Baking with Less Sugar by Joanne Chang Read Free Book Online Page A

aside to cool.
    3. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
    4. Using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs and sugar on medium speed for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. (Or whip by hand with an electric hand mixer until light and fluffy, about 8 minutes.)
    5. With the mixer on low speed, slowly drizzle in the vegetable oil. Be sure not to pour the oil in all at once; add it slowly so it has time to incorporate into the eggs and doesn’t deflate the air you’ve just beaten into the batter.
    6. In a medium microwave-safe bowl, mash all but one of the bananas thoroughly with a fork and microwave on high power for about 60 seconds, or until they are hot. (If you don’t have a microwave, cook the bananas in a small saucepan on medium-high heat for 1 to 2 minutes, or until they break down and get soft and mushy.) Using a small whisk, whisk in the crème fraîche and vanilla until thoroughly combined into a purée. Mash up the remaining banana and stir into the banana mixture. Add the banana mixture to the egg mixture and mix on low speed until just combined. Fold in the dry ingredients and nuts by hand with a rubber spatula until thoroughly combined, so there are no more flour streaks in the batter.
    7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top of the banana bread is pale golden brown and springs back when you poke it in the center. If your finger sinks when you poke the bread, it needs to bake a little longer. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes, then pop the bread out of the pan and slice.
    8. Banana bread can be stored, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature for up to 2 days. Or store in the freezer, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 2 weeks; thaw overnight at room temperature.

FUDGY MASCARPONE BROWNIES
    The chocolate-y, rich, indulgent brownies that we make at Flour are made with 400 g/2 cups of sugar for 16 brownies. That’s 2 Tbsp of sugar per brownie: go right now and measure 2 Tbsp of sugar and imagine swallowing all of that in one sitting. It’s a lot more than you think. All of that sugar is what makes the brownie decadent and luscious.
    I wasn’t sure if I could pull off a low-sugar version. How would I create that characteristic dense fudgy-ness of brownies without loads of sugar to introduce moisture and richness? How would the brownies bake enough to hold their shape and not just taste like a mass of goo, but not bake so much that they became dry? It turns out that you don’t miss the sweetness of sugar in these brownies if you increase the actual chocolate. In fact, you end up with a treat even more chocolate-y (sounds like a good thing to me). And to help the brownie bake moist without coming across as underdone or gooey, we beat in some rich mascarpone cheese that brings the whole thing together to make these brownies just as splendid as the original.
    MAKES
12
BROWNIES
175 g/1 1 / 4 cups all-purpose flour
1 / 2 tsp baking powder
1 / 2 tsp kosher salt
390 g/14 oz bittersweet chocolate, at least 68 percent cacao content or higher
170 g/ 3 / 4 cup unsalted butter, cut into 5 or 6 pieces
4 large eggs
115 g/ 1 / 2 cup mascarpone cheese
140 g/ 2 / 3 cup sugar
    1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325°F [165°C]. Butter and flour a 9-by-13-in [23-by-33-cm] baking pan.
    2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
    3. Bring a saucepan filled partway with water to a very gentle simmer over medium heat. Place the chocolate and butter in a metal or glass bowl. Place the bowl over (not touching) the barely simmering water in the saucepan and heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth. Alternatively, microwave the chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl in 30-second