Peppermint brownies

Is there anything more universal than chocolate brownies? Is there a person in the world who doesn’t love the crackly, slightly crunchy crust, chewy edges and squidgy, chocolaty, almost molten centre? It’s a good thing. Brownies are supposed to be intense, rich and overpowering. There’s nothing subtle about them, and decadence is the trademark of a brownie. Not to mention, brownies come with a side of nostalgia - who hasn’t tried making brownies as a child and almost burnt down the house? (that would be me..).

So last weekend, in a spontaneous brownie baking moment (if you know, you know) I decided to add one of my favourite ingredients to my brownie batter - peppermint! I love peppermint and dark chocolate together - it is a refreshing variation to a popular classic. PLUS - the best part is, you can use leftover brownie crumbs/chunks to make peppermint brownie vanilla ice cream - summer bonus, and a very appropriate dessert for this weather.

They taste like the brownie equivalent of after-eight and they don’t look any different than regular brownies so it comes as a pleasant surprise to someone who bites into one. They’re a crowd pleaser and up your popularity quotient if you take them to work the next day (LOL)

Ingredients:

• 500 g chocolate

• 250 g butter

• 4 eggs

• 1 1/2 cup sugar

• 1 cup flour + 1 tsp baking powder + 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 3 tsp peppermint extract

• Crushed peppermint (optional)

Process

• In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and chocolate together until smoothly combined. Let cool.

• cream the eggs, sugar and vanilla in a bowl.

• Add the cooled chocolate and butter mixture and add peppermint extract & combine well.

• Add the flour mix one spoon at a time and mix well, but do not overmix.

• Pour the batter into the pan and bake for about 30 - 35 minutes or until the top forms a flaky/crusty layer. The centre should not be wobbly.

• When done, take it out of the oven and let the brownies cool for about a half hour.

• Slice into squares, sprinkle with crushed peppermint and eat!

Cherry muffins with crumble

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I know. I know that June in delhi has very few perks. Sweaty evening walks to Khan Market to get a scoop of lemon frozen yogurt at

Big Chill

is one. Sitting with your face in front of a box Air Conditioner is another. And there’s very few others among them. BUT somewhere between the sweltering heat and sunburn and pre-monsoon humidity, there’s a teeny tiny silver lining and it is called stone fruit! YAYY mangoes, coconut, lychees, apricots, cherry, peaches - summer is definitely the season of the fruit. For me, it’s easy to pick a favourite. There’s nothing better than gorgeous fresh cherries! And also can we take a moment to acknowledge that cherries are probably the CUTEST fruit? Think about the

cherry emoji

or how people use the phrase ‘with a cherry on top’ to imply something extra special.

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But don’t be deceived. They may be tiny and cute but pitting cherries is MESSY stuff. You may want to swap any summer whites and pastels for your raggedy clothes or be prepared to sport cherry stained outfits all summer. You can pit cherries using a cherry pitter or just a basic knife and I promise it’s totally worth the mess.

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I baked cherry muffins with almond crumble a couple of times this summer and they were gone within the hour. They’re essentially vanilla muffins with a surprise cherry filling and a crunch almond-y crumble on top. They’re so good and they can make a delicious breakfast or evening snack. Cherry muffin + iced coffee , and you may have just created a june breakfast staple. Atleast for the couple of short weeks cherries are in season!

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Here’s the

recipe

:

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Ingredients: 

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Muffin: 

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1 cup flour + 2 tbsp cornflour + 2 tsp b powder + 1/2 tsp b soda + 1/4 tsp salt 

100 g butter 

2 eggs 

2/3 cup sugar 

1/3 cup cream 

1 tsp vanilla essence 

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Filling: 

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1 1/2 cup cherries, pits removed 

2 tbsp brown sugar 

2 tbsp butter 

2 tbsp lemon juice 

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Crumble: 

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3 tbsp flour 

3 tbsp cornflour 

2 tbsp almond meal 

2 tbsp cold butter 

2 tbsp brown sugar 

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Start with the cherry filling. 

