The KBAL Brownie Initiative

Analysis

How hard can it be to find unsalted macadamia nuts in a large quantity? They come dry roasted and salted, mixed with cashews, mixed with pecans, and even covered in chocolate, but apparently not unsalted here on the main land. I guess they only exist in Hawaii (where General Daniel, Ret., the recipe's owner, resides). I had to settle for purchasing 2 small tins of roasted and salted macadamias and washing them to remove the salt.

I didn't look very closely at this recipe until I went to make it. As I was pulling out the ingredients, I noticed 2 missing items, eggs and butter. I re-read the instructions several times to make sure the editor didn't let another omission slip (see Week 1). Unless they made a huge error, these 2 ingredients were no where to be found. It was at this point I went, 'uh oh'.

I should have been tipped off by the 2 cups of graham cracker crumbs, but I was assuming that since it was a 'brownie' recipe, that it would have the basic ingredients. Boy, was I wrong. I think this is the strangest baked good I have ever made. Graham cracker crumbs, sweetened condensed milk, chopped macadamia nuts, vanilla, instant coffee crystals, and chocolate chips. Nothing that resembles anything I've ever baked before.

At least this was a true 1 bowl recipe. Everything went in the Kitchenaid and got mixed. The resulting batter had the consistency and texture of wet cement. It was a struggle to get it out of the bowl and spread into the pan. It was popped in the oven for 43 minutes, 13 minutes longer than suggested, and it was done. It cooled for a short while and then was cut into squares. Powdered sugar was sprinkled on top when it was cool. I think this is done to hide the fact that the brownies aren't brown, but a tan color.

Brownies, these are NOT!!! They taste like some weird bar thing that you find on the dessert table at a pot luck. They feel like they have coconut in them, but taste of macadamia nuts. And you can definitely taste that they were made with sweetened condensed milk. This recipe is in no way a brownie and doesn't belong in this book!

• Prep time: 25 minutes (includes the 10 minutes for washing and drying the macadamias)
• Cooking time: 43 minutes
• Total time: 1.5 hours (includes cooling)

Modifications

None.

Improvements

Take this recipe out of the book. It doesn't belong.

My Rating - scale of 1-10

• PITA Rating: 3 (washing the macadamias was a pain)
• Difficulty Rating: 2
• Recipe Complexity (over a basic no-frills brownie): 3
• Texture: 3
• Flavor: 3
• Overall Rating: 2 (these are not brownies, they are something else)