Brownies for Everyone! - But first, VOTE now, Vote early and Vote Often

I am so thrilled...





I made it to round 2 of the Project Food Blog - Next Food Blog Star contest!


The assignment as to step out of our comfort zone and make a"classic" from a different cuisine.


I went a little overboard a did 4 different "Asian" cuisine recipes...

Cong You Bing Scallion Pancakes (Chinese in origin)

Chinese Five Spice Cookies (A hybrid of proper English high Tea and a Honk Kong Classic)


Vegetarian Salad Spring Roll with two dipping sauces (Vietnamese)


And for my final "turn in" recipe, Okinawa Sōki Soba (Okinawan)  


I had the time of my life and enjoyed every minute.  Lots of chopping, lots of mixing, exploring new Asian specialty grocery stores and working on adapting new techniques.  I did select Okinawan cuisine for a reason, please take a second to read over my entry post.  With the state of health in the US, maybe we all should look deeper into why Okinawa has the longest living people on Earth.  Click HERE to see my  post... Okinawa Sōki Soba - Next Food Blog Star Challenge #2 - Okinawan Cuisine.  I am pretty pleased with it.


So now, I am going to again ask for your vote.  The competition is getting really steep.  400 of the best will be narrowed down to only 200 next week.  And when I say best. you should see what the rest came up with.  Very humbling just to be considered with these folks.


So, my friends, please take a minute, look over my post, decide if I accepted the challenge and  did my best (I think I did).  Click HERE and do that vote thing.  As always, you can vote for more than one person, so if you like mine, and you like your own or another blog buddies, voting often in this case is encouraged,






And as a bribe... how about a brownie!


Last week, I showed you a raspberry dipping sauce perfect for any chocolate dish...


This week, I will show you the brownies I will serve you all when/if i get enough votes...


Has anyone else noticed how many brownie recipes have been floating around lately with coffee as an ingredient.  There is a reason.  Coffee brings out the flavor of cocoa powder and makes the tastes different.  It is a winner.


So, here's what I did...


1 cup semi-sweet Chocolate chips
2 sticks Butter
1 cup light brown Sugar
1/2 cup granulated Sugar
2 tsp Vanilla
2 tsp instant Coffee crystals
3 large Eggs
1 1/4 cup unsweetned Cocoa Powder
1 tsp Baking Powder
Double Pinch of Salt

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Melt 4 tablespoons Butter and all the Chocolate Chips in microwave using 15 second bursts, stir in between zaps
• In your Kitchenaid, mix, cream the remaining butter with the two sugars.  Add the Vanilla, coffee, eggs and the cooled melted butter/chocolate mix.
• After all the wet ingredients are combined, slowly add the flour and cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
• Spread the batter in a 9X9 greased baking dish.
• Bake for 35 minutes, until a toothpick can be inserted and removed without anything sticking.
• I drizzled a little melted white chocolate (thinned with a bit of Cream) over the raspberry topped brownies for the presentation...

Best Brownies I have ever made or ate!

Perfect to sahre at a victory party... help me get the victory!

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