Baking Brownies (For the first time!)

Jum'ah Brownies

It is FRIDAY everybody! In Islam, Friday is special because we get to go to the Mosque and pray the Jum'ah Salat (prayer) and listen to the Friday Khutba (sermon). Friday is a blessed day of the week and in our house we treat it as a weekly Eid day. I usually cook a special breakfast (if time/school/work allows) and we all sit and enjoy our morning together as a family. Then everyone is out the door and gone their separate ways until we again reunite to go to the Mosque together. Their is a special, peaceful feeling that comes over me when I pray the Friday Prayer with everyone at the Mosque. It is truly beautiful! The rest of the day is family time. We then spend time together home watching movies and playing games, going for walks/hikes, or going to special places such as the movie theatre, a restaurant or shopping at the mall. Khalid and I hope to extend this family togetherness once we start our own family, to have a day of the week everyone can look forward to and cherish. 

Today, as a special Friday treat I decided to make Brownies for the first time in my life! My mom used to make them all the time when I was a kid, along with homemade bread and sugar cookies. I bake a lot, and have made many different goodies, but I have never tried brownies. So today I made my very own low-fat brownie recipe. I call them Jum'ah Brownies! I have to say they turned out amazing! The perfect in-between of fudgy and cakey, with a delicious chocolaty flavor. I will share these delightful treats with you, but don't be upset with me if you end up eating the whole batch in one day... You have been warned, they are tempting once made. ;) 

Jum'ah Brownies Recipes 

Ingredients:

3 med. - Bananas, ripe

.5 cup - Unsweetened Applesauce

1 cup - Granulated Sugar

1 cup - Brown Sugar
 4 lrg. - Eggs  

1.5 cup - Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup - Cocoa, dry powder, unsweetened

1 tsp - Salt

1 cup - Milk Chocolate Chips

*Butter for greasing the pan.

*Used a 9x13 inch. pan.

Instructions:

1.Preheat oven to 350 degree.

2.Mash bananas in a small sauce pan and heat over medium heat. Once heated and mushy, add apple sauce and sugar. Stir until combined. Then add the eggs one at a time, working and stirring quickly to avoid the eggs from cooking due to the heat of the mixture. Reduce heat.

Step 2

3.Mix the flour, cocoa, salt together in a large bowl.

Step 3

4.Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
5.Add the chocolate chips to the heated banana mixture, until fully melted. 
5.Mix the heated banana mixture into the dry flour mixture until fully combined.

Step 5

6.Pour the combined mixture into the prepared pan.

Step 6

7.Bake at 350 degrees for about 28 minutes. Until toothpick is inserted and comes out dry. 

Step 7

Enjoy your Jum'ah Brownies!

This one has a homemade peanut butter-ice cream sauce. Yummy! :D
(I mixed 2 tbsp of ice cream, 50g of vanilla yogurt and 2 tbsp of peanut butter together.)