Pecan Brownies

Brownies... you know how I usually make brownies? However the store bought brownie mix box tells me to, so the fact that I attempted these makes me feel accomplished ;) They aren't difficult, just a little involved, and they are good - chewy in the middle and a little crunchy on the outside. I'm a fan. It's another recipe from that Company's Coming book I got for Christmas.

Pecan Brownies
1/2 c hard margarine or butter
3 (1 oz each) unsweetened chocolate baking squares, chopped

3 T hard margarine or butter
1/3 c Brown Sugar
1 T evaporated milk (not skim)

1/2 c pecans, coarsely chopped

3/4 c granulated sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
1 1/2 t vanilla
2 large eggs

1 c all purpose flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt

**note: I used butter**

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat first amount of margarine and chocolate in small saucepan on lowest heat, stirring often, until smooth. Do not overheat. Remove from heat. Pour into small bowl. Cool to room temperature.

Heat second amount of margarine in same saucepan until melted. Stir in first amount of brown sugar. Add evaporated milk. Heat and stir on low until smooth. Pour into greased foil lined 9 inch round pan. Tilt pan to coat evenly.

Sprinkle evenly with pecans.

Beat granulated sugar, second amount of brown sugar, vanilla and eggs together in medium bowl. Add chocolate mixture. Beat well.

Add flour, baking powder and salt. Stir until just moistened. Spoon over pecans. Carefully spread in even layer. Bake in 350 degree F oven for 30-35 min until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out moist but not wet with batter and brownies are risen evenly across pan. Do not overbake. Immediately invert onto plate. Remove and discard foil. Let stand for 20 min before cutting into 16 thin wedges.

NEXT TIME: 
1.I will make sure there's enough foil around the edges of the pan. The stuff on the bottom kind of bubbles up the sides and as I pulled the brownies out of the oven to check if they were done the stuff OOZED onto the bottom of my oven!!! UGH! Time to bust out the Easy-Off. 

2. I'll probably use pecan halves and arrange them nicely on the bottom of the pan to make the dessert look pretty. As you can see, it looked, well, not pretty. Sometimes presentation is important, and sometimes you just want stuff to look good.

Let me know if you make this recipe and what you think of it. I believe I'll be making it again. 

Cinnamon-Sugared Pecans

Have you ever had the pleasure of shopping at Trader Joe's? If you haven't, I'm so terribly sorry. It's like going to Disneyland. The employees are in costume, not to mention they are very helpful and friendly, the experience and food is unique, and they have great snacks (which is the point of this entry... point yet to come...). The biggest difference between Trader Joe's and Disney, other than the obvious, is that you don't have to spend a fortune at Trader Joe's. A lot of items are less expensive than what you'd pay at your big chain grocery store. Ok, now for the point...

My husband LOVES the Trader Joe's Praline Pecans. If you go to TJs, buy some. They're sugary pecan goodness for like $5. Matt likes to find the really small pecans because the ratio of sugar to pecan is like 4:1.

Anyway, I got a new cookbook for Christmas - Company's Coming 2-in-1 cookbook collection: Sweet Treats. It's like 300 pages of desserts. My sweet tooth is quivering. I went through the book and found a recipe for, you guessed it, Cinnamon-Sugared Pecans. Well, I figured this MUST be further investigated!

The verdict - NOT the same as Trader Joe's, but that's OK because these are FRESH and great in their own way. So we'll probably still get TJs once in a while, but this recipe is a keeper for sure!

Recipe:
1 Egg white (large), room temperature
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 c granulated sugar
1/4 c butter or margarine, melted and cooled
2 c pecan halves, toasted the clooed slightly
1/2 tsp salt

1. Toast Pecans: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place pecans in single layer in ungreased shallow pan or cookie sheet. Bake for 5-10 minutes, shaking often, until desired doneness. When finished, reset oven for 325 degrees F.

2. Beat egg white in medium bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in cinnamon and sugar until stiff peaks form. (this took me what seemed like forever)

3. Fold in butter/margarine. Fold in pecans until coated. Turn into 9x9 inch pan (I had an 8x8 and that wasn't a problem). Bake in 325 degree F oven for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until coating begins to look granular and nuts are loose. Remove from oven.

Immediately sprinkle with salt. Stir. Cool completely. Makes 2 cups.

serving size is 1/3 c: 338 calories, 30.5 g total fat; 262 mg sodium; 3 g protein; 17g carbohydrate; 2 g dietary fiber

 Hello nutty, sugary goodness!

NEXT TIME:
These are SO GOOD. It doesn't require modification. Matt loved these, especially that they were fresh. Like I said, they aren't TJs - they're different.  Just for an experiment, I may add coarsely ground black pepper on a handful of nuts to see how it tastes. UPDATE: I tried them with pepper. One word: DON'T.

*Note: as with all my posts, I'm receiving compensation from NO ONE. Disney, Trader Joe's and Company's Coming, their affiliates, subsidiaries, etc., etc., have no idea I exist.