The Aroma Of…? Mancatcher Cocoa Brownies

Is there anything so wrong as fresh baked goods you cannot smell? Brownies coming out of the oven that might as well be mud?

Boy I hope this does not last.

Supposedly it could last as long as 3 months, and anything longer would be in the realm of incredibly rare (and even 3 months would be pretty rare). So I am not panicking or anything, especially since the splints are still in, but it did make baking these brownies into a somewhat surreal experience. I mean, even though I knew I could not smell them, I still tried. Totally without even meaning to. Repeatedly. No matter how many times I told myself not to bother.

Weird, huh?

I am on Day 5 post surgery; today is the first day I was allowed to use Ibuprofen in addition to (in place of) the scary narcotics (thank goodness). Anyway as a result I feel a lot better. Not good mind you, but I have gotten off of the recliner couch and am hanging around as opposed to sleeping the day away, dizzy and nauseated (if I left anyone weird comments on your blog or sent you weird emails, well, now you know why).

My mother in law got into town today (my mom left yesterday), and it just bugged me so much that I did not have any baked goods around. We ate all those brownies (duh that was 6 days ago and it was an 8X8 pan–what kind of restraint do you think we have?!?), not a crumb remained.

My mother in law loves dessert. Not that she overindulges–she very much does not–but you can tell she always extra appreciates there being home baked goodies around. And thanks to my surgery, I felt I never really got to appreciate those Bombshell Brownies. I had one, ok a few, the night I made them, loved them, and then they were pretty much eaten by the people in the house who could appreciate them. So, in a historic first (and because my mother in law loves chocolate desserts), I decided to make brownies twice in a row.

Shocking, I know. But rest assured I did not make the same recipe–that would really be boring. I did make a similar recipe, figuring I could compare how small changes made a difference. The recipes both use large amounts of cocoa powder, supplemented by chocolate chips flecking the batter. But this recipe uses just plain more batter for the same baking area (i.e., they are thicker), and it uses brown sugar in addition to white sugar. Like the Bombshell Brownies, it also has a great name: Mancatcher Cocoa Brownies. Originally published in The Washington post, I found the recipe on the Cooking Light Bulletin Boards, where it was shared in a recent brownie thread. Since I was looking to explore more cocoa powder-based brownies and since it had such a great name, I made a note of it. I think (you know I am still on some narcotics, right?) that it uses more cocoa powder in proportion to the rest of its batter, but frankly I do not have the brain powder to confirm that. 🙂

The brownies were rich and delicious. Their tops were not as crackly as the Bombshell Brownies, but they were thicker and denser. The brown sugar added an element to the middles that I don’t really know how to describe in terms of brownies. They were not more cakey, more fudgy or more chewy. But they were moister, I guess, is the best way to put it. I don’t think that they are as pretty as the Bombshell but I do think they were just as good in their own way.

ManCatcher Cocoa Brownies

Adapted from The Washington Post; posted on CLBB

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups cocoa powder (natural or Dutch process)
6 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 T vanilla extract
1 t kosher salt or 1/2 t salt
2 cups AP flour
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I increased by half)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 13 x 9 pan with cooking spray. I cut the recipe in half, so I used an 8X8 pan.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat or melt in the microwave and stir in the cocoa powder.

In large bowl, whisk together the eggs with the sugars, vanilla and salt. Add the butter mixture and mix thoroughly. Add flour and chocolate chips; mix just until combined. Spread batter evenly in the pan.

Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs.
Cool completely before cutting into squares.