I don't bake, but these are great brownies!

I don’t bake…it’s just not something I really enjoy doing like I do cooking.  I think everybody is programmed to have some amount of creativity…may be it is artistic, or fashion or home decorating etc…none of which I am any good at…but I cook.  I like to think that is my creative outlet.  I may only wear a couple of colors that I know match,  and my house looks great after the decorator leaves…and it still looks that way years later since I don’t have the confidence  to change it.  But give me a pot, pan and knife and I can toss stuff together that will be edible and usually pretty good.  So what does this have to do with “I don’t bake”?  Baking is a science…it requires exact measurements, specific instructions and a determined order (dry ingredients first, then wet; no substitutions etc).  Baking is really a giant science experiment that you can enjoy afterwards…but get creative about it and you usually don’t get to eat it.  My daughter J is a great baker…she follows the instructions, she measures and it always turns out excellent…Oh, and she excels at Science too – see the connection?  Anyway, sometimes you have to try to push yourself outside the proverbial box…and I did this weekend by baking brownies!  I apologize for the picture...not one of my best...

I had seen this recipe in a Food Network magazine that I picked up at the store.  The brownies (yea, I know pretty elementary baking….but you have to start somewhere) had both cinnamon and cayenne pepper in them…which intrigued me.  They also called for Mexican Cocoa powder, but since we were in remote North Carolina at the lake house, the possibility of finding Mexican Cocoa powder was slim to none.  I did use Dark Chocolate Cocoa (Hershey’s) and the brownies were great – moist, very dark (almost black) and extremely flavorful.  I would encourage you to try these…with some good vanilla ice cream…UMMMMMM

2 sticks unsalted butter

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup good-quality unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp ground Mexican cinnamon

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 350.  Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish very well with butter or cooking spray.  Melt the 2 sticks of butter in a nonstick saucepan over medium low heat - do not boil.  Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.  Add the sugar, eggs and vanilla to the saucepan and stir with a wooden spoon until combined.

Add the cocoa, flour, cinnamon, cayenne, salt and baking powder and mix until smooth.  Spread the batter in the pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out fudgy.  (20 - 25 minutes).  Cool in the pan on a rack and then slice and remove the brownies.