Breaking the Silence

Wow.

It’s been a while.

More than two months, which is kind of shameful. A semester has come and gone, and a new one has started. Sixteen credit hours again. I’m getting into the swing of it, establishing a routine that seems to work well. (Yet I, in an obvious state of deliriousness, decided it’d be fun to read 265 pages of a business novel (apparently this genre exists) in five days, on top of lab reports (torturous, in case you were wondering), exams, and other homework.)

The good news is that this semester is already a million times better than the last, and it’s only been four weeks. I think I prefer the more relaxed pace of spring semester over the rushed and, while completely exciting, rather hectic and stressful fall semester (football games and all).

While I’ve been away, there’s certainly not been a lack of delicious cooking. There was a divine gingerbread apple upside down cake, lots of Thanksgiving deliciousness, a really awesome cranberry wild rice, better-than-Starbucks cranberry bliss bars, and plenty of soup. And also my beginning-of-the-semester treat to myself: cheesecake for dinner, enjoyed while watching Friends in bed. Don’t judge.

But there’s also been lots of oatmeal. A lot. It’s almost too embarrassing to admit how much.

...

You’re probably noticing a few changes in this space, too. I’ve thought a lot about these changes. I think it was important for me to take a break from this blog for an extended period. It really made me miss it.

I’m the kind of person who loves the idea of keeping a journal but is awful at keeping one. For this reason I really admire my mom, who has had a blog for nearly five years (!) and a series of Moleskine journals documenting the last five-plus years of her life.

If I’ve learned anything over these last two months of hibernation, it’s that I really miss blogging. I miss the connections I get to make with other bloggers, the thrill of seeing a creation published, and, most of all, the writing process. Writing is my oldest passion; it’s something I’ve kept with me in one form or another for half of my life. I really missed it.

When I started this blog eighteen months ago I wanted it to be strictly food-driven. I’m not actually sure why I thought keeping a food blog would be so easy while starting college, but then again I had a lot of expectations of college life dashed when I was a freshman.

But, as an engineering student, I’ve found that I really need a creative outlet. There’s only so many computer science and stochastics problems I can do before I go totally crazy. I am a soulful college girl, after all.

I’m going to see how it goes, but for now I want to shift the focus from cooking and baking to my life—everything from the music I’ve been listening to, cool things I stumble upon (but not on StumbleUpon, a site I really loathe), and other random bits and pieces. And, I suspect, from time to time there will also be a few culinary creations, because I might be the only person who is completely inspired by the thought of a graham cracker “cookie” that is legitimately just a buttery graham cracker crust. (Can someone please make this happen? Am I totally crazy for having craved this for the last two weeks?!)

So welcome to the new soulful college girl. I hope you like what you find here.

Being Thankful

A few days ago I read a post by Jennifer Perillo, who writes In Jennie's Kitchen. If you read lots of food blogs, you've probably heard Jennie's story; this past August, her husband died unexpectedly from a heart attack, and she quickly became a single mother to her two young daughters. It's a heartbreaking story, and though I'd never read her blog before, I began to after that. I'm not sure why I did, but in the past three months I've grown to look forward to her posts. They're filled with raw emotion; she doesn't sugarcoat anything; to be honest, some of the posts can be downright difficult to get through. The compassion, the pain, and the emotion you feel for this distant stranger can be pretty startling.

Anyway, this past week Jennie posted about being thankful for everything she has in her life, and she encouraged her readers to do the same this Thanksgiving. "Take a moment and think about everything that you feel fortunate for in your life," writes Jennie. "Then, think about the millions of voids that will be on Thanksgiving tables around the country."

In our family, we like to go around the table and each say what we are thankful for. It's pretty cheesy, yes, but it does allow us to reflect on everything we have. Usually, I say something like "I'm so grateful for all the delicious food we're about to eat," which is the truth. But my response never really delves deeper than that.

I don't often reflect on all the blessings in my life. I have so many. My education. My family and friends. A warm bed to sleep in at night. It can be really easy to turn these wonderful things around, though.

Classes are too hard. 

Too much family time. 

