Coconut Brownies

I always think I don't like brownies. If I'm in a bakery or a cafe, no part of me is thinking about choosing a brownie. Even when I'm browsing through recipes I'm always like "Meh, brownies." But then for some reason I'll buy one or I'll make a batch and I'm like, "Ohh yea...brownies." So of course I had to make a coconut-ty version of them to satisfy all the needs. These brownies are still the perfect amount of chocolate with a slight hint of coconut. If you want to jazz them up even more you could add a hint of espresso powder or some coffee chips to give them a light mocha flavour.

Here's the recipe:

Adapted from the Pastry Affair

Ingredients 

4 tablespoons solid coconut oil
4 oz of semi sweet chocolate, chopped
2 eggs
3/4 cups brown sugar
3 tablespoons of granulated sugar
1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 9x9 square pan with aluminum foil and light grease.

In a saucepan, melt together the coconut oil and chopped chocolate until smooth. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for five minutes. In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Once the chocolate has cooled slightly, mix in the egg, sugars and vanilla. Gentle stir in the flour, baking powder and salt making sure not to form an air bubbles. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour into the greased pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle the shredded coconut on top until covered. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out (mostly) clean.

Ginger Molasses Cookies

I'm not usually a fan of the big, round, cookies that you can get at Starbucks - they're too much cookie! However this time of year always makes it extra difficult to resist their ginger molasses cookies. They're soft, chewy with just the right amount of spice. A few years ago I was determined to recreate those cookies in our annual christmas cookie baking day. I found a few recipes online and pooled together the ones that sounded best, and was sure to make them even better in bite size form. This recipe is from my scraps of notes of favourite recipes and has been a winter classic in our cookie making. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

2 1/4 cup all purpose flour

2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon allspice

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1/4 cup molasses

Preheat the oven to 375 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Sift together to flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg and molasses until smooth. Mix in the flour mixture until well combined. Roll the dough into small balls, approximately 1 inch in diameter, and roll in granulated sugar. Place on the baking sheet and lightly press down with two fingers. Bake for 6-8 minutes until the bottoms are lightly browned.

These cookies give you the spice of gingerbread while still remaining soft and chewy. They're perfect with a winter cup of tea (I recommend Alpine Punch or Sleigh Ride from David's tea) or if you're feeling fancy, a gingerbread latte! Enjoy!