Bossk Brownies by Jack Bruckner

Bossk Brownies

Recipe

Ingredients:

Butter for greasing baking dish

2/3 Cup all purpose flour

1/2 Cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 Cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 Cup packed brown sugar

1/2 Cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 Cup white chocolate or butterscotch chips

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8 inch square baking dish.
2. Put the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon until well mixed. Set aside.
3. Put the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in one large bowl. Using the electric mixer set on high speed, beat together until well blended and creamy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and stir with the wooden spoon until blended. Stir in the chips.
4. Pour into the prepared baking dish and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.
5. Using pot holders, put the baking dish in the preheated oven. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
6. Again, using pot holders, transfer the dish to the cooling rack. Let cool completely. Makes about 16 brownies.

Preparation Methods

For my second baking project, I decided to bake Bossk Brownies. Another recipe found in my Star Wars cookbook. The picture in the cookbook of the brownies enticed me to make them. I actually used two different baking methods when making these brownies. First, I used the muffin method. The Muffin Method has the baker measure all the dry ingredients separate and mixes them in a separate bowl from all the liquid ingredients. The liquid ingredients are then mixed in their own bowl and eventually the dry gets added to the wet and combined. Again, no over mixing because I didn't want too many air bubbles to be in the mixture. Too many bubbles means too much gluten is forming. I remember when Ms. Wilson used the Muffin Method when she made pancakes for the class.

The other method I used when making these brownies was the Creaming Method. Creaming is used for aeration which creates tiny 'seed' bubbles in the fat. Creaming increases the volume of the fat. In this case the butter was creamed with sugar which acted as an abrasive, cutting holes into the fat. The Creaming Method has 8 steps: measure all the ingredients, dry goods except sugar should be mixed in a separate bowl, beat fat with sugar in a separate bowl, add eggs, mix then add in dry ingredients, stir and bake. I used the creaming method at school while making oatmeal raisin cookies.

Both methods were needed to make sure that the brownies turned out.

Critique

The recipe says that brownies should bake for about 25 minutes. I found that they needed more time because when I inserted a knife in the center to check, it came out all gooey. I had to bake the brownies for another 7 minutes. So it took 32 minutes total for the brownies to be done. They smelled really chocolatey. I added white chocolate chips instead of butterscotch because I like chocolate better. After the brownies cooled and were cut, the outside top was crispy and the middle was gooey, but not runny. The flavor was rich and chocolatey. The texture was dense, not crumbly. The brownies were a really dark brown color with white chips showing on the side. I especially liked the chips in the brownie because they added a different color and were chewy. I did change the way I greased the pan. I used Pam cooking spray instead of butter. It was less messy. I don't think that changed anything with the flavor of the brownies.

I would make this recipe again. I could tell that they were home made because they had more of a chocolate flavor than a box mix. More rich. I liked baking these and liked eating them even more! Just like at school, it's fun to bake and then do a taste test to see if it turned out.

~Jack, Hr 2