Why do I have to get out of bed so early? 

I've thought all of these things before. Actually, I've probably thought all of them in the past week (especially the first and last).

A few days ago I was in a real panic to decide what to make for dessert for Thanksgiving. I'd really wanted to make the brown butter tarts that I'd had as my birthday "cake," but I wasn't getting a response from the pastry chef at the restaurant where they're made. So I was frantically searching for an alternative. Will pie be too hard? Is crisp too boring? Are two springform pan desserts too similar? It was a whirlwind of self-inflicted stress.

And then I stopped searching for a while. Why was I making such a big deal about this Thanksgiving dessert? How was this in the spirit of Thanksgiving at all? How many people across America would gladly take any Thanksgiving dessert, be it pie, cake, fruit, or otherwise? How many people across America wouldn't even be partaking in a Thanksgiving feast? How many people around the world wouldn't be able to spend the day with their family? It was humbling to think about the embarrassment of riches I take for granted, to shift my perspective just a tad and realize how fortunate I am to consider my second dessert problem a problem at all.

This Thanksgiving will be a strange one at our home. For the first time, it will be only my parents and me, as my sister can't make the trip from Los Angeles to Atlanta. It will be a quiet day, for sure, but it won't make me love Thanksgiving any less.

Thanksgiving has long been my favorite holiday. I love the food, of course. The week-plus of leftovers that ensue. I love the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and learning how to make carrot ring alongside my mom. And watching all the Friends Thanksgiving episodes and casually viewing the football games and seeing Miracle on 34th Street for the first time this holiday season. And taking a walk in the crisp morning before hunkering down in the kitchen. Having a peaceful and conversation-filled meal with my family. Staying at home. These are only some of the things I'm thankful for this year. They may seem little, but together they make Thanksgiving what it is, small memories I'll take with me in a few years when I have my own Thanksgiving dinner and begin to form my own traditions.

Last Thanksgiving I invited my Chinese roommate Chen to our home for Thanksgiving. It was a wonderful experience for both of us: Chen got to experience "real American Thanksgiving food" and I got to show it to her. Undoubtedly it's a Thanksgiving I won't soon forget.

As next Thursday approaches, I want to know: what are you thankful for? 

Around Here

Today I thought I'd share a few things I've been into lately. Some food-related things, some not.

1. A few weeks ago I stumbled upon Autumn Reeser's blog. You're probably saying "Who?" right now, but for the clueless out there she played Taylor Townsend on The O.C. and as such was the inspiration behind this blog. So it all feels very karmic or fateful or whatever the correct term is that she, too, has a blog. And now she is both married and has a baby son, so I feel very old. She lives in Los Angeles and still acts, but I think it's so cool to hear about her daily life and thoughts. (This is probably why I like Twitter so much.) Give it a read if you can.

2. Something else that makes me feel old: Friends now comes on Nick at Nite. To me this means it's on the level of All in the Family and The Cosby Show, which were shown late on night when I was really young and therefore meant they were practically ancient. I still remember when Friends would come on every weekday on TBS at 7 o'clock (primetime), which meant that was when our family ate dinner. Heck, I still remember the fourth season finale in London at Ross' wedding when he says Rachel's name. That was 1997, so I wasn't even in elementary school then. The concept of a season finale was totally lost on me (What do you mean we have to wait four months to find out what happens next?). Friends was the first show I ever truly followed, and it will always have a special place in my heart. It's striking to me that almost ten years after the series finale (and twenty years since the series premiere) it's still hilarious to me. My parents sometimes watch reruns of MASH, and I'm always amazed at how unfunny it is. Was it always that way or has our humor evolved that much in the past thirty years? I could go on about my love for Friends, but I'll leave you with a few of my favorite videos instead: "PIVOT" / "PIVOT" bloopers / "Meat? Good" / "Misshapen claw" / "Phoebe's Christmas Song" / "A lot of information" / A hilarious but subtle opener

2. I'm loving anything by Bon Iver these days. Their songs are so beautiful it hurts. The perfect soundtrack for autumn. Check out "Michicant" (video) and "Fall Creek Boys Choir." So good.

