The Brownie Experiment

Tonight I made three seperate batches of brownies ... no special occasion. It all started with my desire to make a sweet treat using stevia. I had come across this recipe last week and decided to give it a go. It is definitely not your normal brownie recipe as it calls for chocolate protein powder, applesauce, oat flour, and stevia. The batter was alright. The final result was disappointing (pictured above, left). My first thought was "they taste healthy" and not in a good way. Tony agreed. I found a description of applesauce brownies, where Lucy compared it to "eating a slightly stale chocolate pancake." (1) We couldn't agree more!

So I decided to find a normal brownie recipe and just substitute the sugar with stevia (pictured above, right). This batter was extremely thick and kind of lumpy. I had a good feeling that baking wasn't going to help it any, but I decided  to test it out anyway. The final result was not edible! Actually, I had put a piece up to my mouth and knew right away that it was no good. With some encouragment from Tony, I put a small piece in my mouth, chewed, and spit it in the trash can. Yes, it was that bad!

I teased and said we should wrap these up in fancy paper and sell them on Etsy as doggy treats! :)

Take Three ...

By this time we both just wanted some yummy brownies - the kind that produces great batter for licking and a chocolatey, cakey result when baked. So I pulled out the tried and true recipe for Baker's One Bowl Brownies (pictured above and below). The results were, in the words of Tony, "Much better!" :)

Baker's One Bowl Brownies

4 squares BAKER'S Unsweetened Chocolate
3/4 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup flour

HEAT oven to 325*F.

LINE 13x9-inch pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides. Spray foil with cooking spray.

MICROWAVE chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sugar. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Add flour; mix well. Pour into prepared pan.

BAKE 30 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. (Do not overbake.) Cool completely. Use foil handles to remove brownies from pan before cutting to serve.