Pretending it's not "that time of year"

It's not that I want to look like some kind of Dickensian character or anything, I've just been super busy and not ready to do all the Christmasy stuff I usually do. Plus, I do get kind of shat off by carol overload before December even starts. To get in the spirit I bought some bonbon bangers today so I'm getting there.

Anyway, when I do finally get into Christmas mode, the plan is to post a bunch of seasonally-appropriate recipes on here (I'm thinking mini puddings, shortbread, almond splinters and Italian almond biscuits this year... yum!). Until then, I thought this'd be a good segue into the season, both Christmasy and brownie! My flatmate also thinks they would be awesome with 1/2 cup of white chocolate bits but it's raining right now and I'm not wearing any shoes.

These brownies are more cakey than my usual recipes and originally come from Taste, though with a tiny bit of tweaking.

Chocolate Cranberry Brownies
175g butter, chopped
200g dark chocolate
4 eggs
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/4 cups plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup cocoa


Oven @ 170c                                                     20cm square cake pan lined with baking paper

Melt butter and chocolate together in the microwave. Stir to combine and allow to cool slightly.

Mix in eggs, brown sugar and cranberries and then the flour, baking powder and cocoa. Stir until just combined. Spread into prepared cake pan and bake for 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out slightly sticky. 

Set aside in the pan for 10 minutes to cool before turning out.

The thing about low fat...

I've spent the past three days trying to come up with some sort of witty anecdote to go with this recipe... I got nothin'.

I guess the reason I made it was to try to find a recipe for some health-conscious friends that wasn't entirely loaded with calories. While it's true that this recipe has about half the butter that a normal brownie recipe has, I can't pretend it isn't laden with sugar. Still, you could probably imagine you're getting extra roughage or something.
Of all the "healthy" brownie recipes I tried, this one seemed the best - it has a nice texture and isn't rubbery like some fruit brownies can be. It's also quite bittersweet and larger than a few others I have on here. I would recommend aiming for a slightly undercooked result to avoid it getting dry.

Just to prove how hypocritical I am, I've written this while stuffing my face in a  chocolate cafe.

Apple Sauce Brownies
250g dark chocolate
100g butter
150g unsweetened apple sauce
1 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp instant coffee powder
1 tbsp coffee or chocolate liqueur

4 eggs
1 cup plain flour
1 tsp cocoa powder
1 cup dark chocolate chips (or walnuts)

Oven @ 160c                                   23cm square cake pan lined with baking paper

Melt the chocolate, butter and apple sauce together. Allow the mixture to cool slightly.

Stir in the sugar, essence, coffee and liqueur.
Add the eggs and mix in well, then stir in the cocoa and the flour and stir until just combined.
Spread mixture into the lined pan and press chocolate chips or nuts on top.

Bake for 25 minutes then stand for 10 minutes before turning out. 

So the father grew lemons

And the mother assured the daughter it was easy to make lemon butter in the microwave. And lo, this was true

Microwave lemon butter
125g butter, chopped
3/4 cup caster sugar
4 eggs
Finely grated rind of two lemons
Juice of 2 lemons (about 1/2 or 2/3 cup juice)
Glass jars

Makes approx. 4 cups

Fill the jars with boiling water to sterilise, then allow to dry.

Whisk the eggs until well combined then whisk in the lemon rind and juice.
Meanwhile, combine butter and sugar in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 2 minutes and stir well.
Stir the lemon & egg mixture into the hot butter mixture and combine well.
Microwave for 4 minutes until thick, whisking well at 1 minute intervals (try not to let it boil or you can end up with lemon scrambled eggs).
Strain if you get any egg lumps then pour into the jars and refrigerate.

Keeps about 2 weeks