The Story of the Overcooked Brownies

   Let me explain. At our house, we love brownies. Dark, fudgie, nutty brownies. I recently bought a couple of mixes that were on sale, they were a good brand, so I figured why not. I can't leave well enough alone when it comes to brownies. If it has nuts in it, I will add more. And I usually add chips of some kind, usually chocolate, but I have been known to add peanut butter ones too.

   In the brownies this time, I added some white chocolate chips. Since Hubs loves white chocolate, I thought that would be cool. I also recently discovered that they make cinnamon chips! I can't wait to try them in something. Anyway, back to the most recent brownies.  I added the chips and extra nuts, but where I went wrong was the pan. I usually like using the big 9"x13" pan. These particular ones called for the small 8"x8" or 9"x9" pan. I wanted to use my big round Corning ware straight sided pie pan. I think it's 10" across.

   According to the chart on the package, the bigger the pan, the less time it takes to bake the brownies. So I did some figuring, crossed my fingers, and put them in the oven. After the timer went off, I took them out to cool. I even put the pan on a rack, to speed the process up. It still was hours until I could cut myself a wedge of brownie.

   I was supremely disappointed! They were still raw in the middle. So I heated the oven back up, and popped them back in for a bit. When they finally came out and cooled down, they were like concrete. I could hardly get a knife through them! Hubs bravely cut himself a wedge or two and did his best to eat them. He told me this was the first time he had ever had crunchy brownies.

   I decided it was time to just give up and throw them away. But I couldn't get them out of the dish! I tried on and off, for a couple of days, and eventually decided that the only way to get these stupid things out of the pan was to pour some water on them, and wait for it to be absorbed. Theoretically, the water would make them soft. I did that yesterday.

   This morning, I poured off the excess water, and they still wouldn't let go! But I kept trying, and finally they were loose. I feel compelled to tell you that the water did not get fully absorbed into the brownies!! They were still very hard around the edges. But now they are gone, and I can try again. Next time I use the pie pan, I will use a mix  designed for larger pans.

   I am so confident in my future success that I bought some peanut butter cookies to make, so we can have peanut butter cookie and brownie sandwiches. They are very yummy!