Brownies: Take 1

Oif. Well that was rather disastrous. But a tasty disaster, and so ultimately preferable to anything less delectable that might have come to pass.



I'd been wanting to bake brownies for a while, and so when I saw this recipe for double chocolate toffee brownies I decided that today would be the day. Don't get me wrong, the recipe is quite good and the brownies were delicious--the ultimate doom issued from me alone.

My first mistake was probably the choice of pan: that is, my pyrex pie plate, it being the only ovensafe dish I own. I haven't done the math, but I think the area of my plate worked is more than the 8" square baking pan she uses. It probably didn't make or break anything, but I doubt it helped. At least there were less edges: I've never really been a devotee of brownie edges, least of all crunchy ones.



Ok, then I got a little distracted by the weather. As you can see, I have a pretty awesome view out my window, and on this particular evening it was particularly gorgeous, so I was taking a bunch of pictures and left the brownies in just a little too long. Oops.

The third and most vile error came when I refused to wait until the brownies had cooled to try and de-pan them, wanting to get them out of the heat as soon as possible and trusting to my buttered-and-floured baking dish. Ha! In case you didn't read the recipe, I'll remind you: these brownies contain toffee bits. And melted toffee bits are very very sticky. So it broke into many pieces and left me with very little to actually cut squares out of. Eventually I gave up and just broke the big chunks into smaller chunks and ate all the bits.

(Click for extreme textural closeup)

It's a good thing they turned out to be delicious. And - bonus! - the recipe doesn't contain any milk, unless you count the chocolate chips (and those are easily excluded), so it's workable for the digestive-enzyme-challenged among you or your friends. They aren't a fudgy type of brownie; more of a very chewy cakey texture. And be warned: a beverage of some sort (milk recommended) close at hand is absolutely crucial before any attempts at consumption are made. I will not be held responsible for the consequences if you neglect to follow these instructions.