Recipe Exchange: Quick & Easy Valentine treats - masslive.com

Last-minute Valentine treats, that’s what we need. Lucky for us, because that’s what we’ve got, three quick & easy recipes which will delight our audience and give us baking cred.

Jaye’s recipe makes a lot of good cookies. Her directions say 60.

Actually, I made 81. Expecting these cookies to spread as they baked, I was cautious to make them smaller than a full tablespoonful. Parchment-lined cookie sheets, one at a time, filled my oven’s midsection. As one sheet came out, another went into the oven. Once baked and out of the oven, my cookies cooled on their sheets for 4 minutes to firm them up.

Jaye thinks that the dark chocolate chips are best with the cherries. I agree, but for those of us whose hearts melt with the semi-sweet, I say reach for them. Taste, after all, is a personal choice.

Check out Jaye’s original recipe:

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/cherry-chocolate-oatmeal-cookies/

Jaye’s Cherry-Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies from Taste of Home, slightly adapted

1 cup butter, softened

1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups old-fashioned oats

1 cup dried tart cherries, cranberries or craisins

1 cup dark chocolate chips or semi-sweet

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

In another bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gradually beat dry ingredients into the creamed mixture.

Stir oats into the batter. Fold in cherries and chocolate chips.

Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes, until edges are lightly browned. Cool on pans for 2-4 minute. Remove to wire racks to cool. Makes about 60 cookies.

Alice Medrich has been called The First Lady of Chocolate. Make her cocoa brownies just once and you’ll be calling her that, too.

Yes, browned butter sounds daunting, but it isn’t. In fact, it’s easy, when you know what to do.

While Alice’s directions to make browned butter are good, Sugar Geek’s video is even better. Check it out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LbvzZytZPk

Alice’s Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter and Walnuts

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 ¼ cups sugar

¾ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (spooned into cup to measure, then leveled)

2 teaspoons water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon(generous) salt

2 large eggs, chilled

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup walnut pieces

Place oven rack in bottom third of the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Line an 8 x 8 x 2-inch metal baking pan with foil, pressing foil firmly against pan sides and leaving 2-inch overhang. Coat foil with nonstick spray.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking until butter stops foaming and browned bits form at bottom of pan, stirring often, about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat; immediately add sugar, cocoa, 2 teaspoons water, vanilla, and 1⁄4 teaspoon (generous) salt. Stir to blend. Let cool 5 minutes (mixture will still be hot). Add eggs to hot mixture 1 at a time, beating vigorously to blend after each addition. When mixture looks thick and shiny, add flour and stir until blended. Beat vigorously 60 strokes. Stir in nuts. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake brownies until toothpick inserted into center comes out almost clean (with a few moist crumbs attached), about 25 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan. Cut into 4 strips. Cut each strip crosswise, making 4 x 4 squares.

DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

Makes 16 brownies.

Our next recipe comes from the February, 1984 issue of Bon Appetit. The Fruit Lady, from Philadelphia I think, makes brownies as delicious as Alice’s. Her recipe uses a 9 x 13- inch pan.

The Fruit Lady Brownies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

7 ½ ounces semisweet chocolate

1 ½ teaspoons instant coffee powder

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

1/3 teaspoon almond extract

3 cups sugar

6 eggs

¾ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup chopped walnuts

Melt butter and chocolate in top of double boiler set over gently simmering water. Remove from over water and let cool to room temperature. Blend coffee, vanilla, and almond extract into cooled mixture.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 9x13 inch baking pan and line with waxed paper. Beat sugar, eggs, and salt in a large bowl of electric mixer on medium speed until pale and smooth, about 8 minutes. Beat in flour on low speed just until incorporated. Scrape down sides of bowl. Blend in chocolate mixture. Fold in half of the walnuts. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle remaining walnuts over the top. Bake until tester inserted in center comes out clean, 45-50 minutes. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Cut around edge with sharp knife and invert onto rack. Peel off paper and invert onto platter. Cut into 12 large squares and serve.

Suggestions for Recipe Exchange can be emailed to Ellen Clifford McGuire at emcliffordmcguire@hotmail.com, or mailed to Recipe Exchange, P.O. Box 461, East Longmeadow, MA 01028. For more meal ideas, visit masslive.com/cooking

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