3. I'm a big fan of Dana Velden's "Weekend Meditation" posts over at The Kitchn, and this week she also wrote a "Midweek Meditation." I love her writing - her prose is such an inspiration. 

4. Mindy Kaling's new book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? is one I'm dying to read. God, I love her. Read an excerpt here.

5. Ditto the new Serious Eats book.

6. New blog obsession: Scarletta Bakes. It's like Joy the Baker moved to the Southwest. So witty, creative, and, most importantly, she makes delicious food.

7. I'm getting antsy and anxious about Thanksgiving. It's less than two weeks away! How did this happen? Our menu is pretty much set in stone from year to year, but I have free reign over desserts, and my indecisive self usually waits until the week before to decide what to make. There's always pumpkin cheesecake, and this year I'm hoping for brown butter tarts (crossing my fingers I can get the original recipe straight from the source). Otherwise, it may finally, after several years of "yes, this is the year I'll make it," be time for Cranberry, Almond, and Cinnamon Tart. Lately I've been in love with everything deep-dish. There's something so wonderful about baking a pie in a springform pan: more buttery crust (duh)!

8. Today Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 comes out on DVD. I'm dying to see it again. Sometimes I kick myself for having waited so long to read the Harry Potter books. So, to close, one of my favorite HP-related links: J.K. Rowling's Harvard Commencement Speech. If you only actually click over to one of the (many) links in this post, make it be this one. You'll be left in awe and inspired.

Pumpkin Granola

I think I can measure how busy I am on any given day by the number of unread posts in my Google Reader. It seems unfathomable that I used to get my unread blog posts down to zero (yes, zero!), but now any number less than 400 is fine. Even though I read blogs every day, often more than once, the blog posts just never seem to dwindle.

All of this is meant to excuse this long, silent absence over here for the past three weeks. (Three weeks, yikes!) I’ll justify that by saying that I’ve had many tests and, as a result, many three-bowls-of-oatmeal days. I think the hardest thing about Georgia Tech is that it just sort of sneaks up on you. Four weeks until a test seems like an eternity (especially after the most recent one), but then I find myself studying a few days before and wondering to myself, When did we ever learn this? How in the world did they come up with this answer? As an Industrial Engineering major, when why do I need to take Physics II? When will the magnetic field of a curved disc ever be relevant to my life? Can you imagine being a Physics major?! (Turns out they have to take Honors Physics, so no: I cannot imagine doing this to myself.) A lot of these questions I ask myself revolve around physics, because I can’t exactly say I’ll never need to know accounting or probability.

As I said, there have been plenty of oatmeal three-a-days around here. Not that I mind, but it’s not exactly inspiring, and it really doesn’t do much for this space.

Luckily I have this pumpkin granola pushing me back into the kitchen. I’ve wanted to make granola for a long time. I used to buy those expensive (especially on a college student budget) Kashi granola bars that were so good. There was a pumpkin spice flavor that, lo and behold, actually didn’t contain any pumpkin in it at all. It’s like when you read the ingredients on the back of the blueberry muffin mix box (Why is there red dye in this? What is a blueberry-flavored nugget?). Anyway, I forced myself to quit the granola bar habit because at the end of the day, even though they were oh so good, I knew I could make a homemade version that was better for me and my taste buds (and my wallet, although ironically I made this at home over fall break using my parents' pantry).

What I love about this pumpkin granola is how deliciously crunchy it is. I was worried at first it would be too soft but after a day or so it crunched up deliciously. The smell is also incredible. A blend of spices and warm autumn flavors like pumpkin, maple syrup, and apples all get mixed up before being tossed with chewy dried fruit and some toasty nuts. It’s also not nearly as sweet as other granola, but I think that really lets the pumpkin and spices shine.

Now that I’ve tried pumpkin granola I can’t wait to experiment with other flavors. I’m thinking a coconut version or one with other fruits like pears would also be delicious. I also think this would be fabulous as a topping for fruit crisps. Can you imagine topping cinnamon-scented roasted apples with this? I think I may have just found a new Thanksgiving  dessert.

