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You are here: Home / bar cookies / Some Kitchen Photos & Some Inadvertantly Gooey Peppermint Brownies

Some Kitchen Photos & Some Inadvertantly Gooey Peppermint Brownies

February 13, 2009 By Laura 12 Comments

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My mother’s favorite part of my new kitchen is the pantry. It is a step in, which means you can step 1, maybe 2 steps into it, but it is long and has shelves at each end also. The photo to the left is the view of the left from the inside. The photos in the center and to the right are the same views of the pantry (center, right), only taken from outside the pantry. The doorway, despite these views, is in the center of the pantry (i.e, there is equal space to each side).

This new kitchen continues to provide immense happiness in little ways–ways that other cooks would appreciate but people not interested in the kitchen would roll their eyes at. Like when I baked bread and cake at the same time. Or when I rolled out my shortbread and made cutouts on a whim and did not have to worry about counter space.

Tonight I made an Indian dinner that consisted of a stew and a salad–and I promise I will share later. But the point is that I did not have the ingredients for the salad (since fresh produce is what I am most likely to run out of), so I had to throw it together at the last minute after John got home (he stopped at the store on the way). Normally making the dressing would consist of me frantically thumbing through 18,000 bags of spices, all in disarray, looking for mustard seeds, since Indian spices rarely come in bottles. And even if they did, then I would be rearranging the spice shelves, since I can really only count on cumin, my most used spice, being front and center.


But tonight I just opened the spice drawer and there they were. Joy!

A few of you have asked about seeing a better picture of the spice drawer, so here are a few. Likewise, here are some pics of the kitchen itself. It is still not finished because of the mess with the fridge. I did not include bookshelves; they are rather messy still because I did indeed run out of room for my cookbooks and I still have not decided how to deal with the overflow–or prioritize which are staying in the kitchen. I am a little on the OCD side about how they are organized, so even though you might see some space on the left in various food shots, that space is reserved for baking books and it is cooking books I am out of space for (although dessert books are not far behind). Do I sound crazy now? You’d think I would be a neat freak for all my little weirdnesses (yes the spices are alphabatized) but alas that gene passed me WAY by.

I do have some brownies to share, although the base is a recipe I have shared before. What makes them unique is the fact that instead of peppermint baking chips or chocolate chips, I folded in York Peppermint Patty Pieces. What makes them, alas, even more unique is that I got them all the way into the oven before realizing I had left out the flour. In my defense I was trying to coordinate both toddlers helping me–haha. So I pulled them back out and mixed in the flour–which means the peppermint patty bits pretty much melted into the dough, resulting in one gooey brownie, much to my family’s delight. Sadly I really prefer a chewy brownie over a gooey one, but at least they are happy.

If you like gooey brownies and want to try replicating these, I advise following the directions linked to, only adding about 3/4 cup York Peppermint Patty Baking Pieces when the cocoa-butter-sugar mixture is still warm. Or you could try just adding the pieces at the end, and maybe you’ll get what I was aiming for!

Filed Under: bar cookies, brownies, chocolate, mint chocolate

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Comments

  1. Josie says

    February 13, 2009 at 8:39 pm

    holy cow your kitchen is clean 🙂
    I need to use my peppermint patty pieces, but haven’t been inspired yet… maybe this will do it for me.

    Reply
  2. HoneyB says

    February 13, 2009 at 8:53 pm

    I would love to have your kitchen! We live in an old farmhouse that desperately needs to be fixed up and it is really tiny! We just moved here a year and half ago and everything else we ever lived in was HUGE. My last kitchen had two of everything…from sink to stove! Makes me sad that the house was not for sale!

    Reply
  3. Elyse says

    February 13, 2009 at 9:27 pm

    These brownies seem like quite a happy accident. Those brownies look delicious!! By the way, your kitchen looks great!

    Reply
  4. Laura says

    February 13, 2009 at 9:41 pm

    Josie–I took the pics right before playgroup. 😉

    Reply
  5. Netts Nook says

    February 14, 2009 at 12:21 pm

    MM Good they look great. Love the kitchen.

    Reply
  6. Robert says

    February 14, 2009 at 12:34 pm

    Hooray! Kitchen photos!

    I so want a double oven! But I’d be just as happy with more counter space…

    Maybe, since you can bake two things at once, now, you’ll actually make it out to a movie or two? 😉

    Reply
  7. That Girl says

    February 14, 2009 at 1:08 pm

    Your spice drawer is so cool!

    Reply
  8. RecipeGirl says

    February 15, 2009 at 10:10 am

    I love seeing everything… I can feel your excitement every time you talk about your new kitchen!! Your spice drawer is so awesome. It must make things so much easier to find too.

    Those brownies sound great- hubby is a big ‘mint’ fan so these would go over well in our house!

    Reply
  9. Linda says

    February 15, 2009 at 4:22 pm

    I love you kitchen. We have a nice big one as well and I dread the day we ever move!

    Reply
  10. Vicci says

    February 15, 2009 at 10:45 pm

    Laura, I’m in the process of designing our kitchen addition and I patiently wait through prehistoric dial-up slowness to see your photos. 🙂 I have 3 spice-drawers in my plans…

    Reply
  11. Amy says

    February 18, 2009 at 3:35 pm

    SO big and bright! Awesome. I hope ours comes out that well, but alas we will not be able to fit in quite as many countertops, I don’t think.

    I also like the munchkin peeking up in one of them, not to mention the U-M chair!!

    Reply
  12. TeaLady says

    February 25, 2009 at 7:09 pm

    I don’t know what I love more — the brownies or the spice drawer. I am working on my spice drawer. So much better than a shelf in the cabinet. The brownies will probably be finished first…..

    Reply

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Hi! I’m Laura and I am a recovering history major who has re-channeled all of my passion for learning about the history of different countries to learning about their food culture. That doesn’t mean every dish on here is strictly authentic, but it does mean that even my adaptations are not undertaken lightly. My goal is to show you–by doing–that these dishes are possible in your kitchen. Including desserts because I have quite the sweet tooth! Read More…

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