Fancying myself something of an amateur baker extraordinaire – I used to work in a bakery – I offered to make dessert for said party. This is where I was faced with a predicament: I didn’t want to make cake, because it’s just so boring, and I wanted to make a sweet whole grain treat. There were some pretty heavy hints being dropped around the office that chocolate was necessary and then it came to me: brownies, of course! To tell you the honest to goodness truth, I couldn’t remember the last time I had whipped up a batch of brownies from scratch. Cupcakes, cookies, cakes galore… but brownies? This was a toughy.

 

And so I set out on my culinary quest to create the most decadent, the most delicious whole grain brownies this office – or anyone for that matter – had ever tasted.  I turned to the trusty Whole Grains Council website for the On-the-Fence Brownie recipe and then in true gooey, decadent brownie-loving fashion, I added some hidden treats!

 

The recipe, first of all, was very simple and I have to admit I think the hidden secret (the one that made the brownies incredibly moist and rich) was melting the butter in with the sugar so the brownie base is essentially a buttery, sugary paste. Now for the whole grains.  The recipe called for white whole wheat flour, but I only had regular whole wheat flour (it’s just a slightly darker color) which worked like a charm and didn’t appear to alter the recipe at all. In fact, the whole wheat flour made the brownies heartier without changing the appearance or texture. 

 

The rest of the recipe was pretty straightforward… until I got my hands on it! To begin with, I stirred in half a bag of chocolate chips. There’s no such thing as too much chocolate… After that, I spread one layer of brownie batter (about half) on the bottom of a large baking dish, covered it with a layer of melted caramel, followed by the rest of the brownie batter and a healthy sprinkle of chocolate chips. The whole thing baked and bubbled for about 45 minutes and voila, the best non-cake birthday treat in town! (A word to the wise: let the brownies cool thoroughly before sampling…boiling caramel will leave a nasty burn on your tongue. Just in case you’re wondering; not that I have experience with this, of course!)

 

Next step? Cut the brownies, stick a candle in them and blow those noise makers like crazy! The consensus? Rich, gooey, and decadent. Not an everyday food, but hey, birthdays only come around once a year. Needless to say, the birthday girl was happy! (Mallory)