bangarang brownies.

it has become clear to me that i cannot tell a story without making some sort of 90's pop culture reference... so i'm just going to lean into it.

i was watching an old video from college of my friends & me hanging out, being weirdos, talking about nothing, really. but every.single.thing. that came out of my mouth was some sort of obscure reference to a movie, tv show, or song. once i noticed this... i was concerned, lol. who & what even am i?? just a millennial idiot box brain blob composed largely of 90's american pop culture tidbits?

it's partially true. a real product of my generation i am. can't be tamed. 

it is kinda funny (& special!) that peter and i get along so well because his well-rounded youth was spent not watching television and he doesn't understand any of my weirdass references. so i don't drop them around him anymore. but i mean, this does make me feel better knowing i'm actually not solely chocked full of nonsense and do have some other things to say, haha. 

there's just something fun & cool when you throw out a random line from a movie or song in a certain situation and someone else laughs and gets it. this is really a significant factor in many of my friendships actually, lolz. nostalgia is my THANG (in fact - as i write this, my friend & i are texting about the new mary poppins that comes out this xmas. hiii allison.)! 

so back to bangarang brownies - these brownies are bangarang. hello!!!! and bonus points because i live with someone named peter and i get to say "bangarang, peter" a lot. 

also. "oh there you are, peterrrrrr."

wow, this youtube rabbit hole i'm in is becoming the exact tangent i had on 'the little rascals'  25th anniversary from this old post about grape juice.  because this hook 25th anniversary video is equally amazing.  and bless you movie people for making 25 year reunion compilations of my ultimate faves. 

apparently food things & childhood nostalgia go very much hand-in-hand for me. 

growing up, i wanted nothing more than a colorful food fight like in 'hook'. like the colors of these tulips! brownies really have nothing to do with the movie 'hook' except for the fact that i shouted 'bangarang' when tasted THIS incredible brownie batter:

^would like to frame this. you should have seen my face when i tasted it. eyeballs exploding out of my head. the flavor is incredible. 

i would even stop right here and freeze this batter in mini cupcake tins to have little bite-sized frozen treatzies... but i dunno much about raw egg consumption, so do what you will.

the kahlua + espresso really do the damn thing for me. YUM.

^ left one section mallow-free just for variety. 

i would highly recommend serving these while they're warm so the marshmallow is still gooey! all the textures are stellarrrrrrrr. yer gunna love it. 

Bangarang Brownies

Makes 12-15 brownies

Total Time: 9x13 inch pan - 40 minutes, 8x8 inch pan - 1 hour

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened - browned is ideal! you can follow this brownie recipe here for browned butter
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp. fine sea salt
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1 TB espresso powder (optional, but delicious)
• 1 TB Kahlua (optional, but also delicious)
• 12-15 big marshmallows

Instructions-

Brown the butter in a pan (follow these instructions in my other brownie recipe), let cool in a bowl in the fridge for 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a 9x13 or 8x8 pan with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray. While the browned butter is still warm, add to a large bowl or stand mixer with the brown sugar, mixing until glossy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix. Add the vanilla, flour and walnuts separately, mixing in between additions. Finally add the espresso powder and kahlua and mix to combine. 

Spread the brownie batter in the prepared pan and bake according to the size of your pan and thickness of the brownies:

9 x 13 inch pan -  check at 20 minutes

8 x 8 inch pan - check at 40 minutes

When the brownies are not yet baked all the way through, remove from oven and top with large marshmallows. Raise oven heat to 450 degrees F and broil the marshmallows until golden, about 5 - 7 minutes. Do not over-bake the brownies.

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brown butter brownies.

hellooooo, lovvaaaah.

sometimes ya just need a damn brownie. ya feel me?

this recipe yields a pretty small amount of brownies, for when you "just need a damn brownie," but don't necessarily need/want to have like 30 brownies sitting around the kitchen taunting you for the next few days.

with browned buttah, too! mmmm. this extra fragrant butter smells like love or magic or holidays or all of the above.

pete got me two gorgeous copper pans for christmas. see below. prettiest ever.

you can see all the toasty brown butter flecks down in there preparing for a delicious (but short) life as an extra chocolatey brownieeeeeeee.

i pretty much made these babes as valentine's day gift to myself hahah. i think pete has had like half a bite of one...soo, good thing for small batch recipes.

we have a ton of various seattle chocolate bars leftover from christmas, and i'm finding the best uses for them besides just gobbling them up straight outta the wrapper.

and you can make these in one bowl! easy to make and to clean up. 

yum. just YUM!  ^^^ this brownie stack looks kinda like a lil robot, no?

it was reeeally hard for me to not add walnuts to these, because i just freaking love walnuts in brownies and extra texture in general. but i kept em pure & chocolatey for all ye walnut haters.

i used a mix of chopped dark chocolate with cocoa powder, for some extra deep chocolatey flavors, extra moisture (ew! - someone plz develop a new word to describe food with the same meaning..please oh pleease) and to avoid that bitter taste from using a lot of cocoa powder.

i also used quite a bit less sugar than most brownie recipes call for, and i did a combination of regular granulated sugar with coconut sugar. i just think coconut sugar yields a deeper different kind of sweetness than wHhhhite sug.

and here comes the powdered sug. totally optional, but desirable.

speaking of sug(e) & valentine's day things, we ended up getting thai food take-out and watching straight outta compton on valentine's day. i mean, soo romantiQ. i really enjoyed that movie. i found it super interesting & wanna watch it again.

and then i ate these brownies.

i just need you sometimes, brownies. fresh & warm or cooled. with a cold glass of milk. thanks a million.

Brown Butter Brownies

Makes a small batch of about 9-12 brownies

Total time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted & browned
• 1 TB vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 oz. dark chocolate, chopped (I used Seattle Chocolates Extreme Dark Truffle Bar)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt

Instructions-

To brown the butter, heat butter in a pan with light colored bottom on medium heat. Whisk constantly until butter is lightly bubbling and developing small brown flecks on the bottom of the pan. Once you have brown flecks and the butter is slightly foamy, remove from heat and pour into a small bowl. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a large bowl or stand mixer, mix the brown butter, oil, and sugars until combined and creamy. Add eggs and vanilla and whisk just until incorporated, but do not over-whisk.

Add the dry ingredients and mix gently just until everything is incorporated. Fold in the chopped chocolate.

This recipe makes a very small batch of brownies; I used an 8x4 loaf pan sprayed and lined with parchment paper. If you double the recipe, you can use a standard 9x13 baking pan. You will need to adjust your bake time, too. Use the toothpick test and do not over-bake.

Spray and line the pan with parchment paper. Pour the brownie batter into the parchment, shaking the batter into the corners and spreading evenly with a spatula.

Place the pan onto a flat baking sheet (to prevent burnt bottoms) and bake the brownies in the oven for 20 minutes. After a toothpick test, there should still be a slight bit of brownie on the toothpick if you want them to be extra fudgy and moist in the center. Bake a few minutes longer if you like a crispier brownie.

Let cool at least 5 minutes before cutting into squares. I know that's the hard part, but you want them to be firm. Or you can just go at it while its still real hot with a fork. That happens sometimes, too.

{Recipe slightly adapted from Cafe Delites}

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