cooking4carnivores

Remember in school when you would have a special treat day? A room mother would bring in a sugary concoction of sorts just before recess to celebrate some holiday or another. Well, despite the fact that baby omnivore is years away from such events, it turns out the carnivore and I cannot escape the same sweet trap as adults. His coworkers have randomly decided to have "treat days." (The reasoning was because the snacks people brought in around Christmas were such a hit. Well, duh. Who doesn't like free cookies?) So, like the dutiful room mothers of my past I now search out sweets for the carnivore to take to his classmates, I mean colleagues. (Can you tell I think this is a bit ridiculous?)

Lucky for me I usually don't have to look too far. My Bon Appetit magazine inevitably has something I am wanting to try. In February they exclaimed on the cover that they had the "best-ever brownies!" (As a side note, in the years that I have been getting this magazine only once has the cover failed to make the carnivore salivate when it arrives in the mailbox.) So, I figured it was worth a shot. I had all the ingredients in my kitchen anyway.

To make the cocoa brownies with browned butter and walnuts you need:
nonstick veggie spray
10 tblsp of unsalted butter, diced
1 1/4 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp of vanilla
2 large eggs
1/3 cup + 1 tblsp of flour
1 cup of walnuts
pinch of salt
2 tsp of water

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line and 8x8x2 baking pan with foil and coat with nonstick spray. Melt butter in medium pan til foaming stops and browning starts. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Add in cocoa and water. Combine. Add in salt, vanilla, and water. Stir til well blended. Let cool 5 minutes. Add in eggs one at a time to mixture, which will still be hot, and beat vigorously.  When mixture looks thick and shiny fold in the flour and nuts. Blend completely then transfer batter to baking dish. Cook for 25-35 minutes til toothpick placed in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan the use foil to lift out. Cut into generous squares.

I will admit that while I didn't get to try these brown beauties myself, they looked chewy and smelled rich and nutty. And since, the carnivore didn't bring any leftovers home, I assume they were a hit with the work crowd as well. I think they would make a special treat anytime - treat day or not.