Single-Portion Brownies!

It's Thanksgiving again--usually the time of year to put up my favorite fall recipes and showcase all the delicious feast items I've made for the big Turkey Day. But today, instead, I'm playing catch up. After six months without a single new blog post, I think it's time to finish all my "half-baked" blog post drafts so I can be ready for the holiday season of 2012 and all the delicious baking that entails.

There is a reason, of course, that I've been so behind. Since January I've been working two jobs--one as a full-time academic librarian and one as my usual part-time Youth Services Specialist at the public library. If you've read this blog before (or know me personally), you probably already remember this fact and have even seen a few single-portion recipes (cookies, Halloween treats, baklava, etc.) that emerged from public library children's programs I put together as well. This month, however, I decided it was sadly time to say goodbye to the public library (one can only work two jobs for so long before burning out), but not to my love of Youth Services, children's programs, or sharing yummy treats and recipes with my coworkers and friends.

Having just the one job now should allow me more time for blogging (I hope!), and more time to pay tribute to the awesome times I have had working with kids at the public library--such as with this Single-Portion Brownie that I made with the age 2-6 crowd back in...wow, it must have been June. I'm really behind here...

Ah, but I do remember (vaguely--thank goodness I took notes)...it took three tries to get it perfect. My first attempt at making this treat came out with the perfect color, but was too gooey and tasted just a little bit like alcohol from an overwhelming proportion of vanilla (not good for preschoolers!). Attempt number two was a bit more cakey, lighter in color and not quite sweet enough, though I liked that none of the flavors overwhelmed. I could have ultimately used that recipe in my children's program, but I thought I'd try one more time just in case. I cut back just a touch on the flour and chocolate chips. Suddenly the proportions were perfect. The flavor was awesome. I had to force myself not to finish every sample I created so that I could pass them out to my awesome teen volunteers and coworkers. The results of my efforts are below:


Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons flour

1 Tablespoon cocoa powder

1/16 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

2 Tablespoons white sugar

Drop of vanilla

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

1 Tablespoon egg or egg substitute

1 Tablespoon mini chocolate chips

Directions:

1.) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl or cut, combine the sugar, vanilla, oil and egg.

2.) Add the flour mixture to the oil mixture and stir until well blended. Stir in the chocolate chips.

3.) Pour the batter into an individual tin or cupcake liner and bake for about 9 minutes. Let cool briefly and enjoy!

Yes, it really is that easy to have your own individual brownie in a matter of minutes. You don't even have to share (That's what "single-portion" means!).

And now, to keep it short and sweet, I won't draw out the conclusion of this post, letting my heart dwell on how much I'll miss doing these programs in the library--because I'm sure I'll get the chance to do them again one day. Instead, it's on to the next post! If this recipe was from June, then there is much to blog before I catch up to November!