Put 1 1/2 cups of cherries (with the pits removed) in a saucepan. Add the butter, brown sugar and lemon juice and cook on low-medium heat for about 5 - 7 minutes. 

Allow it to cool.  

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To make the muffin, preheat the oven to about 180˚. Prepare a cupcake pan with 6 muffin liners. 

The easiest way is to simply mix all the ingredients except the cream in a large bowl using an electric mixer. 

When a smooth batter is formed, gradually add the cream and continue beating. 

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For the crumble, mix the butter, brown sugar, flour, cornflour and almond meal in a bowl. Use your fingers to mix until a grainy mixture is formed. 

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Fill the muffin liners till about 1/4th with the batter. Then add a generous tablespoon of the cherry filling, then top with more muffin batter. 

Lastly add the crumble topping

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Bake for about 20 - 25 minutes of until a cake tester comes out clean. 

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Let the muffins cool for about 30 minutes. 

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Serve plain or with cream/ vanilla ice cream. 

Milk chocolate chip and gems cookies

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For most desserts, there’s a way to eat it. Let’s say a cheesecake or a pudding, typically eaten after a meal. You’d slice a piece, put it on a plate, pick up a fork and eat, neatly polishing it off until the entire slice is gone and you’ve drifted into dessert heaven. Now you’re done and it’s likely that you’ll put back your plate, and get on with your day.

But cookies are different. Cookies don’t demand the sophistication of putting them on a plate or the civility of cleaning up after.  Eat them directly from the jar or box, nibble at them while you watch a movie, scarf them down while you work on a stressful project, or read a thrilling book. Cookies are fuss-free, anytime snackage food which makes them one of the most comforting foods ever because it is completely acceptable to eat them anytime your sweet tooth demands..

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I ate my friend Neimat’s most delicious milk chocolate chip and gems cookies at 3am on a random friday night and i am not exaggerating when i say that they were the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever had. Maybe it was the 3am sugar itch or maybe just the fact that chocolate chip cookies are always a good idea anyway, but they were seriously ridiculously good. I might add that Neimat is a trained chef but her chocolate chip cookies reek of that delicious, homely comforting flavour that chocolate chip cookies are meant to have.

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I know most recipes ask for bittersweet chocolate and I’m a huge fan of 70 per cent but in defence of milk chocolate, nothing can replicate childlike flavours like the combination of unapologetically sweet milk chocolate chips in a salty-sweet cookie dough. PLUS GEMS! 90s kids will know. These cookies are soft with chewy edges, bursting with gooey milk chocolate and the crunch of gems. Basically quite a perfect bunch of textures.

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This recipe is an easy drop and bake recipe and doesn’t require rolling out cookie dough. I suggest using a cookie scoop or small ice cream scoop to get even sized cookies. Also, seriously seriously invest in good quality milk chocolate chips. I use

Ghirardelli (the blue bag)

but if you don’t find those, 

Choko La

also makes really nice ones! Here is the recipe:

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2 1/2 cups flour 

1 cup brown sugar 

1/2 cup powdered sugar 

2 eggs 

200 g butter (soft, not melted)

1 tsp vanilla 

1 tsp baking soda 

1 tsp sea salt 

2 cups milk chocolate chips 

1 cup gems 

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Preheat your oven to 180 ˚ C and line a baking tray with an un-greased cookie sheet/ silpat or butter paper. 

In a bowl, mix the flour and baking soda and sea salt

Beat the butter and both sugars in a large bowl 

One at a time, add the eggs and then the vanilla 

Now add the flour mixture one spoonful at a time and mix until a cookie batter is formed 

When done, add the 2 cups of milk chocolate chips and the gems and mix it into the batter with a spatula 

Use a cookie scoop to spoon out round cookie batter onto the cookie sheet. 

Bake for about 8 - 10 minutes.

Let them cool and then eat! 

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Notes: 

The batter should be 

sticky

 - not runny, but not doughy either. If it is too liquid/runny, add more flour.

The cookies will be very soft when done and that's fine. They are meant to be soft and will harden a little as they cool.

Make sure the butter is soft/ room temperature, but not melted. Melted butter could cause the cookies to spread too much in the oven.