Brownies in a Hurry!

I don’t care too much for Sandra Lee (her tablescapes really intimidate me, I’m not kidding), but I have to admit: it’s how the average person cooks. I can’t always make everything from scratch; I have neither the time nor the ambition. Today especially, time has been a commodity I just don’t have. By the time I got home from class and discipleship this afternoon, I needed something quick and easy to bake for Rebecca’s small group (their second meeting of the semester). Fortunately I had the forethought… or maybe the lack of will-power…  last week to buy brownie mix (it was on sale buy one get one free at Publix!). But me being me, I couldn’t just follow the directions on the back of the box and send along any ol’ brownies. Oh no, no, no. 

I decided to bake both boxes of brownies (one, to get them out of the house before I decided to consume an entire pan myself, and two, to provide for scavengers from other small groups who I hear are quite envious of Rebecca’s provision of baked goods)– and of course this calls for brownies two ways. 

For the first batch of brownies, I simply replaced the quarter-cup of water called for by the mix with a quarter-cup of cold-brewed coffee (the flavor is more intense and less acidic than brewed in the coffee maker). I confess I definitely licked the spatula and it was awesome; the coffee cut the sweetness of the brownie mix a little and there was a definite coffee taste to it. Alas, I did not try a baked brownie, since I dutifully sent them all to Rebecca. I imagine the coffee taste in the batter subsided to a nice depth of flavor… but hopefully it still had a coffee after-taste, because who wouldn’t love that?

For the second batch, I prepared the brownie mix as directed (*yawn*)… and then added a cream cheese swirl (hoorah!). I chose the recipe for the cream cheese mixture from a smitten kitchen, because let’s be honest, Deb is our hero. These actually had to bake for quite some time, so I was down to the wire to deliver them in time to Rebecca. Their tastiness was well worth it, though, I’m sure.

No pictures because I was rushing out the door as soon as these came out of the oven! The poor cream cheese brownies had absolutely no cooling time before I transferred them to a plate; thankfully they survived intact.