Cheater, Cheater, Brownie Eater

Sitting around on this dark, stormy afternoon I felt a craving coming on...Chocolate, of course! Now how to satisfy this craving?...Brownies, duh! What a better way to entertain yourself on a gross day than staying dry inside and baking. Only problem...I'm not the world's best baker. It takes too much precision, detail, and planning. I like to experiment, play with ingredients, and ratios. I'm much more free form in the kitchen. But I made up my mind. Brownies, it was. And I would find a way to make them!

I saw an episode of Barefoot Contessa recently when she made these ENORMOUS peanut butter swirl brownies. They looked absolutely divine and worth about 10 pounds--the recipe calls for 4 sticks of butter (hello, heart attack!!). I looked up the recipe on foodnetwork.com, and not only do I not have half the ingredients, but it also has SOO many steps! I just want a brownie, I don't need a Michelangelo!

So I found a recipe from Giada for espresso brownies. The best part is, it uses instant brownie mix from the box! I know it's cheating, especially for someone who claims to love cooking, but if Giada does it, it must be okay, right?? In a matter of minutes I had the batter and espresso glaze made. Rather than slaving over the kitchen counter, melting chocolate and sifting ingredients, I can sit here, relax, write, and breathe in the wonderful smell of my half-ready-made espresso brownies. I am a little nervous to taste them, considering they were only from the box; but you really can't go wrong with chocolate, can you?

You can sit there and judge me for being too lazy to bake real brownies. But while you're judging, I'll be enjoying my gooey chocolate treats. Sometimes taking the shortcut is the best way to go. And when that shortcut involves eating, I don't mind a little cheating!