ISO My Favourite Williams-Sonoma Recipe for Brownies (w/cinnamon, poss. Kahlua, etc)

[Natasha]

Hi all,

I'm hoping you can help me out. Many years ago, I purchased a lovely W-S cookbook from the Kitchen Library (?) series. It had a picture of something scrumptious on the cover and a green spine. I think it was called Cookies & Biscotti.

The book had my absolute favourite brownie recipe in it. I can't remember the name, but it featured cinnamon, Kahlua (I think - it's been a while since I've made the recipe!), and so on, as well as chocolate (of course!). The book seems to have gotten lost, or in any case more than temporarily misplaced, during a move :( What's more, the book seems to no longer be in print, as the W-S series of item-specific cookbooks has morphed into another series - so I can't just order a new book or go to a bookstore and look it up. And neither my library nor any used bookstore I frequent has the book.

Would anyone happen to have this book and be willing to share the recipe? Alternatively, does anyone have a similar-sounding W-S brownie recipe? I've made a host of other brownie recipes, including some with these ingredients. While the results are generally delicious, I still miss this recipe.

Thanks in advance for any help :)
Natasha

[heavy hedonist]

Well, I have WS Essentials of Baking, & the Classic Dark Chocolate Brownies don't sound all that similar to what you're asking for, but I'll post it anyway. Also, Kahlua.com has a brownie recipe, but I'm not sanguine about it, it uses too much flour & has baking powder in it, which no brownie i've ever made has. But I like 'em rich & fudgy. Here's the recipe:

CLASSIC DARK CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

6 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup (6 oz/185g) unsalted butter, cut into 3/4 inch (2cm) pieces

3 large eggs

1 3/4 cups (14 oz/440g) sugar

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup (5oz/155g) plus 2 tbsp flour

---------------------------------

Position a rack in the middle of oven, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan.

Place chocolate & butter in top of a double boiler placed over (not touching)
barely simmering water. Heat, stirring often, until butter & chocolate melt. Remove from over water & set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, salt & vanilla until blended. Whisk in the chocolate mixture until blended. Sprinkle all of the flour over the mixture and whisk slowly until just blended. Pour batter into prepared pan, spread evenly with spatula.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean or with a few moist crumbs clinging, 35-40 minutes. Be careful not to overbake. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.


PS-- I think that bake time looks a little long.

[annagins]

Here's a link to a recipe with both cinnamon and Kahlua. This one does not come from the Williams Sonoma book, but it sounds good! It has a blend of white chocolate and dark chocolate on top. Yum.

http://www.recipezaar.com/48064

I put the link rather than the recipe so that you can read all the reviews.

[Natasha]

Thank you both for the responses and suggestions! HH, I have that book but admit I've never paid much attention to the brownie recipe in it, so thanks for pointing it out! I think I should try it. If it's a W-S recipe, it probably won't be bad (based on my experience with W-S recipes) :D

Anna, I'll have to try that recipe you posted too. Regarding the frosting, I'll just sub dark chocolate for the white, and will mix in some Kahlua (I believe my old recipe had Kahlua in the frosting as well as in the cake part). Sounds delicious, and, from my vague recollection of the proportions in my lost recipe, this might be a reasonable substitute :) *crossed fingers*

I'll let you guys know how the recipes turn out. Thanks again,
Natasha

[mbrogier]

I have a WS cookies and biscotti book, but I just got mine on clearance at Barnes and Noble. I'm not home, but I'll look for that recipe when I get home tomorrow.

Have you tried their website? They keep a lot of their favorite recipes on there. (I think WS's french onion soup is the best ever!--and I've only tried a million of them)

[deniseannsc]

Kahlua-Cinnamon Brownies

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup Kahlua
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon cinnamon -- ground
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar -- packed
1 large egg
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine chocolate chips and butter in a small saucepan; place over medium-low heat, and cook until chocolate melts. Remove from heat; stir in Kahlua and vanilla.

