Mudslide Brownies

I know that these brownies look kind of like layered fudge, but do not let that fool you.  Between the espresso, vodka, coffee liqueur and chocolate covered coffee beans-they are far from that!

Let me tell you now, this is ultra rich and fudgey, so dieters beware.  Also, if you are an insomniac, this will only promote your problem.  The coffee and chocolate is sure to keep you up for hours.

Overall I was well pleased with the recipe.  The only issue I had was that the chocolate covered coffee beans were not that easy to grind and then they did not stick to the frosting, even though I did press down on the top after sprinkling.

Mudslide Brownies
adapted from Southern Living

Ingredients/Brownie Layer
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
2 tsp espresso powder
2 tbs coffee liqueur
4 (1 ounce) unsweetened chocolate baking squares
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup chopped toasted pecans
1/2 tsp salt

Ingredients/Topping-Frosting
2  1 ounce squares of unsweetened baking chocolate
2 tbs butter
2 tsp espresso powder
2 tbs vodka
2 tbs whipping cream or half and half
2 tbs coffee liqueur
2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup of chopped chocolate covered coffee beans (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease a 9X13 inch pan.  Then line pan with aluminum foil and grease the face up side of the foil inside the pan.

Sift together the flour and salt and set aside.  In another bowl beat eggs and then add both sugars, stirring until blended.

Take a small saucepan and place over low heat.  Add butter and chocolate squares, stirring until all is melted and blended.  Remove from heat and stir into the sugar/egg mixture.  Once that has been blended, mix in the coffee liqueur and the espresso powder.

Fold in the sifted ingredients until no dry streaks remain and then stir in the pecans.  Fill prepared pan with batter and smooth the top, making sure that it is all even.  Place pan in oven and bake until brownies are set on top, about 20-25 minutes.  Remove pan and place on rack, brownies should remain in pan to completely cool.

To make the frosting, place chocolate squares and butter in small saucepan over low heat.  Stir periodically until the mixture is completely melted.  Pour mixture into a medium size bowl.  Add all vodka.,whipping cream, chocolate liqueur and espresso powder, stir until all is blended.  Lastly, place a sifter over the bowl and sift in powdered sugar in 1/4 cup increments, beating mixture after each addition.

Once you have come to the desired consistency of your frosting, spread evenly over the cooled brownies. If desired, sprinkle chopped chocolate covered espresso beans over the top and press lightly to adhere to frosting.  Once frosting is set, remove brownies from pan using the aluminum foil lining.  Then cut with a sharp knife to serve.
.

B52 Cookies

In case you are unfamiliar with the bar drink called a B52, I will explain.  It is a drink that is made up of layers of liqueur.  The sequence of the layering is based on the weight of the liquid as is layered in this order:  Baileys Irish Cream on the bottom, Kahlua or coffee liqueur in the middle and Grand Marnier or orange liqueur on top.  There is some bartender skill involved to make sure that the liquid does not mix and the layering stays intact as pictured below.

Anyhow, this recipe duplicates the layered flavors in a cookie form.  It has one basic dough that is separated into thirds and flavored.  Then the dough is stacked in layers and cut to form the cookies.

My cookies did not turn out with perfect edges, but I feel that maybe a sharper knife and freezing the dough longer would have helped.  However, these are homemade and not manufactured, so maybe the non-perfect edges are a good thing.

As far as taste, you can taste the liqueur flavors in each of these layers and the chocolate chips compliment each flavor layer.  The texture and ingredients in the cookie base very much resemble sable cookies. Now on to the recipe, it makes about 2 dozen cookies:

B52 Cookies
courtesy of Sophisticated Cookie Cookbook

Ingredients
2 tbs Baileys Irish Cream
2 tbs Kahlua
1 tsp instant espresso powder
2 tbs Grand Marnier
1 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips
1 egg
1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temp)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 1/4 cup flour

Sift together flour and baking powder in a medium size bowl.  Set aside.  In another bowl, cream together butter and sugar.  This should take about 2 minutes on medium high speed.  Then beat in egg until blended.

With a wooden spoon, fold flour mixture into butter/sugar batter until no dry streaks remain.  Then stir in the chocolate chips so they are evenly distributed throughout the dough.  Divide the dough into 3 pieces and place each in a separate bowl.

Take a small bowl and add the Kahlua and espresso and still until the espresso dissolves.  Set aside.

Line up your bowls of dough.   Going from left to right you will flavor the dough.  In the first bowl, mix the Baileys Irish Cream into the dough.  In the second bowl of dough, stir in the Kahlua/espresso mixture.  In the last bowl, stir in the Grand Marnier.

Each piece of dough will need to be checked for consistency before rolling out between pieces of waxed paper.  I found that my Kahlua dough was a not as stiff as the other dough, so I placed it in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Once the pieces are of rolling consistency, each will need to be placed between sheets of wax paper. You will need to keep track of the flavors, so it is best to roll them out and line them up in the same order as noted above. Roll each piece into a rectangle, about 1/2 inch thick, 3 inches wide and about 10 inches long.  Place each piece of dough on a separate baking sheet and place in freezer for 10 minutes.

Remove baking sheets and peel off the wax paper of the Baileys dough.  Place back on baking sheet.  Then peel the wax paper off of the Kahlua dough and stack on top of the Baileys dough, making sure that the edges are even as possible.  Lastly, remove the wax paper from the last layer (Grand Marnier) of the dough and stack it on top of the Kahlua dough.  Wrap the whole block in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 30 minutes or up to an hour.

During this time, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease baking sheets.

Remove block from freezer once chilling time is complete.  With a sharp knife, square off all sides so that the rectangle has sharp straight edges.  Then cut the block in 2 separate pieces, measuring 1 1/2 inches wide by 10 inches long.  Place one piece of dough so the 10 inch length is running left to right on a flat surface. Then slice the dough vertically into 1/2 inch wide pieces.  Repeat the process with the other piece of dough.

Place each square of dough 1 inch apart on the baking sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until done.  When done, cookies will be firm and lightly browned on the bottom.  As you can see by the above picture, these cookies do not brown on the top or the edges.  Remove cookies from baking sheet and transfer to a rack to cool. Cheers!
                     **LAST YEAR: Espresso Chocolate Shortbread**