Big Cocoa Brownies (aka Iocane-Dusted Brownies of Unusual Size for "The Princess Bride")

...chocolate makes it go down easier.

Who am I? Why am I quoting The Princess Bride?

Let me 'splain.

No, there is too much. Let me sum up:

The Princess Bride is my absolute FAVORITE movie-OF ALL TIME. (If you are not familiar with it, you're going to be quite confused, as I will be quoting in frequently. My apologies.) I stumbled upon it one day when I was 14, was intrigued by the title, watched it-and I.WAS.HOOKED! I literally watched it approx. 5 times a day for 2 weeks (then I had to return it to the library...but my mom bought it for me shortly after because she was tired of my whining). And, I was delighted to find out once we started dating, it is Michael's favorite movie too!  He (lucky duck) actually was raised with this movie, it's one of his family's favorites, as well. We own two copies-mine is the "Buttercup Edition" and his is the "20th Anniversary edition". PLUS-our wedding song (you know...for our first dance) is going to be "Storybook Love", which is the movie's theme (and also our ring-tones for each other).

The Princess Bride was severely underrated when it came out-but, obviously, has a HUGE cult following. It has everything! "Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles..."

Romance: "This is true love-you think this happens every day?"

Drama: "My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die."

Comedy: "Stop that rhyming now, I mean it!" "Anybody want a peanut?"

When I saw that MyFudo was looking for guest bloggers (for a contest which was then canceled) to speak about their favorite movies + a recipe corresponding, my choice was obvious. But what to make? One idea that we thought of were Peanut-Buttercup-Cookies, which I thought was cute, but I just kept going back to this idea: Iocane-Dusted Brownies of Unusual Size.

"What you do not smell is called Iocane powder. It is odorless, tasteless,dissolves instantly in liquid..." 

My first thought was something that had "Iocane powder" dusted on it--AKA, powdered sugar. Then, I got a little stumped again, I was thinking brownies, but it was stilling missing something...enter Michael's idea.

"..what about the R.O.U.S.'s?"

"Rodents of Unusual Size? I don't think they exist."

Of course! BROWNIES of Unusual Size...because...you know...no one likes rats, but EVERYONE likes brownies! So that is what I did-and let me tell you, these were GREAT! Not only are the HUGE and pretty because of that "Iocane" dusting, but also they are so fudgey and dense and delicious. And, an added bonus, if you are not a "princess bride" and short on funds, this recipe is great because the only chocolate it uses is cocoa powder-none of that super expensive fancy chocolate. I advise that you immediately make these, grab your significant other, your best friend, or just your wonderful self, sit down and watch The Princess Bride while eating these huge, decadent, Iocane dusted, Brownies of Unusual Size.

S'mores Brownies

 Before I went home to visit, my brother, Josh, posted on my facebook a picture of something that was (more or less) s'mores brownies-with the caption "Make these for me!" Well, as luck would have it...I'd been yearning to make How Sweet's recipe for S'mores Brownies for quite some time. Michael's not a ginormous s'mores fan, though, so I had been putting it off for his sake. A visit home was the perfect opportunity to whip up some choco-marshmallowy goodness. It also seemed like the ideal time to get together with one of my best friends, Angela.  So, the day after I arrived in Ohio, Josh woke up early with me, Angela came over, and we (Ok...me) set to making a double batch of these brownies. We joked, and visited, and Angela stirred the brownie batter! We also looked at all the butter in the graham crust and realized real s'mores are most definitely healthier...and we all silently agreed to not care.

We got impatient, however. They smelled so good as they baked. The recipe said to let them cool 2-3 hours! But...they looked so beautiful. And marshmallows are best when they're warm....so....Josh grabbed a spoon...

 and became a rebel. 

I followed. 

Then Angela gave in to our bad influence.

 We all burnt our mouths. 

But it was totally worth it.

Triple Layer Oreo Bars-Take 2: Holiday Recipe Exchange: Week One (CHOCOLATE)!

I know-you must be flabbergasted. So many recipes in such a short amount of time! 2 chocolate desserts in a row! Well, this is due to that Holiday Recipe Exchange I talked about in my last post. We are able to submit 2 recipes per week, and this is my second. I had leftover Oreo cookies from the Raspberry Cake-Pie, and I had a recipe of How Sweet's that was on my list to make (this list probably contains like 200 recipes or so). These are sooo good. They taste kind of like the Oreo Balls I made but in bar/brownie form. Go-make them! Enjoy the num num numminess! 

Triple Layer Oreo Bars

From How Sweet's Triple Layer Cookies and Cream Crunch Bars

Ooey Gooey Heavenly Brownies

Honestly, I probably don't even need to give you a little anecdote about these brownies. I mean, you see the picture, obviously they're amazing, and you're probably just going to be cranky that I'm delaying you from reading how to make them. But too bad for you I have a story! Back in, I don't know( April?), I had made up my mind to make these brownies. They had very few ingredients and I just wanted to gobble them up from the pictures and descriptions on How Sweet's post. So, one day I went over to my friend Charlie's apartment to visit and have dinner. Once I got there and we got talking, I decided to make these brownies for them. We went to the grocery store and picked up what we needed and I made do with the equipment they had (I had to do a lot of very fast whisking...my arm hurt). Also, they had cane sugar instead of regular granulated (it was actually pretty yummy, you could sort of feel that in the texture but it tasted great). Once they were out of the oven and cooled we all just went into chocolate comas of goodness. I left them with the leftover brownies and went on my way home.

And then I was haunted by thoughts and dreams of those brownies.

I HAD to have them again. It was imperative. So, not even a week later, I made them again, but at my apartment. And they were still amazing (and less sloppy). Right now, just writing this post, I want them. I want to talk Michael into letting me make them. (But he'll whine "too rich, who likes stuff like that, you like dumb stuff, why don't you ever make refreshing things, blah blah blahhh"). So make them for me, please, while I wait for the time to come for me to revel in their glory again.

P.S. Yes, these have mini marshmallows in them. Yes, you can kind of see them in the crust, but no-they are nothing like s'mores and there is no trace of the marshmallow save for the gooey wonderfulness of the texture.

Super Chocolate Oreo Crunch Brownies

These brownies are pure, sinful bliss. I was first introduced to them when I was catering. To make money, while I'm still a newbie actor, I'm doing promotional modeling and occasionally catering. During one catering event (through Mayan Woods Catering), Chef Paul had what he called "Triple Chocolate Oreo Crunch Brownies". They were thick, decadent, frozen brownies with hunks of dark, milk, and white chocolate, oreos, and marshmallows in them. At the end of the night there were tons of leftovers so I took some home. I was so in love with those brownies I immediately started thinking of how to re-create them. When I had another opportunity to work with Chef Paul, I asked him, and he gave me a a general run down. I believe it was only a week later that I made these. I have some confessions: I was lazy/don't have room for a lot of ingredients, so I used boxed brownie mix, I don't really use white chocolate, so I decided to pass on it this time (but that does not mean I won't use it next time or that you should not use it), and I believe this was something of a work in progress. I used a 9 x 13 pan and I think the brownies were just a little too thin to support all the add-ins, it made them extra gooey, so (even though they are still AWESOME) next time I will use a smaller pan so the brownies are thicker, and hopefully they'll hold together better. And because of the goo-factor I really do advise freezing them, it's the only way to keep them from being a mess, and for some reason (and I know this is shocking as I tend to like my desserts warm and gooey) they are just better cold. Ok, enough anticipation, here's the recipe (please feel free to toy around with it, this is not one of those you need to follow to the letter):