One Bowl Brownies & a few gadgets

Last week when I was in Jo-Ann's Fabrics, I wandered over to the baking section of the store to browse. Well maybe I wasn't browsing per say, I did have a 50% off coupon and I was hoping to use it. While I was checking out all the goodies from Wilton, two caught my eye. The brownie Perfect Cut tool and a Combo Cutter. The Perfect Cut packaging claimed that if you poked your warm brownies with this stainless steel tools tines (wow say that 5 times fast)......

....you would be able to cut brownies easily with no messy edges. So when the brownies came out of the oven, while they were still warm, I poked half the pan with this gadget. The holes it made were bigger than I expected. I was worried that I wouldn't get a nice straight edge, but more of a scalloped one once the knife met the holes. So the holes were poked, and off went the brownies to cool down in the breezeway. A few hours later, knife met holes and I have to say, there was wee tiny bit of a scalloped edge left, but it really did help in making a cleaner edge. Not perfect, but better than some of my results with a knife alone. I'd give it a B+.

This is the combo cutter:

Three oval shaped brownies with one cut. They had a few other shapes...hearts and triangles, but these oval ones caught my eye. The package read that this tool maximizes the number of treats you get from one pan. Well let me tell you friends...it's true! I love this thing. I had very little waste, and the ovals looks so damn cute. Wouldn't you love to take a tray of these oval beauties to a party or bake sale? I can see lots of other possibilities besides brownies. I think I will get some use out of this uni-tasker. My rating for this tool: A+! I really liked it!

In order to use these gadgets and perform these scientific tests I needed to make some brownies. I wanted a simple one bowl brownie that I could get into the oven quickly. Off to do a food blog search. What did I find? I site called The Cook Mobile and with the quick and easy recipe for the one bowl brownies I wanted. I decided to make the cake-like version of these for a change. I've been on a fudgy, chewy kick with the last few batches.

One Bowl Brownies - recipe from The Cook Mobile
Printable recipe
4 squares or 4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1 cup pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped

Grease a 13×9-inch baking pan. Line with parchment paper or foil with an extra inch hanging on sides.

In a large microwaveable bowl, microwave unsweetened chocolate and butter on high until butter is melted, around 2 minutes. Stir until chocolate is fully melted.

Stir in sugar then add in the eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour, stirring until well-blended. Mix in nuts.

Spread into prepared baking pan. Bake at 350 F until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs, around 30 to 35 minutes.

Cool in pan. Using foil or paper, lift out of pan onto cutting board. Cut into 24 squares.

For cake like brownies: Stir in 1/2 cup of milk with the eggs and vanilla and increase flour to 1 1/2 cups.