Bailey’s Brownies

I have spent the better part of my time after Thanksgiving worrying, stressing, listing, scratching out and listing again all the things that need to be accomplished before Christmas gets here.

Christmas shopping usually begins on black Friday. Then it’s a mad dash to get everything on our list in the 3 weekends before Christmas, stop at 3 million stores until we have 80% of what we need then decide to “screw it” and buy the rest online (ok that last part might just be me), throw a party for our friends (or friendsmas, as I call it) to get together, wrap gifts, bake enough crap to kill a small horse, box and send everything off, have Christmas with my family on Christmas Eve, leave super late, sleep for a whopping 4 hours, and the get on the road out of town to spend Christmas with the in-laws.

Stressssssss, major.

During these times I tell myself that pouring a stiff drink would be totally ok, encouraged even. But I never end up reaching for the mini bar we have collecting above our cabinets.

Instead I reach for brownies. And by “reach for” I really mean to say bake some. Because I don’t keep brownies on hand (too dangerous, you understand.) So yes, I stand in the kitchen and bake some damn brownies to calm my nerves.

So on SUPER stressful times like these, I tip some Bailey’s into my brownie batter.

Make some. It’s a good idea. In fact, I encourage it.

Bailey’s Brownies
adapted from The Craving Chronicles

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used dark cocoa)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
heaping 1/3 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) butter
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup Baileys Irish Cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8-inch pan with foil and lightly spritz with cooking spray; set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt until combined. Set aside.

Place chocolate and butter in a large microwave-proof bowl and melt in 30 second spurts, stirring in between each interval until completely melted. Set aside to cool a bit. (Alternatively, melt chocolate and butter in a saucepan set over low heat, stirring frequently until melted. Set aside.)

Once the chocolate mixture is warm (not hot!) add eggs, one at a time, whisking constantly to incorporate the eggs. Whisk vigorously for about 10 seconds to incorporate fully. Add sugar, vanilla, and Baileys and whisk until combined.

Add the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture, folding until just combined (the flour JUST disappears).

Pour batter into the prepared pan, give it a quick wiggle to even out the batter. Bake at for about 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Enjoy and de-stress : )

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SMS – Truffles (4 different ways)

When I bake from a recipe I usually don’t take much creative license. I’m just too afraid that if I substitute anything or remove something that the concoction will just blow up in my face like a chemistry experiment gone awry.

But this has been bothering me a bit and I decided that I should just take the bull by the horns. I wanted to get creative! I wanted to take a written recipe and make it my own!

Forget baby steps. Psh, try leaps and bounds!! Ok, maybe its just leaps and bounds to ME but this took some creativity on my part and I think I fared quite well!! I took the base truffle recipe (made 1-1/2 times the recipe and separated into 4 batches) and nipped, tucked, sploshed, and rolled until I ended up with 4 different, tasty variations of these delightful truffles.

First up is the Almond truffle. I substituted chopped toasted almonds for the hazelnuts (mainly because I couldn’t find them) and almond extract for the hazelnut liquor and I rolled them in cocoa powder.

For the second variation I  added the zest of 1 orange and rolled it in chopped chocolate bits.

For the third variation I added Bailey’s Irish Cream liquor and rolled them chopped almonds.

For the last variation I added peppermint extract and rolled them in chopped white chocolate. I think I’ll be making these around Christmas. How cute would they be boxed and tied with a big red bow?

It says that these are best served room temperature but I find that they are on the mushy side so I prefer them chilled.

For the original recipe you can visit Annie from Living Life Foodcariously.

For more pics of these lovely truffles, click here.