted to bake brownies since then!

xo,
Anna