08 November 2010

Self Consolation with Peanut Butter Fudge and Butterscotch Brownies

Confession: I've been a little bit down about food blogging since I got kicked out of Project Food Blog in round one. I didn't think I'd go much further, but since I had about a 2 in 3 chance of advancing, and since the whole basis of that first round was the blogger's personality, it feels a little like a rejection of me. So I've been licking my wounds and eating a lot of prepared food in the meantime.

Of course, one thing that's always been a tried and true mood lifter is sugar. Specifically, in this case, brown sugar. Brown sugar in square form. Really, any square dessert will make me happy. The first thing I tried in this vein was a good getting-back-on-the-horse recipe, in that it involves a microwave and comes from Alton Brown, one of my most trusted recipe-creators. It was very tasty, though the method kind of backfired. 1/3 of the butter mixture ended up all over the inside of my microwave and my floor. I recommend that you be very careful with the last two minutes, and try stirring again at minute 3 if your microwave is powerful. I omitted the vanilla and it was still very good.

The second recipe, for butterscotch "brownies," is of more dubious provenance. I attributed it in my recipe database to "Joy of Cooking," but the recipe for butterscotch brownies in my copy of Joy of Cooking is definitely more complicated than this one. I'm guessing it's either from my dad's copy or off the internet somewhere. Anyway, it's pretty simple--you melt 3 tbsp butter, combine it with a cup of brown sugar until wet, let cool a bit, then add 1/2 cup flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla, and an egg (I used 3 Tbsp applesauce). I also dumped in about 1/2 cup cinnamon chips. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes in a greased 8 x 8 pan. As you can see, mine turned out very thin and bubbly. Next time I would double the recipe, because I liked the gooey effect but I would prefer a bit more weight to my "brownies." Loved the butterscotch flavor.

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