Brownies to beat the blues

Like everybody else, I get the blues for one reason or another from time to time. Well, you guessed it..I've been tryin to chase them away. And what's a girl's favorite way to try chasin away the blues?? Chocolate!!! And since I've been on what feels like the NEVERENDING hunt for the perfect brownie, I thought I'd do double duty with my baking today and try out a new brownie recipe. I was a bit skeptical of this recipe..of course I'm skeptical of every brownie recipe I try, most likely because I have a VERY specific idea of how I want my brownies to be. I want a rich & fudgey brownie, that's firm & a little chewy, but not cakey and I don't want it to be crackley on top. A brownie like you would find in a bakery or a coffeeshop..atleast the ones I've been to & ordered brownies at lol. Does that make sense to anyone?? If anyone has a recipe that results in that brownie I would love you forever if you share it with me!!! =) So I found the recipe of all places in an old issue of Cooking Light magazine from December 2003, the Best of Cooking Light Simple Suppers issue. I figured it was worth a shot because I had all the ingredients on hand & felt sure even if they didn't live up to my hopes & dreams for a brownie they would be decent & I was right. I'm still on the hunt for that perfect brownie, but these were good. They got pretty good reviews..my niece & nephew gobbled them up, which seems to be nothing new when it comes to my baked goods. I suppose that right there should give me HUGE confidence because they are pretty stiff critics & not yet to that age where they pretend to like something so as not to hurt your feelings..I just love that about them..cause if it taste horrible I want to know..lol The recipe strictly uses cocoa powder, so no chocolate to melt. I chose to go with half dutch processed cocoa & half regular unsweetened cocoa, as dutch-process is my preference but can come across as overwhelmingly strong in many recipes. The recipe also calls for a bit of coffee, which I couldn't so much taste, but my nephew noticed & loved immediately. The coffee was more or less just to intensify the chocolate flavor. Also recipe requires that you beat the sugar & the eggs together for about 5 minutes to give the baked brownies a crackly surface. I added some semi-sweet chocolate chips because I don't think there is any such thing as too much chocolate..lol Fudgy Brownies 1 c sugar 2 large eggs 1 Tbsp hot water 2 tsp instant coffee granules 1/4 c butter, melted 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 c all purpose flour 2/3 c unsweetened cocoa 1/4 tsp salt cooking spray 1 Tbsp powdered sugar (optional) 1. preheat oven to 325 degrees 2. Place sugar & eggs in a large bowl, beat with mixer on high speed until thick & pale, about 5 minutes. Combine hot water & coffee granules, stirring to dissolve. Add coffee mixture, butter & vanilla to sugar mixture; beat at low speed until combined. 3. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, cocoa & salt, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add flour mixture to sugar mixture, stirring just until moist ( batter will be thick). 4. Spread batter into an 8-inch square pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 325 degrees for 23 minutes or until the brownies spring back when touched lightly in center. Cool in pan on wire rack. Garnish with powdered sugar, if desired. Yields 16 servings. Calories: 121 Fat: 4.1g Protein: 2.4g Carb: 20.6g Fiber: 1.4g Chol: 34mg Iron: 1mg Sodium: 75mg Calcium: 10mg