[Cookie 037] Chocolate-Ginger Brownies

Yesterday, here in lovely Los Angeles, it was 105º F. That's 40.5º C. That's really hot. And to tack onto the scorching temperature, more wildfires have sprung up in the mountains, one of which is located in a town that's only 20 minutes away from my house! It's totally nuts! From anywhere in my town, if you looked north toward the mountains you could see this monumental plume of smoke billowing out of the canyons--it looked like a nebula in outer space it was so huge.

So yesterday evening, as the fires raged and the temperature outside was still in the 80s at 10:00 pm, I went with a friend to see Brüno (which was hilarious, seriously--I had low expectations, but it was so worth it). Anyway, afterward we decided to drive north toward the mountains just a bit so we could get a glimpse at where the fires were coming from. As we came out of a tree-lined residential street and into the open, we could literally see the flames outlining the slope of one of the hills. It looked something like this:

(Picture not my own! Credit: darylphotos' on Flickr)

So yeah, pretty scary. I hope none of you are affected by any of these fires! And if you live nearby, be safe! I could literally watching the flames advancing over the ridge of the mountain with my own eyes--fire spreads fast...like WILDFIRE!

But enough about that. I'm here to bake cookies. Or in this case, Chocolate-Ginger Brownies. I hate to tell you guys, though, that this is another of her mysteriously bad, possibly unedited/unproof-read recipes though. Those who know me know that I'm a totally gingerophile, so I was totally gung-ho about the flavors in this recipe. Unfortunately, the end result was not so good.

I'm pretty sure this recipe must have been just missing an ingredient or two, because I had made one of Martha's brownie recipes, the Double Chocolate Brownies, before and they were fantastic and simple and just a great recipe all around. These, however, did not list any sort of leavener (read: Baking Soda or Powder) in the ingredients, and therefore the brownies did not rise an inch. They were absurdly dense, chewy, and pretty gross.

However, I did enjoy the idea behind this recipe. Maybe it's more of a conceptual recipe--a theoretical brownie. They have ginger, cloves, and all sorts of spices, which when combined with chocolate make a really interesting flavor combination. So I bet if you took her Double Chocolate Brownie recipe and added these spices and flavors, you would have a winner. I urge you to try it if you love ginger like I do!

Here's a photo of my disappointment in the end result (left, sadface) followed by a photo of the next recipe I made immediately after throwing away the theoretical brownies (right, dorkyface):

The next recipe is a winner. Stay tuned folks.

Chocolate-Ginger Brownies

Makes 16 small brownies, or 9 large

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for baking dish
• 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish. Line bottom with parchment paper, allowing 2 inches to hang over 2 sides. Butter parchment; set aside. Melt butter and chocolate together in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat, and stir in remaining ingredients.
2. Pour batter into prepared dish. Smooth top with a rubber spatula. Bake until a cake tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes. Lift out, and let cool completely on rack. Cut into sixteen 2-inch squares. Brownies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 4 days.

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{End Results}
Baking Difficultly: 2/5
Ingredient Accessibility: 3.5/5 (Just your basic spices...)
Tastiness: 1.5/5 (With potential, though!)
Attractiveness: 3.5/5
Is it worth it?: If you add some baking powder, they might work and be delicious! So be adventurous and try it out for me and let me know, because I am too busy/lazy to try any recipe twice.

{Pairings}
Drink: Milk ... or ice cream (which is not a drink, but really now, is that going to stop you?)

Song: Crimson and Clover -- Lovin' Spoonful
Activity: Something cozy, like watching a movie on a cold night?