Its 10 o’clock. Do you know where your brownies are?
That’s the question that confronted me last night as I bolted to the kitchen, hyperventilating, realizing, that NO, I didn’t know where my brownies are. And I had an excruciating craving for brownies. Or ANY treat. Sometimes, just sometimes, I am overcome by this powerful force that makes me rummage through the deep recesses of my pantry, desperately searching for something BAD. I usually grab one of these dopamine/serotonin/endorphin/adrenalin-triggers when I do my weekly grocery shopping but for some odd reason, I forgot to this week or someone got to it before I did (a rare event since I have my proven bunkers for these things.)
I quickly threw my pantry doors wide open and surveyed its contents, my eyes darting from left to right — kind of like the scene in movies where the savant is calculating a googolplex-size equation in his head. Let’s see. Popcorn. Almonds. Maple sugar. Maybe a kettle corn of sorts? Too much work. Takes too long. Spelt flour. Oats. Chocolate chips. Maybe a cucpake/muffin of sorts? Too much work. Takes too long. I considered just cutting a small opening in the chocolate chip bag and just mainlining it. Eh. Boring. Walnuts. Dates. Dutch Process High Fat Cocoa Powder. My eyes stopped darting. Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! The savant solved the equation. BROWNIES. Fudgy, dark chocolaty brownies. That I can have in five minutes. Contrary to popular belief, this problem is NOT np-complete.
But really? Just with those three ingredients? Yes!
But really? Those ingredients sound really healthy. Will it taste good?
Sure, I understand these doubts. I know there is a fine line between “well-balanced” and “oxymoron” — the most famous one of which is the “healthy treat.” But this one, this one, my friends, especially for the time it takes to travel from pantry-to-mouth — is very much on the positive side of that. It is GOOD. In fact I had it for breakfast again this morning. And my kids had some too. Earning me the “the best mom in the world” look, which made it even more worth it.
So. Break out your food processor. And make this. NOW.
No-Bake Five-Minute Fudge Brownies
Fills one 8×8 inch pan
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 to 1 1/4 cups pitted medjool dates
3 heaping tablespoons cocoa powder (the GOOD kind, like dutch process, high fat)
1 tsp vanilla
Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until a pasty/fudgy “dough” forms. Press into an 8×8 pan. I wet the back of a spoon with water and press down as hard as I can, wetting the back of the spoon as I go to prevent sticking.
At this point, you can cut some into squares and eat right away. Or you can refrigerate and have an even firmer brownie after a few hours.
YUM!