It’s been a long time since I’ve baked brownies. I believe the last time was in the early 70s when it was de rigueur to bring them to any party—and they were green. That was in the days when pot was everywhere (forgive the outdated nomenclature) and it was awful but common. Today it has apparently been replaced by the edibles of cookie-like things and gummies. I don’t know from experience mind you, just what I’ve heard. And I don’t know how common it is but I suspect it wouldn’t take much to find some.

Anyway, I decided to bake brownies as a craving had taken hold. Not for the green stuff, but the homebaked. By home baked I mean put into the oven at home after following the directions on the box. So. Off I went and home I came with my box, instructions, and oven heated to 350 degrees.

Alas, I do not have a brownie-size pan. Cake pans would be too big. I did have a muffin or cupcake tin due to a prior craving for cupcakes. The tin was still in the cupboard, unused. But why wouldn’t it work for brownies? It would of course, so I followed the directions on the box and completed the mixing to drop the batter into the cupcake-sized round holes for baking. They looked lovely as they puffed along in the oven and scented the house with their lovely baking goodness.

Upon removal I let them cool slightly and then easily freed a sample from one of the holders. Lovely, if a tad chewy and firm. Not quite what I expected in looks or consumption, they were nonetheless quite good. Even if they did seem not quite like-what-mum-would-make. Upon going to throw the box away I noticed a silver pouch inside. Huh. It contained something rather soft and malleable. Back to the directions I went. Sure enough, they included adding the contents of the pouch—the chocolate syrup—to the mix. So then a key ingredient had gone missing from the batter. *Sigh*

But yesterday’s fail is tomorrow’s success, right? As for today, the brownies have quite hardened and look like hockey pucks. They still taste OK, but require dunking in order to be soft enough to eat. I’m having the hockey-puck brownies with my milk and coffee this morning.