Fig Crumble Bars

Ingredients
Makes 20

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for pan
• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 8 ounces dried Calimyrna figs (about 1 1/2 cups), stems removed
• 3/4 cup apple juice
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan; line bottom and two sides with a strip of parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang. Butter paper; set pan aside.
2. In a food processor, pulse together 2 cups flour and 1 cup sugar. Add butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Transfer half of mixture to prepared pan; with lightly floured fingers, press firmly into bottom. Set aside. Shape remaining mixture into large, moist clumps; transfer topping to a bowl, and set aside. Wipe food processor bowl clean.
3. Make filling: In food processor, blend figs, apple juice, lemon zest, and remaining 2 tablespoons each flour and sugar until a thick paste forms.
4. Using a small offset spatula or table knife, spread filling over crust. Sprinkle with topping. Bake until topping is golden brown, 60 to 65 minutes.

Transfer pan to a wire rack; let cool completely. Using paper overhang, lift crumble from pan, and transfer to a cutting board; cut into 20 bars. Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days.
From:

HEART OF DARKNESS BROWNIES

Wowza, I told you this cookbook could be dangerous! These really should be called Heart Will No Longer Function After Consumption Brownies. They're totally/totally insane-o, muy delicioso, and I love them to pieces.

HEART OF DARKNESS BROWNIES
from Stick, Chewy, Messy, Gooey

Recipe numero uno from my new dessert cookbook.
Click on photo for larger image.

The ingredients/tools. Melt butter + chocolate together, set aside to cool. Beat up 6 eggs (only after I broke them all did I realize I should have split the recipe in half). Add the sugars + vanilla extract. Add chocolate mixture to egg mixture. Sift in flour + salt. Mix it all up and stir in fixings of choice.

We didn't have snickers and other nut allergies led to the chocolate chip exclusivity. Bake for 20min and throw on a few marshmallows for 2min. Drizzle goodness on top and enjoy.

Some tips:

• Definitely consider using cupcake liners aka baking cups. No matter how liberally I greased and floured, these suckers did not want to come out easily.
• Don't overbake the marshmallows as they can get a bit tough. If you think they won't get brown enough, increase the oven temp before throwing the pan back in.
• Restrict consumption to ONE brownie. They're killer.
• Holly's right that 6 eggs did not make 700 brownies. It just felt like waaay too much batter in a bowl to not have a solid plan to get them outta my home as soon as they came out of the oven. I recommend creating a plan and list of people to give these to before beginning the process.
  

Banana Bread with Chocolate and Cinnamon Sugar

HOLY COW! This bread is amazing! Totally hit the spot for a late Sunday dessert while wrapping up weekend activities and dreading the ever pervasive Monday morning return to work. We cut thick slices of it and drank super cold glasses of milk while taking in some bad TV and working on our laptops. The idea of a non-fat dessert created in an only-one-bowl-required style was incredibly appealing to me ("non-fat" read: no butter or oil added, but plenty of fat from eggs and chocolate chips). This is in no way "healthy" but is a much better way to use up those ripe bananas piling up in my freezer than the traditional bread.

Melty chocolate intertwined with just enough banana flavor and topped off with a crunchy, cinnamony crustiness? Oh goodness.

And to add to Molly's comment on frozen bananas, when defrosting, try throwing them onto a Teflon-coated frying pan or baking sheet. You'll have thawed fruit in less than an hour.

Banana Bread with Chocolate and Cinnamon Sugar
courtesy of Orangette

3 very ripe bananas (the size doesn’t much matter; medium to large works)
2 large eggs
1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

For topping:
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter or spray an 8-inch square pan.

In a medium mixing bowl, mash the bananas well with a fork or potato masher. Add the eggs, and stir well to combine. Add the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and vanilla, and stir to mix. Add ¾ cup of the chocolate chips, and stir briefly. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and set aside.

In a small bowl, stir together the topping ingredients. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the batter in the pan, and top with the remaining ¼ cup chocolate chips.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.