Mini Brownies

Granted, “Mini Brownies” lacks the alliterative ring of “brownie bites,” a name already popularly in use. Other names were batted around only to be shot down by the IK’s other half: no to Brownie Buttons. No to Brownie Bits. By the time “Wee Brownies” rolled around, visions of miniature Stonehenges were dancing in our heads. After three weeks of illness-induced silence, this seemed a bad omen.

“What about mini brownies?” John asked, thinking, no doubt, of the mini-muffin pan sparking the whole business.

And lo, we had a name.

—

Let us digress. The IK would like to chat about the holidays.

Once a upon a time, not so very long ago, the holiday season did not begin until after Thanksgiving. Okay, one might encounter the occasional Christmas bow or beginnings of a tree lot in early November. But the IK’s birthday is a week before American Thanksgiving, and her childhood celebrations never felt shortchanged by holiday proximity. Back in the 1970’s and early 1980’s, a late November birthday wasn’t proximate to the holidays.

Enter any drugstore or big box emporium today and find pumpkins and witch costumes alongside boxes of tinsel and red ribbon. You don’t need the IK to tell you it’s too early for Christmas merch.

Were this not bad enough, the catalog onslaught has begun, a mailbox-choking exercise in silly forks, insanely expensive light fixtures, “seats” hewn from artisanal logs, and gift mustards no sane person would ever, ever eat.

—

Then, of course, there’s family.

There are people who actually get along with their families. Come the holiday season, they travel to their relatives, or their relatives travel to them, and a fine time is reported by all. These are admirable folk.

Then there’s everyone else. People who view the holiday season with creeping dread. As magazines, blogs, and television shows chatter about gathering happily round the big bird ‘neath the Christmas tree’s glow, these people–the majority, I suspect–experience a wide range of emotions, few of them pleasant. That the United States is reeling from a divisive election while Great Britain copes with Brexit only exacerbates tensions in many households.

After a terrible year marked by personal ill health, widespread international suffering, and the loss of numerous beloved public figures, we at the IK are weary. We intend to have a little fun over the holidays, which will be spent à deux.

To this end, it occurred to us that a few smaller menus might be useful. Menus that celebrate the season without inducing heartburn or creating decades of leftovers.

Granted, mini brownies don’t quite fit the bill, apart from being small. Then again, use the best chocolate you can, and you’ve got quite the decadent little bite without any of the bloat or attendant guilt. Besides, chocolate is an antioxidant. And these wee darlings freeze well, a boon to any small household.

Some excuses–explanations–before we do the recipe thing. With their emphasis on bitter chocolate, with just enough sugar to get by, these brownies are what Food 52 writer Amanda Hesser would call austere, in the best possible way. Serve mini brownies after dinner with your deepest, darkest espresso. If you wanna fancy things up, you could always add whipped cream. We found a little confectioner’s sugar to be more than enough…and as you might imagine, by the time I was done photographing, the living room sported an attractive layer of the stuff.

This recipe is adapted from one found in Gourmet Magazine. The amounts were originally intended to fill a 13×9 inch pan, and still do, as I am not a skilled enough baker to confidently downsize a recipe to fit a 24-well mini-muffin pan. Were this a savory recipe, no trouble. But I’m a home cook, not a professionally trained baker or chef, and I’d rather be honest. Why waste your time and money?

If you want to make the brownies in a mini-muffin tin, as I did, expect to get 36–meaning you can use your tin twice, (assuming, like me, you have one mini-muffin tin) or you can make 24 wee brownies and bake the remainder in a regular muffin tin–I got 7 more–or, indeed, bake the whole shebang in a 13×9 in baking pan. The choice is yours.

An overnight rest allows the flavors to blossom. Mini brownies truly taste better the next day.

If you have a real sweet tooth, or want to share these with small people, increase the sugar by 1/4 cup.

Paper baking cups make cleanup easier. I found mini-baking cups at Jo-Ann fabrics–until recently I had no idea they sold baking supplies. Now I find myself making excuses to visit their store, which is alarmingly nearby.