For future reference, I'll be blabbering about my experiences with two brownie recipes I found online. The one with all the nuts and candy comes from here. The one with just nuts comes from here.
First off, I just love getting in the kitchen and mixing things in my mother's bowl. I just feel a real connection to her when I use it. It's kind of like channeling her spirit while I combine, dance to music on my iPod, and measure things. Usually recipes come out as planned. Sometimes, I uh...fail. Trial and error. On to the recipes!
The first recipe started with a simple "fudge brownie" search on Google. I really wasn't interested in sorting through a million recipes, especially with complicated or extra instructions. My goal was simple--Toss it in the bowl, mix, add nuts, pour in the greased up brownie pan. So, once I found the easy recipe, I went to work the next day gathering ingredients. It was pretty much an open and shut case. Add nuts to one side, add Reese's Pieces to the other side. I sat, I watched, I took pics. (I also got flour every dang where and wiped it on my velour track pants. Don't judge. Those are comfy pants. >.>)
The brownies came out beautifully (appearance-wise), except for a few things--
- I might have added too much extra baking time at the end. I wanted to make sure they were fully done. So, I added about 7 minutes extra.
- This made the brownies insanely hard to cut.
- Aaaand...they ended up being hard as ROCKS after the second day.
They were actually kinda good at first, but once they hardened, not even a steep dip in milk could soften them up. Stuff like this usually goes fast in this house, no matter how many people are here. Were they edible? Yeah, they were pretty good. Um..er...lemme tell you--these things lasted for a sorry two weeks before I eventually threw them in our Ninja Blender with some ice cream and milk.
I blamed this failure on everything from the amount of sugar to the Nestle Cocoa I used. While I'm not 100% sure, I feel like the "let it bake longer" thing probably dried them out 100%. I was slightly ticked for a few days. I hate wasting materials, ya know? Days later, I tried again. Enter recipe 2.
The second recipe required more attention, as well as unsweetened baking chocolate. This was new territory for yours truly. I was worried I'd scorch the chocolate and fudge (har har) the recipe up completely. It called for "constant stirring"! Constant? This from the person who can't put down her iPod Touch for three seconds? Oy.
This recipe was a breeze! For the most part, everything goes into the pot. Like, directly into the pot. Melt the chocolate and butter, whisk in the eggs one by one, carefully add the flour and other stuff. It was like some kind of chocolate art journey to the sounds of Prince singing "Vicki Waiting".
The smell of these babies baking was heavenly. It was light, buttery, and a little nutty. This time, I let it bake for exactly 35 minutes, without a second added. When I took 'em out, I did my best to let them cool. (I don't have a wire rack, though. Shameful. I know. What kind of aspiring baker am I?) Once they cooled, I met with the hardness around the edges, again. I worried, thinking this was round two of wasted materials. I decided to get rid of the edges and hoped the middle part was okay.
As I munched away at the edges (that were actually soft, just a little hard.) I was in chocolate heaven. 'Twas a medley of pecans (whoops, supposed to be walnuts) and real butter and rich Baker's chocolate. Hints of real vanilla (3 bucks, baby. None of that 98 cent Wal-Mart mess!!) just exploding and asking for a glass of milk and ice cream. How long did these last? A week. They stayed just as moist and soft as the day I baked them. Listen to me--this is the ultimate recipe for basic, easy brownies. Unless you literally walk away from the melting part and over-bake, you cannot mess this recipe up.
So, obviously the second recipe is the winner. The first will eventually be re-tested. I think that backing away from over-baking is key here. The fact that I improvised and added big ol' candy pieces had nothing to do with how things turned out. Both recipes were equally easy to make, but the second required a lot less with bowls and such. I liked how everything went in the pot! Until next recipe!
Happy Baking. :-D