Super Baked

I am a supremely average baker.

I do just "okay" and deliver treats that are tasty enough. I enjoy the process, but lack the real discipline or patience it takes to do anything beyond cookies and banana bread.

I also don't crave baked things as I do savory, so that probably has a lot to do with it as well.....although I also don't have the patience to make the things I would really want, like dumplings....which I would just steam and eat all day long.

Regardless, I got some wild hair up my ass this weekend to make brownies - with whole wheat flour. I don't even like brownies that much. I do like whole wheat in baked goods though. It provides a more toothsome feel when you eat it and a more savory note.

Baking, like cooking, is something I like to do leisurely. In a perfect world, I'd be able to have nothing on the docket besides bake, cook and putz around the kitchen - sipping on tea, organizing the fridge and cabinets, munching on munchies, listening to music while it rains outside....with a fire....and a clean family room. I almost had the opportunity on Sunday, but selfishly didn't want to include the kids. The two littles are at an age where each baking adventure turns into an argument about who gets to crack the egg or stir....or they just end up eating the dough or manhandling it to a point where it is all over their hands and none in the bowl. As much as I love sharing the kitchen with them and having those teaching moments...I was not in the mood this weekend.

I waited till Monday afternoon, when I thought I had a few moments to jam out some Mumford and Sons radio, make my brownies before racing off to the next activity. But, as soon as everything came out on the counter - the littlest meatball poked his head around the corner wanting to help. So we made them together, but he insists he did all the work and basically is the best baker ever. It was wonderful, as it always is...and he is so damn cute.

We used this King Arthur recipe and had to tap JVE in to take them out since the little and I had SkateDog practice. The recipe says 30 minutes, but it took 45...and even then they are a bit undone in the middle. Which, no one is complaining about.

So, long story short - this is a good recipe for people who are average bakers or for those that are never left alone in the kitchen and need something kids can help do.