Move over normal, boring brownies. Mayan chocolate brownies are taking over!
i found out today that my puppy is getting picked on at school.
Once a week, we take fuzzybritches to doggy daycare. He still gets his mad dog energy spurts occasionally, so we give him a day to run it off and have fun. But the last couple times I took him, I noticed he wasn’t as excited as his usual wiggly self.
The next time I took him to daycare, I asked the wonderful workers there if they had any idea why he might not be enjoying doggy daycare anymore. The girl smiled at Darwin and said, “Well. He’s just a sensitive guy. Other dogs tend to get up in his face, and he doesn’t do anything. So he gets picked on a little bit. We’ve been putting him in with the small dogs so he can gain some confidence.”
Gain some confidence? Sensitive? Picked on? I may be able to stand tall in the face of opposing counsel’s rhetoric with a resting bitch face and stoney heart as good as the next gal’s . . . but when I heard my sweet furbaby was getting picked on, I nearly broke down in tears and took him to work with me for all-day snuggles.
Instead, we took in reinforcements. Boo Bear. Aka big sister. Big half-sister, to be exact. Who happens to be shorter than Darwin but built like a tank and capable of a don’t mess with me attitude. Big sister who may have thought puppy Darwin was annoying but he was her annoying puppy brother and nobody else was gonna mess with him. Big sister who is Darwin’s very best friend in the whole world.
I dropped both of them off in the morning and called at noon to check on them. (Yes, I am THAT mom. Leave me alone.) The daycare told me that not only had the pups gone in with the big dogs, but Boo was smashing down anyone that got in Darwin’s face and they were having a blast. Even better, they said Darwin was picking up on Boo Bear’s cues and even intervened on Boo’s behalf a couple times. ♥♥♥
I LOVE them. So much. So very very much.
Mayan Chocolate Brownies
I definitely felt like I owed my coworkers some brownies after they all listened to me worry about my furbaby and whine about pushy dogs that couldn’t appreciate my sensitive boy.
I adapted these mayan chocolate brownies from my family’s go-to, super easy, fudgier than fudgey chocolate brownies. This recipe uses a hefty dose of cinnamon, the slow heat of ancho chile powder, and a little kick from cayenne pepper. And I LOVE them. Angie, who is definitely biased because she is the nicest human being on the planet, pronounced that she wanted to wrap herself up in the texture and flavor of the brownies, which pretty much summed up how I felt about them. I plan on making mayan chocolate brownies approximately every week for the duration of winter.
Mayan Chocolate Brownies: 1. Mikaela’s Winter Healthy-ness: 0.
eh. who cares.
mikaela | wyldflour
One 9x13 pan or 24 brownies
10 minPrep Time
30 minCook Time
40 minTotal Time
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup cocoa powder
- 2 cups white granulated sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon + 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 1/2 teaspoons ancho chile powder
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 cup + extra milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
- Melt butter over medium-low heat in a medium-sized saucepan. Once melted, remove from heat and stir in cocoa powder. Add sugar and stir well.
- Add eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each to ensure the batter is well mixed. Stir in vanilla extract.
- Measure out all spices and flour and add to batter. Stir until well-combined. Stir in 1 cup chocolate chips and spread batter in the greased pan. Top with extra chocolate chips if desired and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Allow the brownies to cool completely, in the pan, on a wire rack. After cooling, cut into squares and enjoy! These brownies do best stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 4-5 days.
Notes
You can cut this recipe in half and bake in an 8x8 square baking pan for the same amount of time.
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