Fudgy brownies, while unassuming, should not be trusted.

Well, here goes nothing...trying to be better about posting to my blog.  I really am out of excuses to not commit to it really; no wedding to plan (or attend this year funny enough!), no trips/vacations (South Lake Tahoe countdown is on though; 31 days woo whoo, 1 year wedding anniversary!), no more pet adoptions, and thankfully, no more moving!!  It's only fitting I am finally getting around to posting here about 10 months after my last post...oh well, onward!!

Lately I've noticed some really good food styling when I am looking at recipes via Pinterest.  It makes it irresistible not to hit *Print* on the recipe and recreate what looks like a wonderfully tasty, begging me to be made, yummy baked good.  I should probably quit Pinterest and save myself time & money on baking things I shouldn't even be trying in the first place.  Le sigh.  Alas, Pinterest fuels my fire and I love it all, so I suppose my co-workers, friends/family, and Andy's teacher-mates will suffer instead because I leave the remains of the baked goods in the break room or bring to gatherings, and ship the other half (or entire lot) off with Andy in the AM.  Heaven forbid I make something on a Friday, like I did last week...that was a HUGE mistake, ack.

So I decided to try out this Dark Chocolate Brownie Recipe while I telecommuted Friday.  I like the idea of minimal prep/simple recipes and big results.  I hadn't yet found a solid, yet easy/minimal fudgy brownies recipe.  I was beginning to think it didn't exist.  Alas, I have found a recipe I am content with...of course with my own additions.  Here is the recipe with my edits:

So I threw together this easy recipe (I foiled a 9x9 pan vs. parchment and used cooking spray so I could pull out the brownies when they were done cooling) and decided I wanted to add in a few things I knew I liked in brownie recipes (salt, espresso powder, and vanilla...) It was a delicious batter btw; it was difficult to resist snacking on.  I was already feeling good based on the batter alone as it seemed promising.  In the oven they went; I checked them at 22min and just wasn't sure they had set enough, so I left them in a couple more minutes and viola!  

What ensued over the next 48 hours was a little terrifying.  Those brownies came out of the oven and i let them cool slightly before trying a hot, fresh brownie. (I got 16 smaller brownies out of my pan, so I suppose i shouldn't feel as guilty?)  I regret tasting it...because then I had to have a glass of cold non-fat milk to help it down.  Fudgy brownie + cold milk is like a pb&j classic combo IMO.  It was a most satisfying brownie!  Now there were 15 brownies, sitting there smelling up the house with all sorts of yummy, and I'm left trying to resist.  Thank goodness I committed myself to going to the gym at 12, otherwise it may have been a really bad afternoon.  I didn't get back home til later on since we had family sushi dinner, so it was 8:30pm by the time we got home.

They're they were.  Andy tried a brownie, so of course I had to have one.  So good, even 8+ hours later... I am a firm believer brownies are bogus after about a day, TOPS, just my feeling.  Some folks agree.  So I knew I had to get rid of these brownies STAT.  I packaged them up the next morning and planned to give them to our friend after we helped her move.  I totally forgot to give them to her after the move since they were sitting in the backseat...grrr!!  We noshed on a couple more over at Andy's moms house.  Then his dad+stepmom came over that afternoon, I put those out and again, had to have one.  I think I consumed like 3 on Saturday alone!!  AAAGGHHH!  So. Bad.

Sunday rolls around and thankfully with all of our visits there were almost no signs that brownies had been made.  I think we split one Sunday and one Monday and then they were gone.  I probably should not make these again unless I can for sure give them away!!  I encourage you to try it out if you need a quick, on the fly, homemade something because all these ingredients I believe folks have readily at home (maybe not cocoa powder...who ARE you?!)

Next blog post I'll talk about last night's recipe, Jumbo Blueberry Muffins.  They were pretty awesome...at least those are sitting in the breakroom now :)