Brownie Journey

I have been searching for the perfect brownie recipe. For the first time, I decided to apply what I learned in my food science class and treat my cooking like a science experiment. I wanted to find a brownie that was moist, chocolatey, fudgey, not cake-like, used baking cocoa powder, and is absolutely delicious. I just finished take 4 and they are getting pretty near perfection, so I thought I'd describe the process to you. Just like any scientific experiment, I tried to restrain myself to only changing one variable at a time so I could monitor the effects, but I just couldn't help myself. The changes made each time are in red, and the comments/results are in blue.

version 1.0
"Fudgy fudge brownies" from cooks.com
1 1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
2 c. sugar
3/4 c. butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla

Stir tigether flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, butter, and vanilla. Beat with wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in dry ingredients; mix well. spread batter evenly in 13x9" pan.

Bake 350 degree F oven for about 25 minutes. Do not overbake. Brownies are ready when edges are just set and center is still soft.

results:

1. Not Chocolatey enough.
2. Too sugary. Sugary texture, too.
3. Excellent tip in the last paragraph. Taking it out when the center was still soft made the brownies moist and dense.

Version 2.0

1 1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
2 c. sugar
3/4 c. butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla

Stir tigether flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, butter, and vanilla. Beat for a long time in the kitchenaid until sugar has a chance to dissolve more. Stir in dry ingredients; mix well. spread batter evenly in 13x9" pan.

Bake 350 degree F oven for about 25 minutes. Do not overbake. Brownies are ready when edges are just set and center is still soft.

results:

1. still not chocolatey enough!!
2. Less sugar texture, but sugar crystals still didn't dissolve totally, resulting in a still sugary texture (as well as taste)

Version 3.0

1 1/4 c. flour

1/2 c. dutch cocoa

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 eggs

2 c. sugar

3/4 c. oil

1 tsp. vanilla

Stir tigether flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, butter, and vanilla. Beat for a long time in the kitchenaid until sugar has a chance to dissolve more.

ahhhhh! a large glass dish just dropped and shattered on top of my kitchenaid, covering my kitchen and filling my brownie mix with large shards of glass!

version 3.5
"Fudgy fudge brownies" from cooks.com
1 1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. dutch cocoa (we had some that Alex's Dad brought us back from Europe. Before that we were using generic aldi brand. Maybe someday I'll do some research on different types of cocoa.)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
2 c. sugar
3/4 c. oil (I wanted to find a substitute for the butter because it is kind of expensive)

1 tsp. vanilla

Stir tigether flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, butter, and vanilla. Beat with wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in dry ingredients; mix well. spread batter evenly in 13x9" pan.

Bake 350 degree F oven for about 25 minutes. Do not overbake. Brownies are ready when edges are just set and center is still soft.

results:

1. really tall right out of oven, then deflated in center when cooled.
2. battery and undercooked.
3. way more chocolatey!

Version 4.0

1 1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. dutch cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. margerine, melted
1 tsp. vanilla

Stir tigether flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, butter, and vanilla. Beat with wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in dry ingredients; mix well. spread batter evenly in 13x9" pan.

Bake 350 degree F oven for about 25 minutes. Do not overbake. Brownies are ready when edges are just set and center is still soft.

Results:

1. Best yet!
2. Chocolatey
3. not too sweet, no sugary texture ( I think that the batter before had just reached a saturation point with the sugar, reducing the amount really helped.)
4. more puffy/airy, but not cakey (this may be due to the fact that I mixed the wet ingredients extra long in an attempt to dissolve the sugar, but I may have mixed the eggs so much that they got air in them and worked as a leavening agent)
5. margerine ended up being a way better substitute to butter than oil. Makes sense, huh?

Rice Crispy snowmen

Rice Crispy Snowmen

This is a fabulous recipe to do with toddlers in the winter!

Ingredients:

3 T margarine or butter

1 package (10 oz Marshmallows)

6 Cups Rice Krispies cereal

pretzil sticks

icing

assorted candy, chocolate chips, raisins, small cookies, crackers, etc.

Heat Margerine and Marshmallows in a large microwave-safe bowl on high 3 minutes, stirring after every minute. Stir till smooth. Add rice Krispies and stir. (You can also follow the stovetop recipe for these if you want.) Next, coat a pan in cooking spray. Then spray your hands really well with cooking spray (this is really gross, but you have to grease your hands to make the krispie treats not stick). Form the rice crispie mix into balls and make snowmen. Make sure the base is wide and stable since krispie treat mix is still soft. Insert pretzil sticks for arms. Chill the snowmen in the fridge or cover and let the treats cool and set. Then, decorate your snowmen and enjoy the delicious treats!