There is only one thing the whole world is talking about and that is the Pandemic. It is a scary, crazy time of our lives; the fear of the unknown. The stores have been depleted of hand sanitizers and toilet paper. Interestingly, the baking aisle is also empty; no flour, sugar, yeast, or baking powder. Luckily, I had a big bag of flour and atta (whole wheat flour which is used for chapatti/ rotis). Seems like everyone plans to bake when they are ‘social distancing’.

I am now working from home and it saves me the travel time. So more time to cook and bake. For me baking is calming; maybe the same for others; and at this time when we are all cooped up in our houses, we need to do something which calms us down and takes us to our happy place.

Be Calm and Bake On!

Brownies, who does not love brownies. Here is another recipe. This has been adapted from Mark Bittman’s recipe https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018653-brownies?action=click&module=Global%20Search%20Recipe%20Card&pgType=search&rank=1

Earlier in the week, I was watching Food Network and a lady was making Mexican chocolate cake. She added some cinnamon and cayenne powder so I thought I would add some to the brownies. They were good; just a hint of spice. It is an unexpected spice at the end when it is least expected.

My boys are back home and the brownies (doubled the recipe) were gone in no time!

Ingredients

• 8 tbsp butter (1/2 cup)
• 3 oz unsweetened chocolate (85 gms)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup flour (I used atta)
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1/2 tsp cayenne (chilli) powder
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

• Heat oven to 350º F ( 176º C)
• Melt butter and chocolate in a saucepan on low heat. Keep mixing. When chocolate starts to melt, take it off heat. Stir until mixture is smooth
• Grease an 8 inch square baking pan. Line it with parchment paper and grease
• Pour chocolate butter mixture into a mixing bowl and stir in sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla
• Add flour, spices and salt and mix. Stop stirring when no traces of flour remain. Do not overmix
• Pour into prepared pan. I added some walnuts to half the pan for those who like walnuts. This is optional
• Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until set and barely firm in the middle.
• Eat as is or serve with ice cream.
• Enjoy!