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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Random Brownies are the Best Kind

Baking is synonymous with snow. Isn't that what every one did as a kid on snow days? My mom kept boxes of brownie mix and cookie dough in the house for just that thing. We have an insanely small amount of food left in the house, so in almost desperation for anything to eat, I realized I had enough ingredients to bake something. Included in the pantry items was almost half a box of Hershey's Cocoa Powder, which led me to think - brownies!

Bam!

I easily found this incredibly simple cocoa brownie recipe from Alton Brown. It is essentially a homemade box brownie - made in one bowl and using the cocoa powder as the only chocolate flavoring. I had everything in stock and Ken and I whipped this batter up in no time. And scraped the bowl even faster.

Which is better, the batter or the brownie? Hard to say....

I had to go with a 9x13 inch pan because I don't have an 8x8, but it worked out fine. I just remembered to bake it for less time than recommended, since they would be thinner. Magically, at the 35 minute timer I set, they were perfect. Baked solidly through but fluffy and not at burned. They were very richly chocolate and sweet. That's probably from the 2 sticks of butter.

The edges were perfect.

Go big or go home.