My dear crafty friends—
I know I have been horribly remiss in publishing this
blog. I’m still crafting, but my heart just hasn’t been in writing about it. I
apologize for leaving you hanging.
So what has motivated me to dust off the blog? This time, it’s
a dessert that I just have to share: Grady's Good Gracious Brownies.
My son has been fortunate to be in with a group of fellow
high school boys who meet nearly weekly for Bible study. I’m in awe at their
dedication. Because I’m trying to raise a boy who knows not to just show up at
someone’s house empty handed (and because I like to bake but don’t want a lot
of baked goods around my house), I have been making goodies for him to bring
with him to these meetings.
There are a few of the boys in the group who have become big
fans of the weekly baked goods. One of them, Grady, particularly loves
brownies, so I threw myself into coming up with a brownie recipe just for him. These
brownies are amazing! You start with Ghiradelli Dark Chocoloate Brownie mix.
When that’s how you start, how can this be anything but great? After that, you
add mini Rolos, a caramel frosting, and crumbled bits of pretzels. Lord. Have.
Mercy. Hope you enjoy!
Grady’s Good Gracious Brownies
Ingredients
Box of
brownie mix (as well as whatever the mix calls for, such as eggs, oil, or
water)
8 oz bag of
mini Rolos
1 stick (8
T.) butter
1 cup of
packed brown sugar (light or dark, or use ½ of each)
¼ cup whole
milk (don’t use skim here!)
2 cups
powdered sugar
1 teaspoon
of vanilla extract
½ teaspoon
of sea salt
1 cup
crushed pretzels
Note: for crushing the pretzels, I used a food processor and
advise against doing that. Too much of them was pulverized to a powder, so I
had to use a slotted spoon to remove them from the food processor bowl so as to
leave behind the pretzel powder. Just throw them into a baggie and whack with a
wooden spoon until you have pieces large enough to be recognizable as pretzels,
but small enough to sprinkle on top of the brownies.
1. Make your favorite brownie mix according to the
directions on the package. I used Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Brownies.
2.
Preheat the oven according to the box (325
degrees for mine) and spray an 8x8 glass baking dish with Pam for Baking (this
stuff is amazing, but hold your breath when you spray it; if you accidentally
breathe it in, you will be coughing for a while afterwards).
3.
Pour in half the brownie mix and distribute evenly.
4.
Place mini Rolo candies into the mix, again,
distributing evenly. For an 8x8 pan, I used a 6 rows, 6 columns distribution
method.
5.
Pour in remaining half of the brownie mix,
spreading over the Rolos until all are covered.
6.
Bake according to package instructions (mine was
40-45 minutes).
7.
Remove from oven and let cool.
8.
In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, add the
butter and brown sugar. Stir frequently and bring to boil, 2-3 minutes.
9.
Add the milk in a thin stream while continuing to
stir. Bring to a boil again, then remove from heat.
10.
Add the vanilla and salt, and then sift in the
powdered sugar. Mix with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula (don’t use a hand
mixer) until well blended and smooth.
11.
Immediately frost the brownies while the
frosting is still warm. You will have frosting left over (what a shame!). We
found this perfect for dipping pretzels into. I popped the rest into the
fridge, and may melt it later in the microwave to pour over ice cream.
12.
Top brownies with crushed pretzels (I used
Snyder’s pretzel sticks).
13.
Let the brownies and frosting cool completely
before cutting into squares. These things are super rich, so I recommend cutting
into at least 16 squares rather than 12 larger squares.
Let the choconalia begin!
Jenny