Combine flour and next four ingredients in a medium bowl.

Beat brown sugar and egg in a large bowl at low speed of a mixer until blended. Add chocolate mixture; mix well. Add flour mixture, beating until smooth. Pour batter into an 8 inch square pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; sprinkle with sugar. Cool in pan on wire rack.

Per serving: 108 Calories (kcal); 4.1g Total Fat; (34% calories from fat); 1.5g Protein; 16.5g Carbohydrate; 13mg Cholesterol; 93mg Sodium

[annagins]

Natasha, have good luck with your brownies. Now you've got me craving them.

Deniseann, those look good.

[heavy hedonist]

All the recipes look good to me-- even though I said I'd never used a brownie rec. w/baking powder in it, then what did I see, perusing over my morning coffee in A Passion for Chocolate but that the world famous Bernachons in France use baking powder in their fantastic brownies!
Always good to have my food predjudices knocked down. Who am I to argue with wolrd-famous chocolatiers? Now I have new competing recipes to make this and next week. And yes, all I am (pretty much) really doing everyday is reading, thinking about and making food, mainly baked goods. :p

[Natasha]

Thanks again, everyone!

Micah, thanks for the tip of searching the W-S website. I hadn't thought of that, so visited it to check. No luck, but I did find many other things to try :D

Denise, thanks too for the CL recipe. :) I've tried that one, and liked it (especially for a low fat recipe), but the recipe from the W-S book is much richer and fudgier. They're both great recipes in different ways, I think.

HH, that is interesting about the baking powder! If you do make the competing recipes, I'd love to hear your reviews :cool:

I don't have any chocolate in the house :rolleyes: so the experimenting will have to wait. I think I'll have to buy some chocolate tomorrow... can't quite believe I'm all out.

Natasha

[mbrogier]

Natasha, I just checked my WS cookbook. It's Cakes, Cookies, Pies and Tarts. There were some recipes that caught my eye (and I'm having company this weeked), but there were no brownies. I was hoping maybe WS added the brownie recipe to their newer book.

I will say this recipe is my absolute favorite brownie recipe. I just saw on his website that he has a new book out in October. (better go put that on my Amazon list! :D )
http://www.nickmalgieri.com/recipes/w10_brownies.html
It is really fudgy and dense. I'm sure you could flavor them with Kahlua--I normally add lots of vanilla, but I was thinking about adding some DiSarrona. My husband loves amaretto flavored things. I think you could find a frosting for it, too.

[cinnabun]

Cinnamon Fudge Brownies


Ingredients

1/2 cup flour
Pinch of salt
1-1/2teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons brewed coffee (can make with instant)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsley chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
1/2 cup walnut pieces

Procedure

Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 325*F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan, flour the bottom, and tap out the excess; set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and cinnamon; reserve.
In medium saucepan over medium heat, or in a bowl in a microwave, bring the butter, coffee, and sugar just to the boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, add the chopped chocolate, and stir with a small whisk until smooth. Stir in vanilla and allow the mixture to cool for a minute or two.
Still working in the saucepan with the small whisk, beat in the eggs, one at a time, until you have a thick, glossy batter. Switch to a rubber spatula and gradually stir in the reserved dry ingredients, stirring only unitl the flour is incorporated. Fold in the nuts and scrape the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 33 to 35 minutes, until the top is dry and crackly. Place the pan on a rack to cool for 10 minutes. Unmold the brownies onto the rack, then invert onto another rack to finish cooling to room temperature right-side up. MAKES 16 BROWNIES.

Are you sure there isn't a possibility that the kahlua was substituted for the coffee?

[Natasha]

Thanks again to everyone for the recipes. I now have my ingredients, but this week has not been conducive to baking. I'll be sure to keep you posted when I do try out the recipes, though, and if anyone else makes some of them, I'd love to hear the reviews. :)

With visions of brownies dancing in my head,
Natasha :cool: