People say addiction is genetic. Well both my daughter’s grandmothers are chocoholics. My husband can take it or leave it. I like it but prefer pastries or fruit pies. Or plain old sour gummy candy. That said, yesterday I made brownies. When it came time to clean up, I gave in to the great tradition of handing my child the utensils to lick clean. It was her first real experience with chocolate. Madness ensued. She got a crazed look in her eye then ran around like a happy drunk brandishing her whisk in the air. Today, I’m painting over all the chocolate handprints that didn’t wash off my pale pink walls. Below is the recipe. Use with caution or you too might spend the next day repainting your home.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter (1 stick/4oz./113g)
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
2 large eggs
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds
Method:
Preheat oven to 325F/175C/Gas3.
Line an 8″ square baking tin with foil. Not just the bottom but also the sides so there’s an overhang. Coat lightly with nonstick spray or a bit of butter and flour.
Melt the butter over medium heat and let cool slightly.
Whisk sugar, cocoa, and salt in a bowl. Pour the butter into the dry ingredients and whisk constantly to blend.
Whisk in vanilla.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating vigorously with each addition.
Finally add the flour and stir until just combined. Then stir in the almonds should you want them. I always do. Be careful not to over mix.
Use a spatula to scrape the batter into your pan and smooth the top. Bake until the top begins to crack and a toothpick comes out clean. Approximately 35 minutes.
Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely in the pan.
Chagrinnamon Toast 
Those pictures are the cutest things I have seen all day!! Ok, so I’ve only been up for a few hours – not the point. 🙂 Those brownies sound divine, and I’m with you: toasted almonds? Yes please!!
Thanks, amb! Seriously though. You should have seen my walls. It was like The Blair Witch Project, but with chocolate.
LOL !!! Frightening … yet delicious 😉
I make brownies so often in winter time. I don’t know why it is, but I just don’t eat many sweet things in summer. Strange that I say that as I’ve just left the kitchen after making meringues. Love the frenzied look in your daughter’s face….so cool.
I love meringues! Though I’ve never made them. . .
You should have separated tis into 2 posts, one of your daughter and another for the brownies. SHe is just too cute and is stealing the spotlight from what is surely a winner of a recipe for brownies. As a chocoholic, it would take an awful lot to distract me but your Little One managed to do that. Sorry you had to paint the walls but look at it this way. It’s a story you’ll be telling for many years to come. 🙂
Thanks, John. Yeah, it’s definitely a good story for when she’s older. I’ll even have the pictures to back it up. Perhaps I should have taken some of the chocolate paw prints too.
Your little one is adorable. Chip off the old block, huh? 😉
Her daddy’s block! She looks just like him. But thankfully she moves her face like I do.
I am really going to enjoy making these for my chocoholic husband and posting a photo of his face with chocolate smeared all over it…………….Such adorable pictures, Misti. (Seriously, MTM is so addicted to chocolate that he sleeps with it by his side of the bed. He has to eat a piece of chocolate every night to go to sleep.)
I would love to see photos of your husband’s chocoholic fit. Post’em!
The brownies sound delicious, and you just brought back awesome memories of my mom letting me lick the cake spoon. Great post!
I’m happy to evoke any kind of nostalgia, Andrew.
Great story, Princess! OK, not a fashion post, but gotta say that I LOVE HER DRESS. Too cute, all of it. Love that “madness ensued.” Have you tried her with the beater after whipping cream yet? I’m with you that I like chocolate, but have other favorites. Funny how our taste buds all differ. She does indeed have a crazed look in her eye–what fun to see such joy 🙂
Liz, Helena’s funny that way. She shows no interest in whipped cream. At least not yet! Nor in any of my pies, except for the blueberry. Maybe one day she’ll come around.
And thanks for the comments about her dress. It’s one of our favorite hand-me-downs. I come from a family of women and most of our friends all have girls as well. This has its sartorial perks.