Flops, friends, and fudge brownies

Sometimes, "food flops" in the kitchen can turn into wonderful discoveries. Recently, I was making a new cake for a family dinner. I am sure the cake would have been wonderful, but when I tried to turn it out of the bundt pan it fell out in multiple pieces leaving half of the cake still in the pan. I had already made the chocolate glaze to pour on top and I had about 3 hours before the gathering; not enough time to make another cake. After a few minutes of panic I decided to pull out my mother-in-law's brownie recipe. I still remember the first time I tried these brownies in college and I have used the recipe ever since. I used the chocolate glaze that was supposed to be for the cake on the hot brownies. We picked up some vanilla ice cream on the way to dinner and we were all set. As it turns out the combination of the brownies and the glaze makes for a very decadent dessert. So, I thought I would share my food find with you.

Mrs. Newton's Brownies

Pat Newton

1 1/2 C. flour

2 C. sugar

10 Tbsp. cocoa

1 tsp. salt

1 C. oil

4 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 C. chopped pecans (I use a 10 oz. bag of chocolate chunks instead)

Cream sugar and eggs. Add oil and cream. Sift dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture. Stir just till combined. Fold in vanilla and nuts. Pour into a greased 9x13 in. pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Chocolate Glaze

Becky Rosenthal

1 stick of margarine
4 Tbsp cocoa
6 Tbsp milk
1 box (3 cups) of powder sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Bring to a boil the margarine, cocoa, and milk. Remove from heat and whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla. Pour over hot brownies as soon as they come out of the oven. It will soak into the brownies and all around the sides. Yum! Let the icing set up for a few hours or a day ahead before serving.

Since I am making the brownies for our community group meeting tonight I thought I would share the other favorite recipe that will go along with the brownies. This recipe comes from my dear friend, Jenny. When Jack was born Jenny brought over a bag of groceries and cooked dinner for Josh and me. It was such a fun evening and for dessert we made this popcorn. I absolutely LOVE all things peanut butter and this popcorn is something that I literally crave.

Peanut Butter Popcorn

Jenny Rogers

3 bags microwave popcorn (natural)

1 C. corn syrup

1 C. sugar

1 C. creamy peanut butter

1 tsp. vanilla

Over med. heat cook syrup and sugar. Cook until rolling boil. Mixture should look clear. Remove from heat and add peanut butter and vanilla. Pour over popcorn. Stir quickly to combine and just try not to eat half the bowl!

*Tip- I like to pop the popcorn and place in a bowl. Then I scoop the popped corn out with my hands in small batches into a bigger bowl. This helps remove as many of the unpopped kernels as possible.