Sunday, May 11, 2008

Banana Brownies


On my regular spin around the blogging world, I noticed the May Cooking Club Challenge on the FoodTV blog . This month's recipe comes from celebrity Chef Michael Smith . Chef Michael's tv shows are well known in Canada as is his passion for fresh seasonal food with the injection of personal flair and a sense of adventure. On one of his shows, his opening line is about sharing his recipe which he describes as "cooking without a recipe". Michael encourages his audience to think about the ingredients you have and don't be afraid to try putting things together and experimenting. After all - food is meant to be more than just sustenance - it's about fun and creativity - and all about the flavour.

Banana brownies - how could I possibly say no to that? Even better - the rules say it's okay to add to the recipe or to create the recipe straight up. The recipe as it's presented follows. I added both nuts and peanut butter chips for variety.


Ingredients:

1 lb. dark chocolate
2 sticks (1 cup) butter
4 eggs
4 ripe bananas
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tbsp. baking powder




Process:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a small bowl set over a pot of simmering water.



3. In a separate bowl, mash together the eggs and bananas
4. Add the flour, sugar, cocoa and baking powder and stir to combine



5. Pour in the melted chocolate mixture and stir
6. Butter and flour an 8" x 8" baking dish and pour in the batter. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean and the brownies are firm to the touch.







When I originally saw the photo for this brownie, my impression was that it was going to have a cake like quality. Let me tell you - I took one bite of this brownie and IMMEDIATELY wrapped the rest in freezer packaging. I assure you without any question in my mind that had I not done that - there would be no brownies left by morning. The consistency starts off cakey when it hits the taste buds but you very quickly get the fudgey density and intense chocolate flavour. I also really liked the addition of walnuts and peanut butter chips. If I ever came close to dieing and going to heaven on food, this would be it. Chef Michael Smith is not just another pretty face - you need to try this recipe. Your family will be eternally grateful to you!! Here's a tip - save one for yourself - put it in the fridge and have it the next day. Once the brownies have had a chance to settle and reach their true level of density, you have no idea what a piece of nirvana you're in for. I guess you get that I really liked this recipe (or do I need to get more pornographic about my descriptors?) StumbleUpon

31 comments:

Pixie said...

Just wanted to wish you a happy mother's day Momma G. And hope you saved just a bit of that orgasmic brownie for me ;)

Anonymous said...

Good grief, I have never heard of banana brownies. How delicious! What a concept.

Deborah said...

Yum! I would have never thought of adding banana to brownies.

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

Good call on wrapping them up and putting them in the freezer Giz. I love Michael Smith and his show from the Maritimes. Doesn't he live in a fabulous place right on the ocean:D

Peter M said...

Ya know, we don't live that far away...wink-wink...I'd love to sink my teeth into a brownie! ;)

test it comm said...

Adding bananas to brownies sounds like a great idea! They look really good! I am going to have to remember that freezer trick. :)

Melissa said...

wow, those sound wonderful, with your description. and I don't even normally like sweets. *drool*

happy mother's day giz!

Ruth Strong said...

What better thing to add to brownies than bananas!!!! These look and sound fab!

Jessy and her dog Winnie said...

Banana brownies sound amazing! Happy mothers day!

giz said...

Thank you for all the MD wishes - I feel so special.

NP, Deborah,Kevin,Ruth - I wouldn't have thought of bananas with brownies either but it's really amazing

Peter - You can raid the freezer and take the whole lot - I'm just waiting for someone to give them to. If I eat them, I won't fit through the door.

That Girl said...

I love frozen chocolate bananas, I love banana bread with chocolate chips, but for some reason I always forget how good chocolate and banana are together.

grace said...

lady, what are you doing to me?

these are like an improvement upon chunky monkey ice cream. more chocolate? always good. the addition of peanut butter? stroke of genius. yeah, these would be irresistible. not even the freezer could stop me.

OhioMom said...

Oh I love this, and I just happen to have all these ingredients on hand.

Lori said...

They look like they are begging to be eaten. I love a good brownie recipe and that looks like a winner. This is one I will have to make soon.

Hey your recipe is the first to be added to my totally cleaned hard drive. I wish someone could clean my house like that. Oh well I guess maybe that wouldnt be a good idea either. Clean from dirt yes. Clean from all my furniture, yikes.

Anonymous said...

Could you GET more decadent? :-)

(oh, and sorry you didn't get to tell me about the award before I saw it, but thank you all the same!)

Carrie said...

MMMM.. those look and sound delish! Thanks for the recp.!

Elle said...

Oh wow! if the photo didn't entice me enough, your description of them put me over the edge!

Núria said...

He, he, Giz! You've convinced me, ok, this one goes to my future-baking-list!!! It sounds and it looks soooooo good :D

Vicarious Foodie said...

I keep hearing a lot about Foodtv. I wish we got the shows here, because I feel like I'm missing out!

Awesome-looking brownies, too.

Rosie said...

Oh Giz, these brownies are perfection I just like the idea of adding ripe bananas to the mixture what a great flavour :D

Rosie x

Pixie said...

G- please tell me you're holding the TTT event lol and I didn't just think you were and posted about it? If you weren't planning to - am sorry, I thought there was recent mention of it! umm yea so do it again then :)

giz said...

Pixie - lol - Psychgrad and I have been talking about hosting again but haven't confirmed dates etc. Hang on to that post - it'll come in handy.

Nic said...

Awesome, decadent and delicious!

Elle said...

Chocolate, bannanas and peanut butter (chips) have got to be one of the all time best combos...and the brownies looks soooo good. Good idea to freeze most of them, the better to really appreciate the one left unfrozen :)

RecipeGirl said...

I was looking at a Banana Split Brownies recipe recently. This sounds very similar.

Neen said...

okay, you win. Duly bookmarked. There goes my waistline. :) That really does sound incredible. My fam makes fun of me because I hate brown bananas, they scare the bujesus outta me. This seems like a fabulous way to "dispense with" ripe bananas!

LisaRene said...

I completely relate to your comment regarding putting them in the freezer :) I have NO willpower and when I make something like this I save two pieces for my husband and give the rest away - I limit myself to licking the bowl!

Anonymous said...

Yummmmmmmmmm. I think I have all the stuff to make these, too. Woohoo! I see brownies in my future! (I'm psychic like that) :) lol

Maria♥ said...

Giz these look seriously good!!

Maria
x

Recetas al instante said...

I love Brownies I never try this way before so I am going to write the recipe if you acept that.

Thank You so much

olga

giz said...

Olga - help yourself to any recipe you like - and enjoy! Thanks for stopping by the blog. Nice to have you here.

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