Brownie Pudding

Oh my goodness is this decadent!! (Don't tell... I ate this for supper last night... only this). Naughty I know but its soooo good. I halved the recipe because I didn't want to make a 9X13 pan and have a bunch left over since we're gone all weekend. (That's why you'll see some weird math - its how I figured out to half 3/4 cup of cocoa powder!!!) And - I finally learned my lesson and only used room-temp ingredients for my baking this time and it was a ton easier!

Anyway, this is called brownie pudding because its kind of a mixture of the two. You cook it in a water bath (so don't worry about the eggs - it is warm all the way through the middle) and it will look like its not done... you don't want the toothpick coming out clean this time!! There is a very nice crust on the top but the rest is super-goey. (One more note: the original recipe said to bake for 1 hour exactly, I left mine in for about 40 minutes and it turned out great... it seems like it may be hard to overcook in the water bath, but don't quote me on that!!)

If you are having a crappy day, or want to watch a good chic flick and need to fix a chocolate craving... boy have I got the recipe for you!!

Ingredients
1 stick unsalted butter
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/4 + 1/8 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter or spray a 8X8 baking dish.

Melt butter and set aside to cool.

In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed for 5 to 10 minutes, until very thick and light yellow. Meanwhile, sift the cocoa powder and flour together and set aside.

When the egg and sugar mixture is ready, reduce the speed to low and add the vanilla, powder & flour mixture. Mix only until combined. With mixer still on low, slowly pour in the cooled butter and mix again until just combined.

Pour the brownie mixture into the prepared dish and place it in a larger baking pan. Set inside the oven, then pour enough of the hottest tap water to come halfway up the side of the dish, and bake for about 45 minutes. The center will appear very under-baked, this dessert is between a brownie and a pudding.



Recipe courtesy Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa). This woman is an absolute genius and one of my absolute favorite on food network. I also took the picture from her recipe... mine looked the same but I couldn't get my picture to look as good!