Caramelized Brussels Sprouts Recipe

If you haven’t ever cooked Brussels sprouts before or if you have anyone in your family who is reluctant to eat them, this recipe is a great place to start.

• 15 Brussels sprouts, cut in half lengthwise
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• Parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Melt butter and olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
2. Add Brussels sprouts, cut side down.
3. Cover and reduce heat to medium low.
4. Do not stir or lift cover for 15 minutes.
5. After 15 minutes, add garlic and stir sprouts, cooking for 2-3 minutes more, being careful not to burn garlic.
6. Serve and sprinkle with cheese and salt and pepper if desired.

Eggless Toaster Oven Brownies Recipe

Well, of course I can’t make a regular brownie recipe without adapting it for my kiddo who is allergic to eggs and corn. Here’s a version of brownies for the toaster oven (makes 6 brownie “muffins”) that has won my kid’s seal of approval.

• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 2 Tablespoons melted butter
• 3 Tablespoons cocoa
• 1/4 cup sugar (I use half brown sugar and half regular sugar)
• 1/4 cup + 1/8 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat toaster oven to 350.
2. Spray 6-cup muffin tin with spray oil or wipe with paper towel / canola oil.
3. Stir applesauce and melted butter together.
4. Add cocoa and stir well.
5. Add sugar and stir well.
6. In a small bowl, use a fork to mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.
7. Add dry mix to the wet ingredients.
8. Stir gently and stop mixing just when you can’t see the white of the flour any more.
9. Gently fold in chocolate chips.
10. In toaster oven, bake about 30 minutes.
11. You can also make this in a regular oven — bake about 22 minutes.

Tips:

I mix this all by hand. If you mix muffins or brownies with beaters they turn out like dry rocks from overworking the flour.

You can make this vegan by omitting the butter and using canola oil instead and make sure you use vegan chocolate chips.

For flavor, add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or Kahlua.

Toaster Oven Brownies Recipe

I would like to thank Conn’s for the recent $50 gift card that enabled me to purchase my first toaster oven. The summers in Texas are hot, hot, hot so I don’t turn the oven on very often. This is sad and leads to me not posting here a lot because I prefer baking and broiling over most other cooking methods. I should call this recipe-a-month the way I’ve been cooking lately.

At any rate, the toaster oven I bought has gotten horrible reviews at Amazon, but I can’t see why. So far, it’s made everything I’ve thrown in it perfect and has not caught my house on fire. My boyfriend laughs at me when I read the manuals on these things, but hey, I have to attribute some of those bad reviews to user error where RTFM would have come in handy. Best of all have been these brownies (boyfriend’s favorite breakfast — I have no idea how he stays so slim) and the house stays cool and I make just enough for him (6 muffins) so I don’t eat too many myself.

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup flour

1. Heat toaster oven to 350 degrees 5.
2. Melt butter.
3. Stir in cocoa first, then sugar. Hand stir this whole recipe — don’t use a blender!
4. Add eggs one at a time and stir in completely.
5. Add flour and stir just until you no longer see any flour bits. Don’t overmix or your brownies will turn out like bricks.
6. Pour batter into a 6-cup muffin tin (which fits perfect in my toaster oven) that is non-stick or sprayed with cooking spray.
7. Bake for about 20 - 25 minutes depending on your oven. Mine is super small and takes the full 25 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the middle will not come out clean, but when they’re done it will come out with moist crumbs instead of batter slime.