Today for the first time in a really long time, I "entered the kitchen" again.
See, back in the day, I used to be the kind of girl who would bake up 2-3 different treats a week - and would only limit myself to that number due to my parents' insistence that we would all die from diabetes if I didn’t stop. Every day I would rush home from my high school, and throw open all our drawers and cupboards to come up with something delicious to make. I would spend my lunch breaks at school browsing through the public library’s endless collections of cookbooks and lugging them back home with me. (yeah I was that girl)
When I went to University my love for the art of baking only grew. Only, so did my work load. By about a thousand.
Despite this I was determined to make it work and would spend my breaks in between Uni classes looking up recipes online - which coincidentally also happen to be a lot lighter than those heavy cook books. And you also don’t have to remember to return them. And you don’t get late fees. The internet is pretty awesome aint it? :)
Along the way I decided to blog some of these recipes as a way to share these yummy finds, but mostly to keep track of and record them for myself. One too many times I had bookmarked a favourite recipe, only to come back and find out the site had gone down! *sad face* This way I was able to go back to my OWN blog (which I would obviously never destroy), to keep a record of all my favourite recipes. Thus my blog Edible Moments was born!
However, somewhere along the way I lost something. The passion? The enjoyment? I don’t know. School got busy. Work got busy. Personal life got complicated. And when you add up full time school + full time work + 24/7 life stuff, pretty soon it can become pretty easy to lose the excitement that once came from a simple pleasure like baking yummy things and taking pretty pictures (16 year old Zahra would never have believed it!!). I was overcome with the stress of “what will I do with my future” and “why are things not working out the way I had meticulously planned them?!”, that there wasn’t much time to worry about what sort of sponge cake I would be making in between my Law midterm and PoliSci paper. It came to a point where the thought of getting up and taking out a mixing bowl and some measuring cups was so tedious, I would have rather washed the dishes. And let me tell you. Zahra don’t wash no dishes. Dishwashers wash dishes.
Anyways, days became weeks, weeks became months, and before I knew it, it had been 2 years since I last posted on the good old blog. 2 years, 1 month, and 5 days to be exact! I contemplated even deleting the blog. It felt like its presence, and lack of updates was only adding to my sense of...blahness! But alas I couldn't do it - delete my baby??
Recently, in the past few months I have been thinking about getting back to it. Getting back to the blogging, the photography, and most importantly - the baking. However this realization could not have come at a worse time, as the family was in the middle of a massive kitchen renovation which meant we had no oven for a good 2 months. When I made the previous Strawberry Frozen Yogurt recipe (purely out of necessity since it was the only recipe I could think of that didn’t require an oven), I was suddenly reminded by the fun I used to have playing around in the kitchen. I realized I had let something that had been so enjoyable for me to just simply…slip away. And I wasn’t quite sure why. I vowed to try to slow things down a bit and at least try to enjoy life a little more. To stop stressing about everything all the time and make time for the fun hobbies I used to enjoy so much!
So today, when I stepped in to the kitchen, determined to make this whole baking thing work, I realized something. When I am in the kitchen whipping up something yummy I get a strange sense of ‘inner peace’. I’m not talking about any of that yoga zen stuff, no, it’s a sort of “I’m just here doing my thing and I’m not doing it for x, y, or z reason. I’m just doing this just because I enjoy it”. And man. Is that a liberating feeling! But I also realized that some things have changed and that I needed a fresh start. The teenage Zahra who started Edible Moments wasn't the 23 year old typing this post. And thus, this is how this little wee blog has been born :)
I have therefore decided to promise myself something. I, Zahra, solely swear to keep with this whole ‘baking/crafting because I enjoy it’ thing. Because no matter how worried and preoccupied you are about which way your educational future should go, how your career prospects are forming, and what you are going to do with the million other little worries you have about the future, one thing is for sure - brownies will always be there for you :)
Now that I am done being sappy, and have let my mushy insides out for you guys, I present to you hands down the best-est, most yummy-est, and easiest one bowl brownie recipe you will ever find. Yes I know thats a big claim, and I don’t care. Its the truth y’all! This has been my go to Brownie recipe for ages. Ever since my high school days! Because no matter how many other amazing brownie recipes I try, nothing beats this one. Its super delicious, but also super easy, and was the ideal recipe to get me back in to the kitchen.
Best One-Bowl Brownie Recipe
Ingredients:
* 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 2 eggs
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/3 cup Coco powder
* 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
* Brownie Frosting
Directions:
1. Pre-Heat oven to 350°F. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper.
2. Stir together the melted butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Add the eggs and mix well with a whisk. Add in the rest of the ingredients. Alternatively, you can do what I do (which is technically not one bowl but I don't mind) - stir together the flour, cocoa, baking powder & salt in a seperate bowl. Then gradually add to your brownie mixture, mixing until well blended. If you would like to use the nuts add them now.
3. Pour the batter in to your prepared pan and spread it around evenly.
4. Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of the pan or a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan.
Creamy Chocolate Frosting
* 1.5 tbsp softened butter
* 1.5 tbsp coco powder
* 1 tbsp honey
* 1/2 tsp vanilla
* 1 cup icing sugar
* 1-3 tablespoons milk (depending on consistency)
Beat the butter, cocoa, honey, vanilla, and 1 tbsp of milk in a bowl until well blended and smooth. Add the powdered sugar and beat to a smooth spreading consistency. If its a bit dry feel free to add some extra milk.
Honest Comments on the Recipe:
I love this recipe. No way around it. Its my favourite go to Brownies because not only are they yummy they come together sooo easily. In addition to that, its the kind of no fuss, no muss recipe where you don’t need some crazy exotic ingredient from the Amazon to make - everything should be in your pantry already. This produces a soft, chewy, cakey sort of brownie. And the frosting is delightful!
