Brownies, Lemon Bars, Soda Bread, oh my!

I have been baking. In the wake of finishing a draft of "The Fate of Droplets," I have spent rebounded effort at playing with recipes and baking. Revising my story is near the front of my mind, but setting it aside for a spell allows me to return to it with the right state of mind. So, a few more excerpts of it will show up here until it is through, and be then I will have probably worked my way through it at least once. Also, I completed reading Scott McCloud's Zot!, which was pretty lovely in its youthful insights and critiques; youthful in that way that they remain clever and heartfelt long after the first encounter. Very shortly, I will finish Wendell Berry's The Unsettling of America, which both captivates and frightens me, thus forcing a more relaxed pace in reading it. Bill McKibben's Hope, Human and Wild has been set aside until I need something distinctly hopeful again, which will probably be after Cormac McCarthy's The Road that lays immediately ahead for fast-approaching book discussions. While I bake and clean, Neal Stephenson's Anathem plays on CD nearby, which is incredibly sharp and plays on those primal chords in the human psyche that Stephenson loves to dig into.

Yesterday, I did not leave the house. Gray, autumnal air has found its way to Lincoln and I felt pleasantly locked inside, busied with this or that cleaning task. In the past, days spent indoors usually leave me all the more lethargic and malcontent, but after travel and regular work over the past week, I was happy to be made simply busy in the house. For lunch, I made some simple whole wheat soda bread; a recipe I used nearly verbatim, an uncommon incident these days. Cool but not chilly days are upon us, though I hope to avoid the wintry days that hint on the horizon. I have found a few interesting graduate programs to which I will shortly apply; among them are Northern Arizona's Sustainable Communities Program, Lesley University's Urban Ecology Program, and a few others of which I am less certain. Research and paperwork lays ahead, though I would hope for more interesting fare in these fall days.

Here are a few recipes I have been entertaining. The peanut butter swirl brownies are a little finicky, but I think I have them just about right. They are derived from two other recipes which I modified and may continue to tweak, but only slightly. The lemon bars I will just link to, since I didn't play with the recipe available here, needless to say, they turned out pretty well. The soda bread is mildly modified from Muffins & Other Morning Bakes.

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Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease a 13x9 pan.

Brownie Batter

1/2 cup butter

Melt butter in a pan, remove from heat and stir in:

1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tspn vanilla

Separately, blend together

1/3 cup cocoa
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tspn salt
1/4 tspn baking powder
1/2 cup (scant) chocolate chips/chunks

Beat dry ingredients into the liquid mixture. The whole wheat flour and chocolate will prevent it from being smooth, but incorporate all ingredients until pretty uniform. Avoid over-mixing (which is pretty easy).

Peanut Butter Bar batter

Blend together in a medium bowl:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tspn baking powder
1 tspn (scant) salt

Set aside dry ingredient mix. Beat together (preferably with an electric mixer) the following:

1 & 1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter*
1/2 cup peanut butter**

* The scant salt is because I have been using salted butter, if you are using unsalted butter, then use the whole teaspoon of salt.
** I have been using JIF extra chunk. If you want to use natural style peanut butter, you may have to adjust for the difference in oil content.

2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat in eggs, one at a time until consolidated. Add vanilla and beat in until smooth. Add the dry ingredients last, mixing until all is incorporated--again, avoid over-mixing.

Empty one of the batters into the greased pan, starting with filling opposite corners and then scooping out small amounts elsewhere. Then, do the same with the other batter, mixing slightly but try not to blend the two together. (If that happens, the result is still tasty, but the flavors are less distinct from one another.) Bake for 25-30 minutes, testing with a toothpick. You may need to cover the edges with foil to avoid overbaking the edges (I did this after fifteen or so minutes the first time, but they baked evenly the second time). Allow to cool before cutting.

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Wheat Flax Soda Bread

Preheat oven to 425 F. Grease a baking sheet.

2 & 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cup white flour
1/2 cup flax seed (ground or whole)
1 tspn salt
1 tspn baking soda

Blend together dry ingredients, then cut in butter and mix with your hands to form small crumbles from the dry mix:

2 Tbsp butter
1 & 1/4-1/2 cups yogurt

Stir in yogurt, then turn out on lightly floured counter to knead just slightly. Roll into a rough ball then flatten into a round onto a greased baking sheet until about 1 & 1/2 inches thick. Dust lightly with flour and bake for 25-30 minutes until browned and crisp.