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It's easy to make a good brownie.  All it takes is some expensive, high quality chocolate.  More and more grocery stores are carrying quality chocolate, but if yours doesn't, just run over to your specialty food shop.  What?  You don't have one near you?  Well, with the internet the world is getting smaller every day.  So, hop online and order some chocolate to be shipped overnight to you.  Oh, but hopefully you're not in the midst of a brownie crave during the hot summer months, because a lot of companies won't ship chocolate to you for fear of it melting during transport.  Once you've tracked down your chocolate all you have to do is put your craving on hold until it arrives and then you can whip up a batch of brownies and pop them in the oven.  Almost instant gratification!  Yeah, not quite.  When I want instant gratification, I want it NOW, not tomorrow or the day after, or even worse at the end of the summer.

That just wasn't good enough for me.  I want to be able to make a killer brownie at the drop of a hat without needing to hunt down chocolate or keep expensive chocolate on hand, which let's face it, I'd just end up eating between brownie cravings.  So I began a quest to find a brownie recipe that would make luscious brownies out of regular ingredients most of us just have on hand.

How does a brownie recipe quest work, you ask?  Well, I'd find a promising recipe and make it and it would fall flat.  It would too dry, too cakey, too bland, too blah.  Believe me, I made a lot of bad brownies.  You know when people say things like, "well, even a bad xyz is still a good xyz", not true when it comes to brownies.  Look, I told you, I'm up front with myself when it comes to eating baked goods... they're loaded with fat and calories and I know I shouldn't eat them as much as I do, so when I do eat them I want them to be GREAT.  To die for, even.  So I kept trying.  Then I talked to my friend Wendy and told her of the "Brownie Quest" and she asked if I wanted to try her recipe.  So she sent it over to me.  And I made it.  And they were good, but not "fight to death over the last one" good.  So I started tweaking.  I put my culinary degree to work and really broke down the recipe and analyzed why each ingredient was there.  After several more attempts and several more changes I had completely re-worked the recipe and they're fabulous!

BROWNIES

yield 1 - 1/2 sheet pan(approximately 18" x 13")

  1. melt butter, 1st portion chocolate chips and cocoa (can be done in microwave)
  2. whisk in sugar and eggs
  3. stir in dry ingredients
  4. stir in 2nd portion chocolate chips
  5. pour in prepared pan
  6. top with miniature marshmallows and push under batter
  7. bake at 350 30 mins for ½ sheet

Chocolate Fudge Frosting:

  1. Scale sugar, milk and butter into a pot; bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
  2. Remove from heat; add chocolate chips, stir until melted and incorporated.
  3. Whip in mixer until creamy and cool.
  4. Frost warm brownies or cover with plastic and put in cooler. When ready to use, warm in microwave for 15 seconds, stir and then frost.

-The Baker