The KBAL Brownie Initiative

Analysis

Well, making this recipe should have been easier. I checked the pantry to make sure I had all the ingredients I needed before I went to class. I had just over 1 cup of mini-marshmallows that the recipe called for, so I was in good shape. Or so I thought.

Upon arriving home at 9:20, I began to piece the recipe together. I put the sugar, butter (no margarine, thank you) and evaporated milk on the stove to melt/boil. I then had to make quick oats in my new Cuisinart (this new piece of equipment may soon replace the Kitchenaid as my favorite power tool) from the regular oats. I mixed the oats with the peanut butter, chocolate chips, coconut, vanilla and turned to the pantry to get my exact measure of mini-marshmallows. This is where it all fell apart.

Unbeknownst to me, while I was away at class, my darling daughter (the one who is already grounded) had eaten my entire stash of marshmallows! Why now? Why these marshmallows that I had painstakingly and dutifully verified the correct amount of just 4 hours before? These marshmallows had been in the pantry for the past 3 weeks, uneaten. Her sense of timing was uncanny.

So, it was off to the store at 9:45. I think there must be a requirement somewhere at the beginning of the book that I did not read that states 'the making of each recipe will be interrupted by a trip to the grocery store. This step is mandatory and integral to the process of sucessfully completing the recipe'. I got my mini-marshmallows and got back with out much fuss. I dumped in the mini-marshmallows, added the hot milk/sugar/butter mixure, beat it up with the Kitchenaid and dumped it into the waiting 9x13 pan. And that was it.

This is another example of a recipe that does not belong in a 'best brownie recipe' book. They are not brownies! They are more like fudge with stuff in it. The texture is rough due to the oatmeal, the chocolate is a bit grainy due to the use of chocolate chips, and the whole thing is just wrong. I'm not making these again.

• Prep time: 50 minutes (includes the 30 minute trip to the store)


• Cooking time: 0 minutes


• Total time: 1.5 hours (includes cooling)

Modifications

I used butter instead of margerine. You all know how I feel about margerine.

Improvements

Well, since these are not brownies in my book, I think that making an actual brownie with all of the stuff in it may be a better option.

My Rating - scale of 1-10

• PITA Rating: 4 (I did have to go to the store)
• Difficulty Rating: 2
• Recipe Complexity (over a basic no-frills brownie): 4
• Texture: 2
• Flavor: 2
• Overall Rating: 2 (these are NOT brownies)