Discover an Amazing Brownie Recipe? Check!

So ages ago, I posted a list of things I wanted to accomplish over Summer Break. Surprisingly, I did almost all of them - the Law Review writing competition, interviews, travelling, moving, reading, swimming. I failed at writing a novel (the three sentences I jotted down before realizing my plot premise was more than a little creepy* were definitely not sufficient to count), and my new apartment, while adorable, is generally less-than-clean. But for the most part, my summer was a success.

Except for the brownie recipe. I tried at least five different brownie recipes over the summer, but none of them were as good as the box kind. Except for the kind made out of a box mix, with some coconut and sweetened condensed milk thrown in (sweetened condensed milk has a magical way of making everything taste even better). When the summer ended, however, my quest did not. Rather, the cooler fall temperatures, along with the apple harvest and sales on pumpkin puree, pushed me into a baking frenzy. And then, last week, I found it - the brownie recipe I've been hunting for. They're quick and easy to make, have a texture at least as good as a boxed mix, and are a great way to get rid of the lonely, browning banana that is inevitably left on our counter after his friends were all devoured. I bring you deliciousness.

BANANA BETTER-THAN-BOX BROWNIES

1/2 c. margarine (or butter, if you're richer than me or feeling fancy)

2/3 c. semisweet chocolate chips

1 egg

2/3 c packed brown sugar

1 medium banana (overripe is fine)

1/2 t imitation vanilla extract (or the real thing, if you're richer than me or feeling fancy)

1/4 t salt

3/4 c all-purpose flour

More semisweet chocolate chips (1/2 c. is good)

Grease an 8x8 pan, and preheat the oven to 325. Put the butter in a small saucepan, and melt over medium heat. Remove from stove, and stir in the chocolate chips. Set aside. Beat the egg lightly in a medium bowl. Add the brown sugar, and the banana. Mash the banana up fairly well as you stir things together (it would probably be easier to do this before putting it in with the egg and sugar, but that would require getting another bowl dirty). Put in the vanilla and salt, then dump in the butter/chocolate chip sauce. Stir everything together, and gradually add the flour. Dump everything into the pan, and add a generous sprinkling of chocolate chips on top. Bake about 30 minutes, until a knife poked in the middle comes out mostly clean (some moist crumbs are fine). Wait to cool a little bit so you don't burn your mouth, and enjoy with lots of cold milk.

So good! My quest was definitely worth it (ignore the crazy hair... today was just one of those days).

*Turns out a story about a 16 year old who gets into law school but doesn't tell anyone she's 16 because she wants to be treated normally and then starts hanging out with a twenty something classmate she has a crush on who is weirded out when he inevitably finds out how young she is and then causes a huge scene in criminal law while the clueless professor is lecturing about statutory rape, while it makes for an entertaining daydream in Crim Law, had probably best be left unwritten - there's just the little plot problem that 16 year olds, prodigies or not, really shouldn't be going after 23 years olds.

("Evan stared at me icily as he raised his hand.

'Yes, Mr. Jasper,' the professor said.

'What if the girl mislead everyone into thinking she was older than she really was?' My heart sunk to the pit of my stomach. 'What if this wasn't a situation where the defendant took home a girl from a bar, but one where the girl deliberately crafted a false identity and exploited the trust of people she pretended to befriend? What if," he spoke slowly and deliberately, his eyes continuing to drill into my soul, "she was a fraud?'

The professor blinked several times, as though he realized Evan hadn't actually been talking about criminal law, but he answered the question. 'You should read the Lafave hornbook more closely, Mr. Jasper. The intent of the victim would be relevant if this were a crime of scienter, but such details are technically irrelevant in the context of a strict liability offense. Of course, they might sway a sympathetic jury, but juries are unpredictable, as Texas v. Scott makes clear. Mr. Hensley, will you please recite the facts of that case?'

Class continued for another 45 minutes, but my notes stayed blank. I felt too guilty to concentrate, and was too angry to care...")