The Perfect Dark Chocolate Brownie

Where to begin with these guys....first off, I am not a big fan of dark chocolate in general, but my wife is a big fan of it.  These I made for her.  But I had to have one, just to try. Oh man, these are delish.  Even for the non-dark chocolate lover that I am.  The only modification from the original recipe that I made was to put them in a smaller pan, bake them a little longer, because I prefer a thick brownie.  These did not disappoint, me or her.  When I make them again, I will swap out the semi sweet chips for white chips.

These are simple to make, only takes one bowl to get dirty and 40 minutes later, you are in dark chocolate heaven.  I let them cool for a good hour before eating them for dessert.  The following day, I had another and found it is best to toss it in the micro for about 10 seconds the melt those chips inside again and make it ooey gooey.  These are very rich, but very very tasty.  Eat up!

 

 

The Perfect Dark Chocolate Brownie - adapted from www.shugarysweets.com

 

3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup AP flour

3/4 cup dark chocolate powder

3 eggs

1 cup semi sweet/white morsels (if desired)

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour 8X8 baking pan. 

 

Melt butter in glass or plastic bowl, mix in next 4 ingredients until well blended.  Fold in morsels.

 

Pour into prepared pan.  Bake 25-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out crumbly.  If using a dark pan, when you put them in the oven, drop temperature to 325 degrees and bake 30-37 minutes.  Mine took 35 minutes in a dark pan. 

 

*If you like your brownies a little more fudgy, bake them on the lower end of the time scale



Cool Cucumber Chicken Salad

It has been a few days since I have posted, but that doesn't mean I haven't been makin' food.  This chicken salad sandwich was very delightful.  Tossed with mayo(of your choice, of course), red grapes, cashews and extra special crunch from both cut up cucumbers and dill pickles.  This one one I will come back for.  My only suggestion is to mix in your cashews before you eat it, otherwise they get quite soggy, which I knew would happen, but I mixed them all in at the first meal....Eat Up!

Adapted from www.justapinch.com

COOL CUCUMBER CHICKEN SALAD

1 cucumber, peeled and diced (to taste)
1/2 cup red grapes, halved or quartered
2 cooked chicken breast, shredded (or you can used canned chicken or even tuna?)
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Mayo - use discretion, some like more, some like less
1 dill pickle, chopped
Cashews/pecans/walnuts

Mix everything except cashews together. Refrigerate 30-60 minutes minimum for flavors to incorporate.  I mixed nuts in right away, but on the second round of making these, I will probably just sprinkle them on top of the chicken salad before putting the top piece of bread on.  Would be great on a crossant with some lettuce.

*If you don't eat it all in one sitting, you may want to add 1tsp-1Tbsp of mayo the next day to moisten it back up again