Cocoa Brownies
Tickets have been purchased. Portland to Bangkok and Bangkok to Portland 20 days later. I. Cannot. Wait. Well, not for the 23 hour flights, but you know what I mean. We narrowed down our original ambitious plan to focusing mostly on Thailand, with maybe a stop into Cambodia or Vietnam. I don’t want to spend more time traveling vs. enjoying the place I’m in. I tried that on my first trip to Europe. It’s a great way to cover a lot of ground, but not to experience things.
We’re looking into backpacks and all that. We went carry-on only in Italy for three weeks, so I’m not worried about the packing aspect, but it was still a roller bag. I want to be much more mobile in Thailand. If you have any suggestions, please throw them my way!
I swear this is the last of the butter-laden treats for a bit. I realize I was eating a lot there for awhile, but the BBQ and heat have slowed me down. I’m much more into ice cream [Luna & Larry’s Organic Coconut Bliss] and sorbet/gelato [Talenti] these days.
These are very straight forward brownies, which is really the only way to go. Others are good, but the good ol’ standby is good and old for a reason. It’s seasoned. It’s lasted when others haven’t. There is something so satisfying by a fudgy bite, especially when you know there is no nonsense involved. Simple ingredients yield the best stuff sometimes. Quality over quantity.
Inspiration: Bon Appètit
Ingredients
- 1 stick of unsalted butter, cut into 1″ pieces
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder [the higher the quality, the better]
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 325º and line an 8×8″ baking pan with foil if you’ve got it. I conveniently ran out RIGHT as I made these, so I sprayed the pan with olive oil and hoped for the best. It worked out okay. I’m okay with imperfect brownies.
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium low heat. Once it’s melted, remove it from the heat, and let it cool while you pull out your other ingredients. In a mediums size bowl, whisk the cocoa, sugar, and salt. Pour in the butter, whisking until it’s blended and smooth. Whisk in the vanilla, and add the eggs one at a time, beating until blended each time. Add the flour and give it a gentle mixing. It should be smooth, but not over-mixed.
Pour the thick batter into the prepared pan. Use a knife [or finger, ahem], to smooth everything out. Bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out mostly clean , and only a small bit crumby. Remove and allow to cool on a wire rack. I stored mine in the fridge for awhile until it cooled completely. Fudgy brownies ftw.
SO much fun! My husband and I spent 3 weeks in Thailand on our honeymoon about 10 years ago. Make sure you go to the Snake Farm in Bangkok and watch a show–very cool. And try to hit an elephant camp where they also let you ride the elephants! Are you going to any of the islands? And a trip into the jungle in the Malay peninsula, Khao Sok, was wonderful. Squee!
Thanks for the great insight!! We’re totally planning on going to the Elephant Sanctuary up north by Chiang Mai. There’s talk of going to any of the islands. I’ve only really been looking at Ko Samui. Did you have any favorites? I’m definitely adding Khao Sok to the list.
There’s nothing like a carry-on only trip. And Talenti was on sale the other day, so I almost bought some, but then didn’t, ’cause I was all “pfft, GELATO in the Kroger freezer section? I doubt it.” But maybe I should rethink that.
GET SOME! It is THEE best gelato in the freezer section. It’s hard to believe, I know, but it’s sold at all the fancy pants grocery store, too.
I’m on it!! It was like 50% off, and I just poo-poo’d it. Hope it’s still on sale! Might even go crazy and buy some if it’s not 😉 Supposed to be 80+ here this week, ice cream weather.
Holy hell. That’s a steal and a half. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it less than $6 here.
The continued benefits of living in the, er, slightly ghetto, area of town–The classy stuff at the grocery store is what doesn’t sell/gets marked way down.
I had a P.S.–Your Thai trip is September?
Yes!
Ahaha, I thought so. Guess who might be in Portland in September? Of course.
Just make it after September 16th, and I’ll be home!
That is so exciting that you’re going to Thailand and backpacking!! I agree that while it’s awesome to cover a lot of ground, you just can’t experience a place unless you have time to wander around and get lost. When we went to Rome, the guy at our hotel said his only advice to really experience the city was to get lost. I loved it so much!
Getting lost is my favorite. Living like locals. See things you wouldn’t normally see. That’s hard to do in Rome, too. Great advice!