Who do you think won a brownie taste test between Pillsbury, Duncan Hines, Betty Crocker and Ghirardelli? You guessed it: Ghirardelli. Pillsbury and my friend Betty tied for second, and Duncan Hines came in dead last. Believe it or not I did this taste test at my church. We have been going to our little church for seven years so, knowing me, no one was surprised at my little experiment nor did they want to pass the chance to eat brownies. (Of course, I had to monitor the consumption.)
Shhh It's A Secret
Recently, I met Brian from Newport Beach and he shared that his son always raves about the brownies he gets at his friend's house. When Brian asked the Mom her secret, she said she simply baked Ghirardelli brownies 25 degrees lower and 5 to 10 minutes longer. (I haven't tested this so I can't be held responsible, but using this baking method with any type of brownie mix just might improve it as well.)
I guess this cooking method is referred to as "low and slow". I tried this, and my daughter Abbey said, "these are the most awesome brownies I've ever had!" We then proceeded to eat most of them. (Believe it or not, Pickett's Pearls hasn't been great for the waist.)
*This just in: Ann Bailey from Birmingham just told me that the key to making brownies that look like the ones on the box is to let them cool in the pan and then cut them with a plastic knife.
Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies
Remember the old Reeses’s commercial, You’ve got peanut butter in my chocolate, you’ve got chocolate……There is nothing better (at least in my mind) than peanut butter and chocolate! Her’s my stab at 4 ingredient peanut butter brownies:
Step 1.Preheat your oven to 25 degrees lower than the directions on the box. (We are going for the Low and Slow method mentioned above.)
Step 2. Follow the directions on the box, but instead of oil use the same amount of peanut butter. (We like Justin’s but any peanut butter should do.)
Step 3. Once you have poured the batter into the pan, put 3 or 4 thick horizontal lines of peanut butter spaced out on top. Then use a knife to make swirls.
Step 4. Bake as directed but add 5 to 10 min. extra
Whisk With A Twist
Don't you hate whisks? They always get bent out of shape because they are so flimsy. Months ago, I couldn't find our whisk, so I had to improvise. I used one of the blades from our hand mixer. Now I'm never going back! (By the way, If you are wondering if that's my rock in the pic it's not. I hired a hand model.)