Saturday, August 31, 2013

Super Fudgy Brownies



Boy, have I got a treat for you guys today.

First of all, notice the new blog design? After playing around with the HTML codes and stuff, I FINALLY got the designs up! I love the new look!

Back to the brownies......

I am sincerely in love with these brownies....and who cares if they're not healthy anyways? I could eat the whole batch before they even make it into the pictures.


While I have to admit I'm a sucker for chewy boxed mix brownies, these brownies are definitely my new favorite! As sad as I am to admit this (or maybe not), these are wayyyyyyy better than the boxed ones. I swear in the name of cupcakes and fairy dust. 


I was joking with my friends the other day, that what makes my brownies the best is that I put in secret fairy dust and lots of love. It's no different with these brownies. Secret ingredients: 6 sprinkles of fairy dust and a heart full of love.....secret ingredients will intensify with baking ;) 


I'd also like to warn you, that these brownies are definitely for chocolate lovers. They will be THE most chocolatey and fudgy brownies that you've EVER tasted. Seriously.

On a more serious note, though, a lot of people (er......I mean cookbooks......) have told me that cocoa powder brownies will always be inferior to "real" chocolate brownies. But mind you, the only source of chocolate/cocoa in these brownies come from cocoa powder. And are they inferior to "real" chocolate brownies? No. Not by a long shot. Keep trying.


Honestly, my taste buds can't stop thinking about these fudgy, smooth, chocolatey, and intensely flavored brownies. I have to bring them in for discipleship group so I can't eat all of these, but sharing is caring.......although I'd gladly eat the whole batch myself, even if it means I'll end up being the slowest runner in my PE class (if I am not already).


I bet most of you are asking for the recipe. Well, sorry, not gonna link it today......

JUST KIDDING. 

Obviously I love you all so much........so you can find it here. The original recipe used caramels, but I omitted them and got super delicious plain brownies (:


Happy baking!
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Thursday, August 22, 2013

Glazed Cinnamon Rolls



This won't be a lengthy post because I still have to study for a biology quiz tomorrow (bummer), but it'll be loaded with not so great pictures.


The recipe came from (once again) Sally from Sally's Baking Addiction.. You can find the recipe here. Honestly, I've never been a big bread baker and I never enjoyed waiting for bread dough to rise, but these cinnamon rolls were definitely fun to make!


Only one rise was required, but that was enough to keep me bored for an hour and a half. I really don't like waiting. Especially if it involves food.


Initially my glaze was a bit too thick so I just went with my conscience and mixed it all up however I wanted to! I tasted it and it was AMAZING! 


I really love love love cinnamon rolls, and this recipe is definitely my new go-to (not that I ever had one before......) I can't wait to serve it to 18 eager teens (including myself!) for tribe breakfast tomorrow morning!


So scrumptious. 


That's it for today, folks!

Happy baking!
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Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Skinny Chocolate Fudge Muffins--and Recipe!!!



After a short break from the blog, I'm back!

So I did mention that I'd be taking a long break on my previous post, but since today is typhoon day and school is cancelled, I get to do what I love most (of course, without finishing my math homework first!)      



I am SUPER proud of these chocolate fudge muffins today. Although they technically could qualify as cupcakes, I don't really care what they're called as long as they taste good. And boy, do they. 



The best part about these cupcakes is that there's NO butter/oil/shortening involved whatsoever, a super sensible amount of sugar, and no artificial anything. Basically, they're perfect. And I do not say this lightly. Chocolate is something that I'm quite familiar with and I am just around it 24/7. Louise, if you're reading, you'll know ;) 


If I were ever asked to write a love letter to chocolate, I would. Call me crazy, but I just love chocolate that much. Hashtag don't judge. 

The color you see in the pictures are EXACTLY the color they are. I'm not even kidding. I ate one right out of the oven and it was so warm and delicious. Told you I loved chocolate.



There is MUCH more chocolate in this than you think, and there's MUCH less calories than you think. It's basically almost a triple-chocolate recipe, because there's chocolate chips in the batter, cocoa powder also in the batter, and more chocolate chips sprinkled on top. You're welcome. 


