Sweets for the Sweet!

Unfortunately for some of my friends and family, our house is a Diabetics nightmare right now! Blame Valentine's Day. Blame wintry weather that makes me want to both bake and EAT. Blame all the pretty colors, smells and tastes!

(You have to admit these are super cute!)

What's worse is that in addition to the heart-shaped goodies that invaded my house this week, we still have Snickerdoodles left over from last week's play date (see February 10 post) and half a loaf of banana bread with red raspberries (see February 12 post)! So, what did I do for our stay-at-home-with-a-cranky-preschooler Valentine's dinner? Bake a dessert, of course!

I had originally planned to grab a box of brownie mix at the supermarket earlier this week, but, when shopping with a three-year-old, it's hard to stick to the list; with all the "distractions"! Any-whoo, I figured I could make brownies from scratch, which believe it or not, I've NEVER done! Seriously, it's hard to believe! And you know what? They are crazy easy! Save yourself a few bucks next time and make them yourself!  For Valentine's Day, I served them with vanilla ice cream, strawberries and chocolate syrup - oh my!



Mmm-Mmm Better Brownies (adapted, just a little, from www.allrecipes.com)

1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour (this is NOT a typo)
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9 x 9-inch baking dish.  In a medium bowl, mix together the butter, sugar and vanilla.  Beat in eggs.  Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually stir into the egg mixture until well blended.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan  Bake 20-25 minutes, or until the brownie begins to pull away from the edges of the pan.  Let cool on a wire rack before cutting into squares.

Anyone want to help me eat these?