Pumpkin Granola
Adapted from Serious Eats

I halved the sweetener in this recipe, but if you like a sweeter granola go ahead and add another ¼ cup of maple syrup. Use whatever nuts and dried fruits you like. I used almonds and walnuts and dried cherries and cranberries but pecans, pumpkin seeds, raisins, and even dried apples would also be delicious. The measurements here are pretty loose – I just grabbed handfuls of the nuts and dried fruit, but I have pretty small hands, so adjust accordingly. (I’d say my handful is somewhere between a ¼ and 1/3 of a cup.)

Yield:  8 to 12 servings

3 cups rolled oats
1½ teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
½ teaspoon nutmeg (preferably freshly grated)
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon salt
Handful dried cranberries
Handful dried cherries, roughly chopped
Handful raw almonds, roughly chopped
Handful raw walnuts, roughly chopped
¼ cup maple syrup
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

Adjust an oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a half-sheet pan with foil or parchment paper.

In a large bowl combine oats, spices, dried fruit, and nuts. Stir to combine.

In a medium bowl, whisk the maple syrup, vanilla, pumpkin, and applesauce. Add to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly to combine.

Spread out in an even layer on the baking sheet. Bake for 40 minutes, stirring halfway through baking, until the granola is golden and smells heavenly.

Allow the granola to cool slightly before digging in. Stored well in an airtight container at room temperature, the granola will keep for at least a few weeks.

Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese

They are subtle, but I can already see the signs of fall descending here. Fall is my favorite season of the year, and I’m lucky to live in a place where I can experience it. College football, Thanksgiving, turning leaves, cooler temperatures: these are all some of my favorite things about fall.

Of course, I’m leaving out the food that it brings, but that’s somewhat of a given. I think I could live off roasted fall root vegetables like carrots, sweet potatoes, parsnips (my personal favorite), and butternut squash. When accented with roasted garlic and fresh herbs, I think there is not much else that's better. For those of you who can’t quite do with that much monotony, there is always macaroni and cheese.

Wow. That aptly sums up my feelings about this dish (yet I keep writing…). I surprised myself with how delicious this was. I knew that I wanted to make a butternut squash macaroni and cheese, primarily because I knew it would be healthier than a balls-to-the-walls version that, though undoubtedly delicious, would not leave me feeling too great afterward.

But this? This I can get behind. A rich-tasting cheese sauce is enriched with both pureed and diced roasted butternut squash for some variation in texture, as well as sweet caramelized onions (because I can’t seem to make anything without them). Hearty and nutty whole wheat pasta complements the Parmesan cheese and sweet squash. A toasty crumb topping crowns the whole thing. It is glorious.

And! It was so easy. I’m not sure why but I had it in my mind that macaroni and cheese was difficult to make (the sauce! the pasta! everything at once!), but with some smart prep work it can all be made in under an hour.

That means that in less than sixty minutes you could be digging into a plateful of this.

So what are you waiting for?

Healthier Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese
Inspired by In Sock Monkey Slippers


In efforts to make the macaroni healthier, I used mostly reduced-fat products: reduced-fat cheddar cheese, reduced-fat cream cheese, and skim milk. However, use whatever you have on hand, knowing that the finished product will taste good no matter what you use (although then I can't necessarily vouch for its wholesomeness). I prefer the flavor of whole-wheat pasta and whole-wheat breadcrumbs, so I used both here. Again, use whatever you prefer. Although the whole squash is roasted, only about 3/4 of it is used. Use all if you like.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 medium onion, sliced into 1/2-inch half-moons
Water 
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
3/4 cup skim milk
1 cup grated reduced-fat cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (the real stuff, please!)
2 cups whole wheat macaroni or short-cut pasta
1 slice whole-wheat sandwich bread (or 1/2 cup of whole-wheat bread crumbs)

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place squash on baking sheet and season liberally with salt and pepper. Toss to coat evenly. Loosely cover the squash with another sheet of aluminum foil and roast for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the squash is tender. Once the squash is tender, remove the top piece of foil, toss, and return to the oven for 10 minutes more, until the cubes have just started to brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. (The squash can be roasted several days ahead and stored in the refrigerator until ready to use.) When the squash is cool enough to handle, mash 1/2 cup with a fork or potato masher. Set aside along with 1 cup of roasted cubed squash.

