Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

I have made two 9 by 13 desserts this weekend; in fact, one of my glass 9 by 13 pans is currently in the (running) dishwasher, while the other is soaking in the sink.  Of the two desserts, however, only one was worth sharing.  Sadly, the caramel apple poke cake, while it wanted to be really delicious, was simply–fine.  Okay.  Not a hardship to eat, but nothing to write home about.  (I’ve come to the conclusion that nothing really compares to apple pie or apple crisp.  This is not the first cake/bar I’ve tried with apples in it, and they’re never as good as you want them to be.)  The brownies I made for my hubby’s Halloween potluck at work, however–those are worth mentioning.  This recipe for Ooey-Gooey Peanut Butter-Chocolate Brownies from Our Best Bites–the blog, although it may be in their cookbook as well–is a lovely choice for a potluck, because it’s one of the few brownie recipes I’ve ever made that definitively tastes better cooled.  (Trust me on this.  Our Best Bites warns you to wait; I made them a few years ago and tried them hot anyway.  It’s not worth it, folks.  They’re perfectly fine hot, but so is a brownie mix.  These have so much more flavor at room temperature.)  The batter is thick and sticky, it’s true, but it’s still based on a cake mix, so it’s simple to throw together.  The layer of sweetened condensed milk and Marshmallow Fluff–I will NEVER live in Utah long enough to stop calling it that–is also sticky, but perfectly lovely with those peanut butter chips.  My hubby is better at spreading sticky layers than I am, so I recruited him to help this time, but I did it myself the first time I made them.  It’s a a little annoying, but not prohibitively.  The hardest part will be smelling them and waiting for them to cool before trying them, which is why they were perfect for a potluck–since I had to wait anyway, it was nice to know the waiting was worth it!  The point is, you should make these.  Soon.

You know you want to.