Simple Solutions

Banoffee Brownies

by LEON BOUTEILLER

A new idea for this column; a recipe for people who cook infrequently, have little experience or little time. They might need a recipe that is timely or requires less expertise.

This may become a serial segment or an occasional offering called Simple Solutions. These recipes are recognizable, reliable, easy to produce and with an interesting twist. There are many cookbooks that offer recipes with three, four or five ingredients or one bowl recipes. These are usually boring. Some recipes may use a shortcut or two, perhaps a packaged mix.

A brownie is the most basic baked good made in the home kitchen. Along with chocolate chip cookies many an aspiring young cook can spread his/her wings. Brownies show up everywhere as holiday gifts, at bake sales and coffee shops. One of the most popular desserts in restaurants is a brownie sundae. One can use all sorts of add-ins such as chocolate chips, nuts, dried fruit, coffee, molasses and even bacon. Frosted or not, almost everyone has a favorite style - cakey, fudgey, thin or thick.

Brownie recipes are generally foolproof. The greatest mishap is to over or under cook them. To my surprise, many easy brownie recipes were anything but. There were multiple steps and exact procedures to produce this ubiquitous treat.

Today’s recipe can be made with a brownie mix. I used Ghirardelli brownie mix with much success. If you prefer another mix, that is fine. Follow directions on the box for mixing and baking times.

I discovered this on a recent trip to New Zealand when I wandered into a bakery. Banoffee, found in a pie on dessert menus, is a combination of banana and toffee. Some mistakenly think it refers to coffee but it does not. Although I do call for the addition of instant coffee.

BANOFFEE BROWNIE

Ingredients:

  • 1 box brownie mix

  • 1 jar prepared Dulce de Leche, you use about half of the contents. (Use the remainder to sweeten your coffee or warm it and serve over ice cream)

  • 1 or 2 bananas, you will not likely need all of it

  • 1 teaspoon instant coffee

Method:

  • Whatever size baking dish or pan directed on the box directions, spray with cooking spray, line it with parchment paper or aluminum foil leaving an inch or two overhang on each side. Spray lightly again

  • Follow directions for ingredients, mix the brownie batter and pour/scrape it into the prepared pan spreading the batter evenly to edges with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula

  • Slice the banana crosswise into ¼ inch thick slices

  • Mark the top of the batter into 12 or 16 even squares, much like a crossword puzzle graph.

  • Place 2 slices of banana overlapping each other in each square pressing down so they are even with the top of the brownie batter

  • Place a slightly rounded teaspoonful of the Dulce de Leche on top of the bananas. No need to smooth it out as the heat of the oven will do that

  • Bake in a preheated oven as directed adding 2 to 3 minutes baking time

  • Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack for at least 90 minutes

  • Lift the brownies from the pan with the help of the parchment paper or aluminum foil overhang

  • Cut the brownies so the banana filling is in the center of each brownie

I hope that this recipe is easy. It is a bit different. If you already have a favorite brownie recipe, you can use it instead of a mix. Have fun and, if there are any young chefs out there, this is a good place to begin.

Enjoy!

Leon G Bouteiller was born and raised in Northwest Connecticut. He has held several jobs as chef in the community. He is now retired and living in Cornwall with his wife Patrice and a love of the outdoors. They are joined by their pets, a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog named Banjo and two rescue cats called Ricky and Lucy.

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