Meanwhile, heat a large saucepan or pot over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until they become translucent, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper. When browned bits begin to form on the bottom of the pan, deglaze with a few tablespoons of water and stir to release the browned bits. Allow the water to cook off and the onions to continue browning. Continue this process - allowing the onions to brown and then deglazing the pan - until the onions are soft, sweet, and a deep golden brown, about 15 minutes longer.

While the onions cook, heat a pot of water over high heat. Once the water begins to boil, season very liberally with salt and add the pasta. Stir to make sure the pasta doesn't stick together. Cook until the pasta is al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes depending on the brand and type of pasta. When the pasta is cooked, drain and set aside.

Once the onions have caramelized, add the butter to the pot and allow to melt. When the butter has melted, add flour and whisk to form a thick paste. Continue whisking constantly for about 1 more minute. Slowly add the milk and whisk to combine.

Next add the cheeses and the butternut squash puree and roasted cubes. Whisk to combine and melt the cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Go easy on the salt, though, as the Parmesan is pretty salty on its own. Add the cooked pasta to the cheese sauce and stir to combine.

To make the bread crumbs, process the bread in a food processor until it becomes coarse crumbs. Alternatively, if you don't have a food processor (like me), bread crumbs can be made successfully by grating a slice of frozen bread on the large holes of a box grater.


Spray an 8-by-8-inch baking dish or similarly-sized dish (I used a cake pan) with nonstick cooking spray and transfer the macaroni and cheese to it. Sprinkle evenly with the breadcrumbs and transfer to the oven. Cook in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until the breadcrumbs are evenly browned and toasty.


Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before digging in. The macaroni and cheese will keep, stored well in the refrigerator, for up to 4 days.

Homemade Do-Si-Dos

You may be surprised to know that, as a college student, I don’t buy peanut butter. I never have and I probably never will.

Here’s the thing: I just can’t trust myself around peanut butter. Peanut butter, after cheesecake, is a true personal weakness.

Case in point: these cookies.

I call them a homemade version of Do-Si-Dos (also known as Savannahs or the entirely unoriginal Peanut Butter Sandwiches), which are my favorite Girl Scout cookie. Usually when I think of a Do-Si-Do I imagine a homier version of a Nutter Butter cookie, and while these are similar, the cookies aren’t as crunchy as Nutter Butters or Do-Si-Dos. What they lack in the crunch department they more than make up for in the peanut butter filling, though.

The cookies themselves are an oatmeal and peanut butter cookie hybrid with a satisfying chew. The filling (oh, the filling) is studded with chopped peanuts and is a sweet, sticky, altogether addicting bit of peanut butter goodness.

These cookies pack a wallop of peanut butter flavor – salty, sweet, gooey, and so filled with that glorious peanut butter scent that it’s hard to resist them.

While I imagine these would be right at home alongside a glass of milk (for those so inclined), my favorite way to enjoy them is straight out the freezer, where their texture firms up a bit and the filling almost takes on a fudge-like quality.

These cookies are the sixth thing I’ve made on my 20 Before 20 list. In case you’re wondering, I have about six weeks left to tackle the remaining fourteen items. This means a lot of delicious cooking lies ahead of me. It’s a daunting task for sure but when the rewards are this sweet (both literally and figuratively), it doesn’t seem so bad.

Homemade Do-Si-Dos (Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies) 
Adapted from Mini Baker 

I have always liked crunchy peanut butter more than creamy peanut butter and luckily that's the kind we have on hand in the apartment. If you only have creamy peanut butter, add a 1/4 cup of chopped peanuts to the cookie dough and to the filling; the peanuts add a great crunch and texture to these chewy sandwich cookies. I was feeling especially lazy when I made these cookies and opted to make the cookie dough entirely by hand. It worked perfectly, but feel free to use an electric mixer if you are so inclined. (You'll actually need one to make the filling.)

