Brownie Experimentation, Part One

So today, in the midst of making a pot of tea, I decided that I was in a baking mood. All I had to cook with was a couple of boxes of brownie mix (not from scratch-- brownie mix is pretty much all the same, so I'd rather just buy the box), so I really had no choice in my selection. Now, I approach brownie-making as my own personal chemistry lab. I love to experiment with different things to put into my brownies.

In the past, I have used Reese's Pieces (great because the shell keeps the inside of the candy intact), chocolate chips (always a favorite), caramel (another favorite), and Hershey's Kisses (not so great-- they melt off of the top and recongeal into a lump of waxiness in the middle of the brownie). This time, I had a little less than half of a bag of chocolate chips, a little peanut butter, and about three-quarters of a jar of Nutella. Now, I was unsure about the peanut butter at first and then decided against it because I didn't think it would be a good texture. But I was definitely going to use the chocolate chips and figured the Nutella would be an interesting addition.

And so, I decided to make Nutella chocolate chip brownies (cue the mmmmm's).

Here is a picture of the finished masterpiece as it cooled (a preview of what's to come).

Side note: when I make brownies, I like them fudgy, gooey, and melt-in-your-mouth. I like to use as few eggs as possible, and I like olive oil because it tends to make the brownies more moist. In addition, I like to taste the brownie mix as I make it, so I always add and the mix everything except the eggs first. I taste, and then I add the eggs before putting it in the pan.

So, the ingredients:

• A box of Betty Crocker fudge brownie mix (Family Size)
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 large eggs
• A little less than half of a bag of Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chips
• A large dollop and a large spoonful of Nutella

So I put the water, oil,  brownie mix, and all of the chocolate chips in the pan (half of a bag is somewhere around two and a half cups. Which is probably a lot... but I love chocolate chips. It's always a disappointment when brownies have no chips). I beat all of it together and then paused to ponder my next course of action-- how much Nutella should I add?

There was a lot of Nutella for me to use, so in the end, I decided to use a large dollop (a full spatula) of the stuff, mix it in, and see if I could taste the hazelnut. I mixed all of it very well (by then, everything wet had been absorbed, and the addition of the Nutella caused the batter to have a rough, chunky texture. It was weird, but the nature of the batter facilitated the ability to eat bits of the yummy stuff) and concluded that the hazelnut spread was not at all discernible. So, I added a large teaspoonful of Nutella and set to mixing once again. This time, I tasted the taste of Nutella and figured it might be overkill to continue to add more. So I added the eggs and mixed very thoroughly one last time (I hate seeing chunks of eggs in the batter).

Finally, it was time to bake. I had already set the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (and boy am I lucky that the school oven is well-calibrated. That thing is sketchy as hell), so I proceeded to pour the batter into an ungreased baking pan. This, you may expect, is a no-no, but I always forget. Plus, I think my brownies tend to be gooey enough to not need the spray. I've never had a problem with sticking. Anyway, I chucked the batter into the oven for 52 minutes and settled down to wait at my computer. While the brownies were cooking, I thought I smelled a little hazelnut, but I have chalked that up to wishful thinking, in retrospect.

So when I took out the brownies after nearly an hour of wonderful brownie smells, I noticed that the brownies were puffed up more than the average batch. I found this odd, but perhaps the brownies were always like this and I didn't usually notice? You can see evidence of the puffiness in the first posted picture.

Of course, the brownies had deflated by the time I went to test them. I had let them cool for about an hour and a half, and they were still quite soft on the inside when I cut them (I will update this later to see if this changes once they have truly set tomorrow). Goo was oozing out of the cut and when I went to lift my piece out of the pan, it tried to stick with its brother (as you can see from the missing chunk in the picture below), but otherwise came out without a hitch. I am pretty sure the reason why the brownies never stick is because I use the olive oil, which not only increases moistness, but also acts as a greasing agent (but not in a gross way).

In their deflated state, but still majestic.

So, the part everyone has been waiting for-- was the Nutella able to be tasted? First, I cut myself the corner, as you can see from the picture. It turned out to be the gooey-est (yes, I am making that a word), most chocolatey brownie ever. I found this interesting, because corners tend to, well, not be gooey. Now, the gooeyness may be due to the fact that the brownie was still warm, but that issue will also be cleared up tomorrow. The brownie was almost sickeningly sweet (which I always think is a good thing), and none of the chocolate chips had reformed into their normal shapes from their melted state. The crust was hardly noticeable on the bottom and the sides had an extremely think layer of hard brownie (almost crunchy, but not quite). Unfortunately, I couldn't really taste the Nutella. I caught a hint in one bite, but that was all (perhaps things will change as I sample other parts of the brownie later). But all in all, it was a very tasty brownie..

In all of its glory, a gooey piece of my baked goods.

I also used two testers to try my brownies, which they described (glowingly) as incredibly chocolatey. They, too, did not notice any Nutella. I am slightly disappointed by this and I hope that the situation resolves itself tomorrow. If it doesn't, however, I do have a plan to figure out this situation. Next time I try to make Nutella brownies, I shall be adding much more of the stuff (two dollops, in fact) to see if that makes a difference. If that doesn't even work... I will probably get the Nutella nice and warm and spreadable and layer it into the brownie (as one would with icing in a cake). Hopefully, the increased Nutella will work. Frankly, the layering method sounds messy and difficult to accomplish. But the real wish here is that the Nutella flavor ferments itself overnight and tomorrow I wake up to wonderfully hazelnut goodness.

UPDATE: The next morning... The brownies seemed much more willing to hold their shape. They no longer ooze (unsurprisingly. They are cold now). The interesting thing is that they are still incredibly gooey and fudgy. They usually harden up a little by the morning.

I still can't taste the Nutella. Go figure. I thought the lighter band of brown you can see on the right-hand top corner of the brownie below was a strip of Nutella, but if it was, I couldn't taste it. I'm beginning to think that I shouldn't have put the chocolate chips in, because every time I get a good chunk of brownie, there is an inevitable chocolate chunk, which tends to skew my taste of the actual brownie. So... next time, no chocolate chips if there will be Nutella. :( However, I did notice that the addition of the Nutella has made my brownies much more gooey than usual. And for that, I am ecstatic.

I had such a hard time getting pictures of this silly thing that I got a stomachache from all of the tummy growling.

Thanks for reading! I do love experimenting with brownies. See you for part two, coming the next time I decide to bake (and I'm asking for muffin tins for Christmas so I can make cupcakes next semester!). Hahah.