Brookies

I swore off sweets for two weeks.

I know. Crazy. Totally out of character for someone like me. I always get annoyed with people who do this kind of stuff. The other day I heard someone say they were not going to eat any carbs until they went on a cruise in 4 months. Aren't carbs in like...everything?

I just think you shouldn't go on crazy diets for weeks or months that you know you can't maintain. It seems that it would mess with your body, and your mind!

But alas, I have committed to eliminate all sweet treats from my diet for two full weeks. Not because I want to go on a diet--just because I want to prove that I can. I know I can. Can't I?

And so instead of eating chocolate today, I will write about it!

Scattered all over the web are newfangled treats called “Brookies.” As you can imagine, the combination of a brownie and cookie is splendid! The process for making these was simple, although interesting.

If you like cookies and brownies, these are sure to delight you.

Brookies

Adapted from A Baked Creation

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 1 tsp unsalted butter
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chunks (60% cacao)
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Start by melting the butter, oil and chocolate together in a bowl (in the microwave for 2.5-3 minutes in 1 minute intervals OR if you want to get fancy you can use a double broiler.) Be careful not to burn your beautiful and high quality chocolate. 

In another bowl, whisk eggs brown sugar and vanilla until just combined.

Then, fold the melted chocolate mixture into the sugary egg mixture.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture into the recently mixed chocolate/egg mixture until combined. 

Don't get too carried away with the mixing here—there's no need to break out your electric mixers or Kitchenaids for this one. In fact, over mixing may result in more of a cake-like texture rather than a dense brownie-like one. And that would just not do for our brookies!

 Pour your mixture (it will be thick) into a shallow pan. (like a pie plate or an 8 x 8 or 9 x9 baking dish) Time to preheat your oven! To 350. 

Now I know what you're thinking, this is looking a lot like a pan of brownies right now. But here's where it gets interesting. 

From here, freeze the batter until it sets and hardens a bit. I would recommend not going much longer than that as it can freeze up on you and affect the texture.

Remove the pan from the freezer and whip out your cute ice cream or cookie scoops. Get to work scooping out the brookies-to-be and place them on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until tops look crackly. I'm usually explicit about not over baking but these brookies are pretty hard to mess up! You can bake them a few minutes longer and they are still nice and moist on the inside.

What makes these really special is the dry, almost flaky exterior combined with a soft, decadent interior. They taste wonderful warm and would be an excellent addition to an ice cream sundae!

And here are a few pictures of Grades and I during our recent getaway to Annapolis Maryland! We visited the Naval Academy and it was incredible. Learning a little bit about how the midshipmen live made me so proud and grateful to be an American. Those young people truly dedicate their lives to selfless service. They work so hard and have such little free time. Gradon and I were so surprised to hear that they are allotted only 5 minutes for lunch each day!

Not to mention the place was absolutely packed with adorable boutiques. I felt like I could have spent the whole week there shopping. And I loved being at arms length from the gorgeous bay.