Halloween Recipe: Spiderweb Brownies

In just a couple weeks, Lick The Bowl Good will be celebrating it's 3rd Anniversary. It's hard to believe that it's been that long, but as they say, "time flies when you're having fun!" To help me celebrate, I will be hosting a giveaway from CSN, and it's gonna be good, so stay tuned for it. Ever been to CSN? They have everything from bar furniture to luscious cast iron Staub cocottes at great prices. You can even pick up a springform pan so you can make these Spiderweb Brownies!

From now until Halloween, I will be featuring holiday appropriate goodies. Today I have for you Spiderweb brownies, which are brownies with a cream cheese ripple in the center as well as a spiderweb design on top- fun, pretty and delicious! Before I tell you more about them, I have to tell you that I kinda goofed up a bit :-) This recipe says to make it into a 9x13-inch pan or two round pans. But in the comment section on the King Arthur Flour website someone asked if these could be baked in a springform pan, the the folks at KAF said YES and so that's what I did. However, they took so long to bake that the white cream cheese web design turned golden- not the look I was going for. So if you make these I suggest you make them in a larger pan or in two smaller pans. If you choose to make them like I did, bake them for 50-60 minutes.

I've been on the lookout for a chewy brownie for quite a while now. This particular recipe got oodles of great reviews so I tried it. While they are rich and dense and fudgy, they are not chewy. But they are delicious. I doubled the cream cheese mixture and spread half it in between two halves of the brownie batter. This made for one thick and decadent brownie! If you have a favorite brownie recipe or prefer boxed brownies, just use the creamy 'spiderweb mixture' to decorate with. It's a great way jazz things up this Halloween! Click on the link to see step by step pictures on the KAF blog. And if you happen to have a good recipe for chewy brownies please let me know!

Spiderweb Fudge Brownies adapted from KAF

Printer Friendly Version

Brownies:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups Dutch-process cocoa
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon espresso powder
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 cups chocolate chips, optional

Spiderweb Mixture:

• 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/2 teaspoon mint or vanilla extract (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan.

For the brownies: In a medium sized microwave-safe bowl, or in a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat (or microwave) briefly, just until it's hot (about 110°F to 120°F), but not bubbling; it'll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.

While the sugar heats a second time, crack the 4 eggs into a bowl, and beat them with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla till smooth.

Add the hot butter/sugar mixture, stirring until smooth.

Add the flour and chips, again stirring until smooth. Note: If you want the chips to remain intact in the baked brownies, rather than melting in, let the batter cool in the bowl for about 20 minutes before stirring in the chips.

Spread the batter in a greased 9" x 13" pan, or two 8" round pans. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

For the spiderweb mixture: Combine the cream cheese, sugar and flour in a small bowl, and mix until smooth. Add the egg yolk and flavoring (if using), mixing until smooth once again. Transfer the mixture to a disposable pastry bag, and cut just the very tip off the end, as shown.

Draw a small circle in the center of the brownie batter. Make concentric circles starting from the center and working your way outward, about 1 inch apart.

Bake the brownies for about 30 minutes, (If you use a 9-inch springform pan like I did, then it will take about 50-60 minutes to bake through), until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and the center should look very moist, but not uncooked. Remove them from the oven and cool on a rack before cutting and serving.

Have a great weekend!