The Home Front
When you think of chocolate, you may think of love, friendship, and happiness in a delightful concoction that brings joy. That is most especially true in February. On Valentine’s Day, we show our love by giving chocolate to our beloved. And we know that chocolate has health benefits, and it’s a strong antioxidant.
Publisher Laurie Franklin joined
Danna in her kitchen to make her
delicious brownies.
Chocolate is also beneficial for bringing peace and comfort to those partaking in it. Taking care of ourselves all through the year involves coping mechanisms for the ups and downs of our lives, whether teaching or raising little ones, taking care of a family member, or holding down a job. Back in the day when I taught high school students, chocolate was more than my friend, it was a strategy for coping with the joyful yet sometimes tumultuous life in the classroom. If a fellow teacher had a bad day, or if I was feeling a bit of stress, these brownies were quickly mixed up and thrown in the oven. My brownies have saved the day many a time for me and my fellow teachers, family, and friends. Can a brownie do all that? While a brownie is just cocoa, flour, sugar, and butter, it can be a vehicle to show compassion to your fellow man when you bring them a plate of your homemade brownies. To see their eyes light up, and to feel the lightening of their burden is priceless. And, I always say, a well-fed world is a happier place to be.
A few years ago, my husband and I were blessed to visit a cacao plantation on the island of Tobago. We learned the agricultural aspects of growing, harvesting, and processing the cacao bean and even tasted the raw cacao bean. And here are my thoughts: the Good Lord gave us the cacao bean to enjoy, and I’m going to do it with gusto! Every cook needs one spot-on brownie recipe in their arsenal and The One-Spoon Cocoa Brownie is mine. Why one spoon? All it takes to mix this is a spoon and a bowl. Remember, the Good Lord loves you (He gave us chocolate, didn’t He?), and I love you too… and I love brownies.
One-Spoon Cocoa Brownies
Ingredients:
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter, melted
2 tablespoons water
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/3 cups self-rising flour
3/4 cup cocoa
Instructions: With a spoon, stir together sugar, butter, and water. Stir in beaten eggs and vanilla. Add flour and cocoa and stir until blended. Spread the thick batter into a greased 9″×13″ pan. Bake at 350° for 18-25 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out slightly sticky. Cool and enjoy! This recipe can also be found in Danna’s best-selling cookbook, Happiness is Homemade Y’all available on Amazon.
Watch the video below to see BCF Publisher Laurie Franklin in Danna’s kitchen where she learned to make Danna’s delicious brownies.
-Danna Standridge
Author of Happiness is Homemade Y’all! and 2024 Sweet Grown Alabama Ambassador
Join her in the kitchen on Facebook and YouTube.
