A La Mode

Today was the day I was waiting for!  Blue sky, sunny and warm.  I was able to use my clothes line for the first time this year.  I begged the hubby for over a year and a half to put up my clothes line.  He finally did late last summer and I swear it rained EVERY time I tried to use it.  This year I am off to a good start.  I was able to get through about three loads of laundry done and NO RAIN. 

Tonight’s dinner was nothing special, Taco nightJ  But I tried to make up for it with dessert.  I had a craving for something warm with ice cream on top, like apple pie with vanilla ice cream.  Except not apple pie, but a white chocolate brownie. 

Hubby’s eye’s nearly popped out of his head when I served this up.  We both gobbled it up with not a drop left on our plates.  I just loved the cold ice cream melting on top of the brownie, it tasted just as good as it looked. 

Brownies are always a great dessert to make.  There isn’t much work involved because the butter is melted with the chocolate and everything is incorporated just to combine.  You don’t want to over mix a brownie, the less you try the better I think.  Also, I used a good quality white chocolate.  For white chocolate I find it melt smoother and makes for a richer brownie.  Try and find something like Callebaut or Ghirardelli.

Try this one out next time you don’t feel like putting much effort into dinner.  Close the show with this show stopper and impress the pants off of everyone.

White Chocolate Brownie a La Mode

Ingredients

·        8 ounces white chocolate, chopped

·        1 tablespoon vanilla extract

·        1/2 cup butter, softened

·        1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

·        2 eggs

·        3/4 teaspoon salt

·        1/3 cup white sugar

·        1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1.      Preheat oven to 350 F.  Grease a 9x9" pan and line with parchment, grease the parchment as well.

2.      Melt white chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler, over barely simmering water until smooth, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool.

3.      In a large bowl, beat eggs until foamy. Gradually add the sugar and vanilla, mixing constantly. Drizzle in the melted white chocolate mixture.

4.      Combine the flour and salt; fold into the white chocolate mixture. Fold in chocolate chips. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.

5.      Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool about an hour; remove from pan by lifting out using the edges of the parchment. Then cut into bars.

6.      Serve heated, I don’t have a microwave so I preheated the oven to 350 and popped them in for 5 minutes or you can heat for 30-45 seconds until nice and warm.  Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a dollop of whipped cream and a generous drizzle of hot fudge or caramel sauce.

ENJOY!