A MICROWAVE MIRACLE!

Anyone over the age of 50 or so will remember the hype when microwaves were first mass-marketed. Microwaves were gong to be the answer to every cook's dreams...we'd be able to prepare everything from soup to nuts in the microwave, all while keeping the kitchen cool and saving hours and hours of time.

Amana's RadarRange looked like something out of "The Jetson's", and cooks everywhere bought into it. Cookbook after cookbook specifically for microwaves hit the shelves...then were quickly shoved to the back of the cabinet. Those cookbooks can now be found at second-hand stores and yard sales, relics of a marketing campaign that was more hype than practicality. Chicken was rubbery in taste and looked disgusting! Who wanted to eat a chicken that looked raw?

Eventually we all discovered what microwaves are good for:

• Defrosting stuff, but you still have to rotate and turn meat so that there aren't any hot spots,
• making microwave popcorn,
• heating up Lean Cuisine,
• reheating leftovers,
• melting butter
• heating water for coffee or tea

Anything else? I have to admit, that's about it for me. Oh, maybe I have heated Velveeta cheese to make queso, but since I haven't seen Velveeta since I moved to Italy, that one's no longer in my repertoire.

But today all of that changed, and I've actually found a recipe that BAKES in the microwave!!! This is a REAL recipe for a REAL dish....and the fact that the dish is brownies makes it that much, uh, sweeter!

My friend Janet Smith gave me this recipe. She told me that she used to make it when her kids were little, so I knew it was tried and true, but still, old habits die hard. When I think of making a pan of brownies, pre-heating the oven is still the first thing on my list. With this recipe you can have brownies in the heat of summer, and also in record time. I figure from start to finish, less than 10 minutes! Yes, you could make your standard brownie recipe and just eat the batter raw in less time, but if you actually want to have BAKED brownies in record time, this one's for you:

Microwave Brownies

3 oz butter (add a pinch of salt if using unsalted butter)
8 oz brown sugar (I used 4 oz light brown sugar and 4 oz dark brown sugar)
2 eggs
a few drops Vanilla extract (I used about 1/2 tsp)
3 oz plain flour
2 oz cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder

Melt butter and sugar in a glass bowl in microwave.

Beat in eggs and vanilla.

Sift flour, cocoa, and baking powder into a bowl and mix in egg mixture.

Pour into lined microwaveable dish and on place an up-turned saucer in the microwave.

Microwave 4 1/2 to 5 minutes. Should still be sticky on the top.

If you do not have a turntable, 1/4 turn after 2 minutes.

These brownies turned out moist and delicious, with some nice, gooey spots as an added bonus.

If you have a brownie (or blondie) recipe you love, check out IS MY BLOG BURNING? to find out how to share your recipe with the world.

Labels: brownies

posted by Barbara @ 7/26/2007 08:52:00 PM