Capping off Beef Month with Chocolate

May 29 – where has the month gone? It seems like just yesterday we were making announcements about Beef Month, and now it is coming to a close. But don’t worry friends, we can celebrate our great product every day, and after having our oven on last night, I know I’ll be grilling from here on forward! It was too hot in the house. 

To close out Beef Month, I thought we should celebrate, and what better way to celebrate than with chocolate?! That’s right, I wanted to share with you a dessert recipe that uses beef, so this week we’re baking up some delish Beef Brownies. 

Since Stan was at work, I found a new cooking assistant for the evening, and we mixed up a batch of these wonderful, moist, chocolate-y brownies. And the best part – they have protein in them with the ground beef!

Once I got Kaden situated next to the mixer, I had him measure out the ingredients while I browned the beef in the skillet. This was a simple recipe that I found online at Food.com, and the beef provided some added moisture to the brownies to make them melt-in-your-mouth good, as well as a little texture.

Recipe:

·         2 cups sugar

·         1 ½ cups flour

·         1/3 cup cocoa powder

·         1 tsp salt

·         1 cup butter

·         4 eggs

·         2 tsp vanilla

·         ½ cup cooked ground beef (I used 80/20)

Mix the sugar, vanilla, cocoa and butter.  Add eggs, one at a time.  Mix well and add flour and salt. Fold in ground beef. Bake at 375 in a 10x15 pan for 25 minutes.  Do not over bake.

True to form, I did not mix the ingredients in order as listed above – I added the flour to the initial mix. I also forgot to set my kitchen timer – a hazard of multi-tasking – so I waited until the edges were getting a little “crisp” to them. And these brownies turned out pretty darn good!

I would suggest serving them with glass of ice-cold milk or a scoop of vanilla ice cream, but they aren’t too bad plain either. 

I sure hope you have enjoyed the Illinois Beef Association’s Beef Month cooking segments.  Don’t worry; “Cooking with Shelia” will be back on the IBA blog periodically. There are so many tasty, versatile and nutritious ways to prepare beef that I want to share with you. In the meantime, don’t forget to check out, www.beefitswhatsfordinner.com for more great recipes and beef information.

And, next time you need to take a dessert to a potluck, try these yummy brownies.  You’ll be glad you did!