Yummy Fudgy Brownies

I was really depressed yesterday and all I wanted to do was leave work ASAP and veg out on my couch. BP II tried is best to cheer me up but when I get into these funks it is hard to pull me out. (Mainly, because I replay things in my head over and over again, reliving every gritty and raw detail. Unhealthy, yes) Of course, there is also a blizzard in NYC and due MTA cutbacks , my train was packed out with snow covered people. I am not talking a little uncomfortable either; I am talking about being full body smooshed by strangers. Luckily, I was next to this fantastic gay man that was screaming “Watch out for my cupcakes” every time we entered a station. I commented on his red velvet cupcakes, from Crumbs no less, and apparently cupcakes were the only way he could convince his roommate to leave the apartment. Oh the powerful draw of delicious caked topped with sugar and butter. That is when it hit me; I should make delicious fattening brownies to cheer me up. Also, some wine would help.

After I made dinner, I set out to make some brownies. One of my male coworkers ended up with a brownie book in the company gift exchange and in turn, gifted it to me. I have made brownies from the book before and they were pretty awful. However, in the book’s defense I did a lot of substituting so it was probably my fault. This time around, I followed the directions and used all the ingredients required. They turned out exactly how I would want a brownie to be – dense and fudgy goodness. Definitely hit the spot.

Ingredients:

1.5 cups of butter
2/3 cup of flour
1.5 cups of white sugar
4 eggs
1 TBL of vanilla
½ TSP salt
1/2 Cup of Cocoa
1 TBL of coffee

Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 300°

2.) Melt butter in a medium saucepan and cook until the butter starts to brown. It will start to bubble and foam but eventually will start to turn color. Add sugar and whisk until combined. Remove from heat and walk away for at least 10 minutes.

3.) Add eggs, vanilla, salt and coffee, whisking after each combination. Sift the flower and slowly add to the wet ingredients. (I actually moved my batter from a saucepan to a mixing bowl for this step)

4.) Pour batter into a square 9x9 pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

5.) Let cool and refrigerate for 30 minutes. (They come out of the oven a little cakey but after some fridge cooling become fudgy)

Thanksgiving Brownies

I spent Thanksgiving alone in the city last night. BP II went back to his hometown and I was stuck working on Black Friday. My market isn’t even open. Anyway, the commute would have been too long for me to go home and then come back on Friday. So, I was just going to treat it like a day off and relax. Which is exactly what I did. I caught up with all my reality TV shows, watched Nights in Rodanthe, called my parents and cleaned my apartment; however, I was bored by 6. Normally I like some alone time but this was too much. I had no where to go. All the stores were closed and everyone was having fun with their families. I was getting hungry but didn’t exactly feel like eating. I decided I was going to try and bake something. I went though all my cookbooks to see if it was possible to find something sweet to bake with what I had in the house. I figured that I could swing some brownies. I didn’t have chocolate but I had coco. The result was good but the brownies were a little too cakey for me. I think next time I will try adding some vegetable oil. But they were good and definitely served their purpose.  Chocolate makes everything better.


Brownies

Ingredients:
¾ cup of granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
½ tsp of salt
4 oz of coco
½ cup of butter
1 ½ tsp of vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 cup of flour
1 TBL of brewed coffee

Directions:

1.) Melt the butter on the stove top. Add coco and combine.

2.) In a large bowl, mix together the two sugars, vanilla and salt

3.) Add coco and butter combination to the sugar bowl. Stir until ingredients are completely integrated.

4.) Add the 4 eggs and stir.

5.) Slowly add the flour

6.) Add the coffee at the end and stir to incorporate

7.) Bake at 325º for 40- 50 minutes until center is set.