This recipe was also super duper easy. All you have to do is combine the dry ingredients, then add the wet ingredients. Give it a stir, and you have it! 

The original recipe was also a bit different from the one I'm posting. I tweaked it a little to make it a little easier to find all your ingredients and I also dropped one or two ingredients that I felt were totally unnecessary. I also added a tad more chocolate (: 



My batter came out a touch dry the first time I made this, so I added a teaspoon of milk to thin it out a bit. The batter you get WILL be very thick, but it shouldn't be so thick to the point where there are still dry ingredients showing in your batter. If you need to add extra milk, be sure to add it in parts so that you don't make your batter too wet.


One last piece of advice: don't overmix! I want density in my muffins, and I'm sure most people will want that too! 

The recipe is at the bottom of this post. Give it a shot, because I'm sure you'll love it!



Happy baking!

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Skinny Chocolate Fudge Muffins
These muffins are very easy to make and it comes together in one bowl. There is no butter, shortening, or eggs in this recipe!
Makes 10 muffins
Ingredients:
-3/4 cup all-purpose flour
-1/3 cup cocoa powder
-2 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-1/2 cup sugar (more or less, to taste)
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips, plus an extra handful for sprinkling
-1 cup unsweetened applesauce
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1-2 tsp milk, if needed
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, 190 degrees Celsius. Line a standard 12-hole muffin tin with paper liners, Set aside.
2. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl (flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt, and chocolate chips.)
3. Add all the wet ingredients (applesauce and vanilla). Stir just until the batter comes together. DO NOT OVERMIX. If batter is too dry, add milk, 1/2 tsp at a time, until the all the ingredients are combined.
4. Spoon batter into the tin, filling each hole just 3/4 full. Just before baking, press a couple of chocolate chips onto the tops of the muffin batter.
5. Bake for 20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy warm or let cool. 
Recipe adapted from theyummy.blogspot.com 

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Rach Bakes is Taking a Break!

As much as I hate, hate, HATE to say this, Rach Bakes is officially taking a break for at least quite a bit of time. School starts in two days, and that means MUCH less baking for me! This summer, not only have I made a bajillion different things, but I've also begun to show slight improvement in a very important aspect of food blogging--photography! I'm still not a great photographer, but good enough to get by :) 

Of course, a "break" does not mean that I will never post again because if time allows I know I'll be making a few treats here and there, but I definitely won't be posting as much as I have throughout the summer. 

To kick off the Rach Bakes break, I decided to do a recap of all the goodies I've baked this summer. I'll be back, so tune in once in a while to check if I've left you with any sweet surprises!












Happy baking!
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Thursday, August 1, 2013

Jasmine Tea Cupcakes


Boy am I proud of what I'm bringing to the table today! Honestly, these jasmine tea cupcakes are probably, if not most likely the prettiest cupcakes I've ever made. I'm by no means a great froster/cake decorator, but these turned out way better than I thought they would!


I never thought I'd pull myself to make tea cupcakes. First of all, I'm not a big tea drinker. I enjoy myself some iced tea, but not straight up "tea" tea. And....after reading through the recipe which told me that I had to steep the tea bags twice, I really didn't know if I should do it. I do have a lot of extra time, but.....no one really wants to waste 60 minutes for a tea bag.


However, after some consideration, I checked our cupboards and found 25 jasmine tea bags. I knew it had to be a sign from heaven telling me to make these. I must say, that sign must've come from an angel or God Himself, because my goodness was it a great one!


These cupcakes were dressed in a simple jasmine tea buttercream. While it definitely is heavenly to look at, I have to admit that I was a little disappointed in the cream because there was definitely a lack of that bold jasmine tea flavor no matter how many times I squeeze the steeped teabag into the mixing bowl. Otherwise, it definitely made the cupcakes look stunning!


For the piping itself. I used a Wilton 1M tip and made little swirls. I've always had horrible piping skills, so this was definitely a successful experiment! I was a little afraid to try it at first because it never really worked out for me, but I guess I got lucky this time!


There is no recipe this time because it was from a cookbook and I think it still needs some tweaking, but when I get it ready I'll let you guys know!

Happy baking!
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