The Ultimate Brownie Book: Thousands of Ways to Make America's Favorite Treat, including Blondies, Frostings, and Doctored Brownie Mixes [Paperback]

Bruce Weinstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 17, 2002

Thousands of Brownie Recipes

Gooey, fudgy, or cakey, flavored with chocolate chips, coconut, or nuts, frosted or enjoyed as is, who doesn't love brownies?

In this ultimate guide to America's favorite treat, discover old-time classics such as Chocolate Syrup Brownies and Butterscotch Brownies, and new tastes such as Cranberry Brownies and Malt Brownies. For those who prefer blondies, try Peanut Butter Blondies and Jam Swirl Blondies. Short on time? Turn to Bruce's doctored up brownie mix recipes that include innovative ideas for Baked Alaska, Black Forest Cake, and even S'mores.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Readers paging through The Ultimate Brownie Book will swear they can smell melting chocolate. Brownies by definition are simple to make, so the only difficulty is deciding which kind to make first. After a short section on equipment and ingredients, the recipes are nicely laid out on facing pages so that you never have to turn back and forth in the middle of one. Authors Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough acknowledge the age-old debate over whether the best brownies are fudgy or cakelike (every recipe that falls decidedly in one camp or the other is categorized). The spectrum stretches from Cake Brownies ("Fudge lovers, you'll have to skip ahead," warn the authors) to Fudge Brownies ("a chocolate-lover's grail"). The Brown Sugar Brownies fall right on the halfway point, making them universally pleasing. Members of the fudge camp will find the Malt Brownies just perfect, with their chewy edges, creamy and rich middle, intensely chocolatey flavor, and the beautiful old-fashioned aroma of malt. Weinstein and Scarbrough also offer such new-fangled concoctions as Cocoa Nib Brownies, Marzipan Brownies, and Mexican Chocolate Brownies, as well as old favorites, including Cream Cheese Brownies and Butterscotch Blondies. And just to make sure there's something for everyone, there are a number of low-fat recipes, one that's fat-free, a gluten-free brownie, and even one for Passover. --Leora Y. Bloom

From Publishers Weekly

As Weinstein and Scarbrough point out in their fun introduction, brownies are an American original, "part confection, part pastry.... the stuff of dreams." It's debatable, however, whether they deserve their own cookbook. The authors attempt to overcome this with chapters dedicated to blondies and concoctions that use packaged mixes, but the results are a mixed batch. Classic desserts such as Cake Brownies and Walnut Brownies are the strongest. Each recipe comes with an almost overwhelming number of suggested variations (toasted pepit s and chopped dried prunes, for instance, may jazz up Banana Brownies). Some variations, such as Mexican Chocolate Brownies, introduce new flavor dimensions, and while brownie purists may turn up their noses at Fat-Free Brownies, they are a thoughtful inclusion. Things get weird, however, with Chile Brownies and Sweet Corn Brownies made with canned creamed corn. Some of the blondies repeat flavors from brownie recipes (Banana Blondies, etc.) or take inspiration from them (Jam Swirl Blondies mimic Marble Cheesecake Brownies), but they do so with different techniques. The chapter on brownie mixes is puzzling: Why would anyone who loves brownies want to use a mix? Here, too, there are occasionally off-sounding flavor combinations, such as Brownie Mix Lemon Bars and Brownie Mix Peach Cobbler.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Cookbooks; 1 edition (September 17, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060937610
• ISBN-13: 978-0060937614
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #573,068 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an excellent guide to an American treat, September 21, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ultimate Brownie Book: Thousands of Ways to Make America's Favorite Treat, including Blondies, Frostings, and Doctored Brownie Mixes (Paperback)

Once again, Bruce Weinstein has come up with an ultimate winner, this time with brownies. His other books follow this same format: recipes, then variations. But here, the possibilities are endless, since every recipe has a list of what you can add to make it even better. He and his cowriter say that they are unabashed chocolate lovers. No wonder, because every recipe is loaded with chocolate. I waited for this book to come out, because I liked the other "ultimate" books so well. They're down-to-earth, no gimmick books--you don't have to put up with celebrity egos or foodie snobbery. In the end, there are just lots of good brownie recipes, along with blondies, frostings, and even recipes for doctoring mixes. A chocolate lover's dream, without a lot of fuss and fandango--just what a brownie should be.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Whoa, Brownies!, June 23, 2005

By 

I. Gutierrez "bookjanybunny" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ultimate Brownie Book: Thousands of Ways to Make America's Favorite Treat, including Blondies, Frostings, and Doctored Brownie Mixes (Paperback)

This is truly a great book for anyone who simply enjoys baking but much more for all those brownie lovers out there. I agree with the title, "ultimate", no doubt about it!

This book has a great format dividing the numerous recipes into brownies and blondies. If you love both, it gives instructions on how to change and control the texture of them to make them more fudge-like or cake-like. Marvelous! The instructions are really basic, simple-to-use, and helpful even though if you've baked brownies once, you know how to make them for life. The ingredients aren't too hard to get most of the time so with a little experimentation, you'll be churning out the hits in no time.

It has a final section on icings, coverings, and frostings. They're all delicious and easy to make and include a few variations. Each recipe suggests one or two forstings that would complement it well so that makes it all the much easier to match flavors. With so many variations, if you wanted, you'd never stop creating new flavors for your family to enjoy.

I know I sound very enthusiastic about this book but I have good reason to do so. I really have nothing negative to say about this book, except maybe I would've liked some pictures but really, the recipes are so good that I'm not subtracting any stars for this. My family has enjoyed these creations for quite awhile now. A few favorites are the Peanut Butter Brownies, the Mint Brownies, the Coconut Blondies, the Coca-Cola Brownies, and the Chili Pepper Brownies (yes, chili pepper!) This truly is one of my favorite cookbooks.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If You Bake Brownies - You Must Have This Book, November 29, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ultimate Brownie Book: Thousands of Ways to Make America's Favorite Treat, including Blondies, Frostings, and Doctored Brownie Mixes (Paperback)

Okay, I bought this book because the brownie on the cover made my mouth water. Looking at the recipes in the book, I assumed this was the Marble Cheesecake Brownies and I was right. I've made them a dozen times and they come out as good as they look on the cover, every time. I've made about 8 other recipes from this book and let me tell you that these recipes have more chocolate in them than any other brownie recipes I've ever baked. They're just delicious. I'm usually happy if one or two recipes work in any cookbook, but everything I've made so far has been perfect. Don't hesitate any more, buy this book today!