Let’s face it – all brownies are NOT created equal.  There’s a lot of room for wiggle – cakey, fudgy, edge, or center piece.  Brownies are “one of THOSE foods”.  We love the way we love ‘em!  Seriously, I can hardly imagine eating an edge piece of a cake-like brownie.  I’d rather not indulge at all. Guess that makes me a brownie snob?!

Snob or not, I can easily admit to brownies being one of my favorite foods and as such, I want them PERFECT!  The obsession started long ago when I would test out brownie recipes on my family, experimenting with bake time and ingredients.  To this day, my family never let’s me forget the number of times I had them eat brownies just to achieve brownie bliss!

In case you're wondering,BROWNIE BLISS is all about the right combination of pan, batter depth, sugars, and secret ingredients like espresso. My at-home Friday night favorite brownie has a little bourbon and instant espresso.  Take-to-the-party brownies have dark chocolate chunks and get baked in mini muffin pans for bite-sized  perfection.  If I have the time, I like to top these little bites with mocha frosting and chocolate shavings. 

By now, I’m sure you’re thinking that I’m over-the-top about brownies, but I’m not alone in my feelings.  Take our upcoming brownie story (due out in September).  Laughingly, I warned my brownie-loving editor, Shirley Harrington, that once testing started, we would likely have a table-divided – over texture, richness, you name it!   Among our Food Staff, brownies, like so many other foods (cornbread, pound cake, greens, grits), evoke a long list of must-haves.  I was hoping for brownie bliss among the staff, but definitely not holding my breath.  To my uber-amazement, we sailed the base recipe through with rave reviews!!  Next up, it was time to move on to new-fangled brownie concoctions like brownies with blueberries, ginger, candy bars, etc.  This phase of testing definitely sent chills down the spines of the hard-core brownie purists (of which I am one).   Yet, despite moments of BROWNIE INTERRUPTED, we walked away with NEW TWISTS ON AN OLD FAVORITE. 

Whether you’re an edge-lovin’ brownie eater or you prefer fudgy, dense brownies, you will love our recipes in the September issue.  These recipes deserve their place among our BEST EVER BROWNIES!

Cakey or fudgy?  Edge or center - which do you prefer?

Photo courtesy of Anshu_Si at www.flikr.com/photos/anshu_si