Brownies for babysitting

Saturday I was supposed to have my monthly afternoon of crafting. I host a Friday night event every other week in my home, but once a month I go somewhere else and am completely without children. It is *me* time. This month I had my date all set and was ready to go when one child was invited to a birthday party, but the other was not. I debated what to do, and then finally put out a status on Facebook whining about my need for a playdate for my other child. Luckily one of his classmate's mom was kind enough to jump in and help me out. In return for taking him for the day I prepared a pan of brownies. That same morning I had checked out 3 new cookbooks and found this recipe. It was for a 13x9 pan of brownies, so I made 1.5x of the batch to make two 9x9 pans. I couldn't make brownies and then keep none at home.

These brownies are rockin' I tweaked it and rather than using 6 ounces of semisweet chocolate chips, I used 3 types of chips equalling the weight. Next time I'm going to add more chips to replace the cup of nuts I omitted. And maybe next time I'll add a layer of caramel to try to recreate the Dorothy Lane Market Killer Brownies. The recipe says Fudgy, cakey, fudgy, cakey...can't make up your mind? These brownies combine the best of both worlds - the fudge brownie's ulltramoist texture, and the nice rise of a cake brownie.



On-the-Fence Brownies from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook

Yield: Two dozen 2-inch brownies.

1 cup (2 sticks, 8 ounces) unsalted butter
2-1/4 cups (15-3/4 ounces) sugar
1-1/4 cups (3-3/4 ounces) dutch process cocoa (I use cocoa from Vermont Nut Free)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 T vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1-1/2 cups (6-1/4 ounces) unbleached all purpose flour (King Arthur, of course!)
1 cup (6 ounces) chocolate chips *

Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch pan

In a medium-sized sauce pant set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. (You can also do this in the microwave) Return the mixture to the heat (or nuker) briefly, just until it's hot (110F to 120F) but not bubbling. It will become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.

Stir in the cocoa, salt, baking powder, and vanilla. Whisk in the eggs, stirring until smooth, then add the flour and chocolate chips. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake the brownies for 28 to 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. The brownies should feel set on the edges and in the center. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. (yea, right!)

* The original recipe called for 1 cup of walnuts or pecans and 1 cup of chocolate chips indicating both were optional. While I agree the nuts are optional, the extra chocolate never is. :) I used equal parts by weight of guittard chocolate chips, vermont nut free milk chocolate chips, and no-nuttin' dark chocolate chunks.