Chocolate Coconut Decadence

I'd never made brownies before trying these Gooey Chocolate Coconut Bars . OH MY WORD ! These are the best brownies I've ever made !! (and eaten, for that matter)

The base ...
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon almond extract

The topping:
4 ounces (1/2 block) cream cheese, at room temperature
4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1 egg
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup shredded coconut

Heat the oven to 180C/350F. Line an 8″x8″ square pan baking paper.

Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Add the butter, egg, vanilla, and almond extract and mix until the mixture forms a stiff dough. Press the dough evenly into the pan. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add egg and mix well, then add the cocoa powder and vanilla and mix until well blended. Slowly beat in the powdered sugar until smooth then fold in the coconut. I actually got excited and mis-read this part and threw it all in a bowl and mixed it at once ... except the coconut, I folded that in at the end. It didn't seem to make any difference ...

Spread the topping evenly over the base then bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the edges are just set and the center is a little wobbly. Cool for 40 minutes in the pan before lifting out and slicing. The center on mine was VERY wobbly ... but the edges were cooked so I let it be finished. It was gooey and maybe even runny the first night when we ate it and it was absolutely perfect the next day after it had sat over night !

We served it with a bit of freshly whipped cream ....

Slow Cooker Brownies

(would you like some brownie with that cream ??)

I got this recipe here ... I made a couple of changes that I will post here ...

You need to find a dish (I used an oval pyrex dish) that will fit into your slow cooker. DO THIS NOW !

Prep time: 20 minutes
Set time: overnight ~ so start these the day BEFORE you want to eat them !
Cooking Time: 6 – 8 hours

1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 extra ripe bananas ~ I just thawed a couple out of my freezer
3 Tb apple sauce ~ I peeled and chopped a couple apples, added a tablespoon or so of water, microwaved a couple minutes, pureed in stick blender and INSTANT apple sauce ! I fed the leftovers to the kids with dinner !!

4 Tb honey
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 tsp ground chili
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

The night before: Process the rolled oats in a food processor ~ til they are sort of like a flour. Put in a big bowl and add walnuts. Add all the other ingredients to the food processor and process until smooth. Add this mixture to the oats and mix thoroughly.

Line dish that you've already decided you'd use with baking paper paper and pour your brownie mix in. Cover and put then in the fridge until morning

In the morning: Get some aluminium foil and roll it into a ring to place under the dish in the slow cooker. Then put the baking dish on top of the foil ring. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

These have a very 'dark chocolate' feel to them, hence the big blob of whipped cream we put on top !!