I think I'll make some brownies

by Bob Sassone, Posted Jun 13th 2007 @ 9:41AM

You know what I haven't made in a while? Yes, you can guess it from the title of the post. Brownies! I've been making my brownies the same way for years, but I think it's time to shake things up a little bit.

The cool food blog Andrea's Recipes has a recipe for Michael's Favorite Brownies, and it sounds perfect. I particularly like the desciption: "chewy, fudgy, with that slightly crackly top." I might even add some cayenne pepper to see what that does to them (though I'll skip the walnuts). Full recipe after the jump.

Michael's Favorite Brownies

3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup melted butter, divided
1/2 cup boiling water
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped walnuts or dark chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350° F. In a mixing bowl, combine cocoa and baking soda. Add 1/3 cup melted butter and the boiling water and stir on low until the mixture thickens. Stir in sugar, eggs, and remaining 1/3 cup melter butter. Mix until smooth. Add the flour, vanilla, and salt, and mix completely. Stir in nuts or chips, if desired.

Pour into a 9 x 13 x 2 pan prepared with cooking spray. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until brownies pull away from the sides of the pan, but watch them carefully after 30 minutes to make sure they don't over bake. Cool completely in the pan. Cut into bars.

To spice up the brownies, add one of the following to the dry ingredients:

1-1/2 teaspoons espresso powder (or good instant coffee, ground with a mortar & pestle),
1 teaspoon of cinnamon, or
Pinch of cayenne.

Filed Under: On the Blogs, Ingredients
Tags: andrea's recipes, brownies, cayenne pepper, chocolate, chocolate brownies, cinnamon, dessert, walnuts

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

6-13-2007 @10:22AM unclejerry said... You should make it in one of these. I bought my mom one of these since she's a brownie maker and it's great.
http://bakersedge.com/
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6-13-2007 @11:00AM Crabby McSlacker said... So over at my annoying health and fitness blog (http://crankyfitness.blogspot.com/) we were trying to get to some of the root causes of obesity.

We've so far ruled out microwave ovens, baseball, leg warmers, PBS, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

But now I think I've identified it: it's Bob Sassone, evil dessert and tasty treat pusher!

That brownie... those cakes... the bacon and saltines? (well, not every one's a winner).

Just a warning: we're going to call the FDA or somebody and see if we can have you banned.

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6-13-2007 @1:18PM Andrea Meyers said... Bob, thanks for the write-up on the brownies! They really are Michael's favorite and his mother is so proud that you featured them here!
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6-13-2007 @8:59PM dan said... off the top of my head...
no baking powder or soda.. I thought it was a no-no to add a leavening agent....

2 cups of sugar, 4 eggs, 1/2 cup butter and 4 oz of unsweetened chocolate. 1 cup flour. some vanilla. dash of salt. a handful of nuts, like walnuts or pecans. that is it. ok, cayenne 1/2 tsp adds a nice kick, but 1 tbs of ancho is even nicer with less of the throat heat after you swallow. Also try leaving out the flour by mistake (!) sometime. The result is excellent, but a little too rich for my taste.
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