Pistachio White Chocolate Brownies

My mom's requested squares for an event she's having.  I was going to make these Almond Petit Fours but due to an almond allergy I opted for these pistachio brownies instead.  I fell in love with pistachio macarons last summer in France, and since then I've been meaning to bake with pistachios.  I also adore the flavour of marzipan/almond extract so I thought these would be scrumptious :)  

I chose not to use splenda because my mom doesn't really like the aftertaste - I've never noticed one - but I think next time I would use maybe half or full splenda, usually I have pretty good success with splenda in brownies.  Let's be serious though.. splenda or no, these are kind of diet killers.

All in all these were pretty delish.  The pistachio flavour was more subtle than I was hoping, and if I were to redo them I think I'd up the almond extract and add some pistachio extract, and throw in some more white chocolate chips.

 

Recipe adapted from Clumbsy Cookie

1 cup all purpose flour

1 1/3 cup ground pistachios

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter

7 oz (7 squares!) white chocolate

1 cup sugar (or try splenda)

4 eggs

1 tsp almond extract

1/4 cup white chocolate chips

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips 

pinch icing sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F (for me, 360 convect which converted to 335) and grease an 8 x 13 pan.

I started by spending what felt like hours shelling pistachios.  Once you have a fair amount, blend them in the food processor until they resemble flour.

Melt together the butter and white chocolate in the microwave at half power for three minutes, checking and stirring every minute.

mmmm look at that gooey chocolate chip

Measure out the sugar and almond extract into a stand mixture, and blend in the butter and chocolate mixture at medium speed. Add the eggs one at a time and continue to blend until smooth.  Add the flour and ground pistachios and blend at low speed until just combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Pour into the greased pan and bake in the preheated oven for approximately 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out fairly clean. They should be golden on the top and darker around the edges (see left).  Dust with powdered sugar and let cool completely before cutting.  Lick the bowl and spatula clean - you won't regret it.

About Me

I'm an 18 year old girl with an intense love for creating things in the oven.  I cook out of my mother's kitchen - hence, making a mess of your kitchen.  I am not as good at cleaning up as I am at doing the baking.  I've made this blog because I've begun to alter recipes a lot and forget how I changed them. This way I can track what I did, and if I liked it.  I try to cook with low fat, low carb, low sugar etc. so I play around with splenda and nut flours.  There's still nothing better than full fat, sugary chocolatey cookies though :)

Healthy Nutty Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Muffins

 

Healthy Nutty Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Muffins

I made these to eat with my eggs for breakfast in the morning, but they're good as a protein-rich snack any time of day. They're really light, moist, sweet and fluffy.

recipe adapted from Girl Gone Gourmet

Makes 1 dozen

For the Muffins:

1/2 cup almond flour
1/4 cup peanut flour
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 hefty teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs

1 1/4 cup splenda granular

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cups canned pumpkin

1/4 cup fat free greek yogurt

1/2 cup fat free sour cream

1 tbsp corn oil (all I had on hand, canola works fine)

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

large pinch cinnamon

For the Cream Cheese Swirl:

5 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup splenda granular

1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. (My oven does this crazy changing temp when I use convection, so I typed in 360 on convect and it converted to 335)

In a medium bowl or stand mixer mix the cream cheese, splenda and egg together using an electric mixer until smooth.

Set the mixture aside.

In another medium bowl combine the flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a separate large bowl mix the eggs, splenda and vanilla together until smooth. Stir in the pumpkin, yogurt, sour cream, nuts and oil.

Line a muffin tin with paper cups and divide the batter between 12 muffin cups. Spoon about a tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture over the top of the batter. Using a toothpick swirl the cream cheese over the top of the batter in a circular motion. Sprinkle a small amount of cinnamon onto each muffin.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes (mine took 30), or until the muffins pass the toothpick test. Allow to cool in the pan before removing. Store in an airtight container.