Well that was good: Brother Juniper's Brownies.

A long long time ago when Sean and I were just a wee dating couple stomping about Toronto on a trip to get to know his parents we went into a bookstore, a bookstore that sells only cookbooks nonetheless.  There there I picked up this book:

Brother Juniper's Bread Book: Slow Rise ad Method and Metaphor
It's by Peter Reinhart: Running Press: Philadelphia 2005.

Anyway, I picked it up because of the name "Brother Juniper"-well Brother Juniper was a Franciscan Brother who was a favorite of St. Francis (in fact I have couple of Friends I went to my Franciscan college (Quincy University!) with who have used the name Juniper in the naming of their children). If you want to know more their is a great wikipedia article on him. There is also a bakery and former spiritual community in Memphis called Brother Juniper's that Sean and I went to when we were wee parents hauling it around with a 4 month old.


Okay so what I am getting to is this. There are some awesome bread recipes in this book, but we haven't made many of them because they take a long time and I can't follow a recipe for over and hour because I start wanting the kitchen to be clean again...but in the back of this book is the best recipe for brownies in the world.

They are amazing.

There is nothing healthy about them. Except eating them. Eating them is the best thing you can do for your mental well being on any given day.

This page is also covered in egg, cocoa, batter, butter and a various assundry of things. It even has that powedery feeling that makes you know that cups and cups of flour have passed over it's pages.

So now I should share it with the world.

1 1/4 C all purpose unbleached flour
2 C white sugar
1. teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs beaten until frothy
1 C plus 2 tablespoons butter
4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
1 Teaspoon vanilla
1 C nuts (we never have nuts on hand so we never add them)

The recipe also has instructions for frosting.  But seriously it's totally unnecessary so I am not even going to give it to you.

Making the Batter

Combing all the the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the egg and stir slightly. Melt the butter in a saucepan large enough to hold the chocolate as well. When the butter is melted, burn off the heat and immediately add the chocolate. Remove the pan from the heat and stir until the chocolate and butter are completely liquid. Add the vanilla and then add this mixture to the other ingredients. Stir in the nuts and whisk everything until you have a creamy smooth batter.

Baking

Pour the batter into a 9x11 inch pan. Bake in a preheated 350degree oven for apx 22 minutes (but seriously ours ALWAYs requires longer). Brownies are done when the edges are firm but the center still jiggles when shaken.

Consuming

Find a room in your house that offers privacy. Bathrooms or closets are acceptable.  Take a fork, the pan of warm brownies and a glass of whatever kind of milk you can drink and eat them all. Tell your family you burned them, and apologies profusely.