Brownies/Bars/Puddings

Double Decker Brownies

Love…

Have you tried to describe love? How love makes you feel?

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In writing?

With pen and paper?

I’ve tried… It ends up like this: Me, buried under a mountain of crumpled
pieces of paper.

Lost.

What?

Love?

What?

The more you try, the harder love becomes to describe. This mountain of
crumpled pieces paper threatens to bury you alive in a snowy-like
avalanche.

Call the National Guard, the helicopters – Help!

What in heavens is a suitable analogy to describe love?

Is love a metaphor?

Does it speak in rhyme?

Roses are red… Violets are blue…

Is love real?

Oh, it’s real. Bet on it That funny melting feeling in your tummy
when a loved one stares at you “just so”… That’s real.

When the appropriate description for love fails you I say, think of brownies.

If love were a brownie, it would be a double decker.

No, really!

Double decker brownies are two layers, coming together as one;
distinctive, yet converge in a homogeneous, harmonious manner. A perfect state of symbiosis.

Two layers sharing one common goal: To compliment the other in a way
that makes it not only palatable to the tongue, but makes other brownies
aspire to become a double decker.

Bite into a double decker brownie. There is no end and no beginning. You
can distinguish these layers, but why would you want to? They work
perfectly.

As equals.

And that?

That is love…

Word…

: Double Decker Brownies

Adapted from: Recipe For Living, who adapted it from Abby Dodge’s, The Weekend Baker (A book I may now sleep with under my pillow…)

Ingredients:

Chocolate Chip Layer

12 Tbs. (1 ½ stick) unsalted butter
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 large egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 C. semi-sweet chocolate chips, preferably couverture chips
1/2 C milk chocolate chips

Brownie Layer

12 Tbs. (1 ½ stick) unsalted butter
¾ cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted if lumpy
1 ½ cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 scant tablespoons dark brown sugar, not packed
1/4 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
2 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 C. all-purpose flour

Directions:

Position the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Very lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9×13-inch baking pan and line the pan with parchment or aluminum foil.

Begin the chocolate chip layer:

In a medium saucepan over medium heat melt the butter. Remove pan from heat and add the brown sugar all at once. Whisk until the mixture is completely homogeneous and no lumps remain. At first it may seem as if it won’t come together, but keep whisking… It will. Set the butter mix aside to cool while making the brownie layer.

Brownie layer:

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Remove pan from the heat and add the cocoa powder. Whisk until smooth and completely incorporated. Add the sugars and salt and whisk until blended.
Add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract with the second egg.
Sift flour over the chocolate mixture and stir with a rubber spatula just until the ingredients are just blended. Do not over mix. Scrape the batter into the prepared baking dish and spread it evenly with a small offset spatula. Set aside while you finish the chocolate chip layer.

Finish the chocolate chip layer:

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Whisk until well incorporated. By now your butter/sugar mixture will be somewhat cool. Add the egg and vanilla extract to the butter/sugar mixture and whisk until blended. Pour in the flour mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until the ingredients are just combined, then stir in the chocolate chips.
Drop the dough over the brownie batter in large scoops and spread it evenly with a small offset spatula.
Bake until a wooden pick or a knife inserted in the center comes out with small, gooey clumps of brownie sticking to it and the chocolate chip layer has set, about 40 minutes. Do not bake these brownies longer than 40 minutes or they won’t be fudgy.
Transfer the baking pan to a rack to cool completely, preferably overnight (I know, I know – Sorry…).
With a knife or a small square biscuit or cookie cutter, cut the brownies into small squares measuring about 1 inch each. If your knife or cutter has pieces of fudgy brownie stuck to it, just clean the knife and continue cutting. It helps if the brownies are completely cool, hence the overnight cooling. You can speed up the process by placing the pan in the refrigerator once the pan has cooled a bit.

Makes about 32 bite sized brownies.

Preparation time: 20 minute(s)

Cooking time: 40 minute(s)