No Fear

Growing up, my best friend Karen and I loved brownies. We played this game where we would try to convince our moms to make us some by saying the other wanted a brownie. Juvenile? Yes (what can I say? We were 8!). Fool proof? Absolutely. My mother always gave in and made us brownies from Duncan Hines mixes - which I don’t begrudge her for. Those mixes are pretty damn good.

You learn by example, and because my mom favored Duncan Hines mixes for baked goods, so did I. As far as brownies went, I found that a box of brown ingredients, an egg and some vegetable oil yielded gooey, perfectly chocolate squares every time.



Yet something about the mass market brownie always struck me as a little, I don’t know...artificial. The brownies tasted the same every time, with no real texture or sense of homemade-ness (they were never chocolatey enough, either). I didn't dare to make them any other way, though, because when you rely on mixes for most of your life, baking simple things like cakes, brownies and biscuits from scratch seems downright terrifying. But that was the old me. The new me has no fear of measuring flour, salt and sugar.




Enter The Moosewood Cookbook, a delightful collection of handwritten, oh-so-simple and tasty vegetarian recipes. It's an invaluable resource for people like me, who just want to cook great food. Though I plan on cooking may way through the book, I have to say the dessert section looks to die for. I’m particularly obsessed with this fudge brownie recipe. The ingredients on their own make for one spectacular brownie, while the addition of fun things like pecans (for crunch) and coffee (for flavor). Remember people, no fear.

Pecan Fudge Brownies
Adapted from The Moosewood Cookbook

Ingredients
1/2 lb (two sticks) butter, softened (don’t melt it)
4 oz of unsweetened chocolate. I like Ghirardelli. One baking bar is 4 oz.
1 3/4 c packed light brown OR granulated sugar
1 c flour (3/4 c for fudgier brownies)
5 eggs
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 C chopped pecans
2 Tbs strong black coffee

Optional additions: chopped walnuts, 1 tsp fresh orange or lemon zest, 1/2 tsp allspice or cinnamon, one mashed over-ripe banana.





Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and butter a 9x13-inch baking pan.

Melt the chocolate in a double broiler. If you’re like me and don’t have one, place broken pieces of chocolate in a Pyrex bowl, and put over a saucepan of boiling water. Don’t fill saucepan to the top with water, as it will burn the chocolate. The steam – not the water – will melt the chocolate.
Set chocolate aside.

In a mixer, cream the butter with 1 3/4 cups (packed) light brown or granulated sugar. Add eggs on low speed, one at a time. Add 1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract. Beat in the melted, cooled chocolate and 1 cup flour. Stir in pecans and coffee until just blended.

Spread batter into baking pan, and bake 20-30 minutes. I found that it’s easiest to cut brownies right after you take them out of the oven. Just wear your mits! After cutting, let brownies cool completely before removing from the pan.