Tuesday, December 15, 2009

"Good Enough" Brownies

If I'm guilty of anything, it's probably of trying to do too much at once - usually in some harebrained scheme to please everyone at the same time and failing miserably in the attempt (the proverbial "eggs in one basket" phenomenon if you will). This past semester at school was a pretty stark reminder of that fact: I eventually wound up sacrificing my personal whims and standards of a 90% GPA to preserve my overall health. While it seems like such a no-brainer (even to me, after the fact!), it really was hard for me to come to terms with just "getting by". Even Christmas this year seems like the trial of all trials - and it's only one bloody day!

We had a mandatory "class party" and group marking session for my Facility Planning class last week, where not only did us students have to contribute to the potluck table, but we were expected to find ways of criticizing our comrades' hours of hard work in the span of about 15 minutes. All I can say is that I am LUCKY to have the amazingly kind and generous friends and classmates I do! If it wasn't for them, the 60 hours I plugged into my own work would have returned nothing but a failing mark (41%!). Thanks to them, though, I scored a still low (but decent!) 59%. I'll take it, I don't care! Nobody knows what the heck is going to happen with any of us next term though, now that we've seen our schedules: with three class days running late at night (and one until 9:30!), something tells me the standards are going to drop to a "will I pass this course" as opposed to a "will I succeed in this course". Time will tell!

My offering to the potluck shindig were these triple-chocolate, ultra rich brownies. I affectionately refer to them as my "Floorplan Brownies", but really... they are a gazillion times easier to put together and way more rewarding! They are nothing short of insane on the richness scale, and are basically fudge with a hint of flour and chew instead of the "crumble/melt" texture the candy has. I hope you give these a go - and check out the other goodies at Susan's Eat Christmas Cookies Event too!


Floorplan Brownies
Makes 32
¾ cup salted butter
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
300g silken tofu
1 tbsp vanilla
½ cup dark cocoa
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup flour
½ cup sweet rice flour
1 cup jumbo semisweet chocolate chips
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease the bottom only of a 9″ x 13″ pan.
  2. In a saucepan set over low heat, melt butter and chocolate.
  3. Add sugars, stirring well to combine. Return the mixture to the heat briefly, until warm and shiny but not bubbling.
  4. Meanwhile, puree tofu with vanilla, cocoa, and salt. Add the hot butter and sugar mixture, stirring until smooth.
  5. Sift together baking powder and flours in a small bowl, then stir into the tofu mixture.
  6. Fold in the chocolate chips.
  7. Bake 30 minutes, then chill completely before cutting.
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 164.8
Total Fat: 8.3 g
Cholesterol: 11.4 mg
Sodium: 35.6 mg
Total Carbs: 23.8 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.5 g
Protein: 2.0 g

1 comment :

  1. If you're worried about not passing, then I'd suggesting bribing your professor with a big batch of theses brownies and a half gallon of milk (or maybe a bottle of whiskey). ;)

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