Yield: about 12 sandwich cookies

For the cookies:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup quick-cooking oats (or 1 cup rolled oats ground slightly in a food processor)

For the filling:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
2-4 tablespoons milk (as needed)

To make the cookies, begin by adjusting an oven rack to the center position and preheating the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter, peanut butter, and sugars together until well-combined. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and stir just until combined. Fold in the oats and stir to combine.

Drop the dough by the tablespoonful onto the prepared cookie sheets, spacing each cookie about 2 inches apart. If the cookies don't all fit on two baking sheets, bake them in batches. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges of the cookie are golden brown. Allow to cool completely.

To make the filling, beat powdered sugar and peanut butter with an electric or hand mixer until smooth. Add milk as necessary until the filling is spreadable but still thick. When the cookies have cooled, spread the filling onto one cookie and top with another cookie.

The cookies will keep, stored well in an airtight container at room temperature, for up to a week. Alternatively, store in the freezer for a cold and scrumptious treat.

Brownie Tarts

So. These brownies.

I made them on a whim, deciding halfway through the day, I’d like to bake something! I think I’ll bake something!

They’re a little fancy. I decided to make them in little tart pans because I’m a sucker for individual desserts. You get a whole tart to yourself! If you’re a serious brownie person, then you know that means exponentially more crispy edges (which happen to be the best part about brownies).

But then things veered a little. I ended up committing the cardinal sin of baking (or at least, my own cardinal sin of baking): don’t mess with the proportions or ingredients.

Oops.

Turns out there weren’t as many chocolate chips in the cupboard as I thought. Also turns out we didn’t have baking powder. So I made it work. Tim Gunn would be proud.

And can I tell you something? It was pretty fun, mixing things up. I even used one less tablespoon of butter, since I was feeling so rebellious and all.

But despite by bit of culinary deviation, the finished tarts… er… brownies were perfect. Intensely chewy and fudgy with a crackly sugar crust, they were eagerly devoured.

I like to think that I’m usually restrained around desserts like these. A few savored bites and I’m good. But these are dangerous. It’s all too easy to tell yourself you’re just going to eat a few crumbs (which don’t count, since they’re crumbs and all) and then find that half of a brownie is gone. Don’t ask me how I know that, though.

You’ve been warned.

Individual Brownie Tarts
Adapted from Ina Garten

These brownies are very similar to Ina Garten’s Outrageous Brownies, but I feel better about making and eating them since they have about 1/8 of the butter called for in that gargantuan recipe. I made a few changes to the recipe and was actually very happy with how the brownies turned out, so I’ve reflected those changes below. I think the most important thing about making these brownies is how you prepare your tart pans. Whether you use a larger tart pan or several smaller ones, be sure to grease them extremely well. I didn’t grease them as thoroughly as I could have and the brownies were sort of a pain to remove. The recipe calls for 3 cups total of chocolate chips. I had only 2 cups but used 1 cup of finely grated chocolate to supplement the rest. This will work in a pinch, but I like the semi-melted texture of the whole chocolate chips stirred into the batter at the end better. If you’re a nut-in-your-brownies type of person, add a cup of chopped nuts to the batter along with the dry ingredients.

Yield: 6 small (4-inch) tarts, or 1 9-inch tart

5 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon brewed coffee
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon table salt

Adjust the oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Thoroughly grease and flour your tart pans (or tart pan) and place on a baking sheet lined with foil.

In a medium bowl set over a pot of simmering water, melt the butter. Add 2 cups of the chocolate chips and remove from the heat. Stir with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula until the chocolate melts completely. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl with a hand mixer or in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs, sugar, coffee, and vanilla on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the cooled chocolate and mix to combine.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, and remaining 1 cup of chocolate chips. Fold the flour mixture into the batter just until combined.

Divide the batter evenly among the individual tart pans and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the center is puffed and a toothpick inserted into the middle of the brownies emerges with crumbs still attached (this ensures a fudgy texture).

Cool to room temperature before removing the sides of the tart pans and devouring.

The brownies keep, stored well in the refrigerator, for up to a week.