Every year in January I clean out the pantry, organize, and take inventory. Then it's off to Shop Rite for the Can-Can Sale and restocking. Besides twelve almost expired cans of vegetables, I found a box of cocoa powder. Why did I ever buy that stuff? We make hot chocolate by squirting some Hershey's syrup into a big mug of milk and microwaving for two minutes. It's a sin to waste, so I had to figure out what to do with natural, unsweetened cocoa.
I found a recipe for brownies, made with cocoa powder instead of baker's chocolate squares. Here it is:
1/2 cup vegetable oil (canola is heart healthy)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup nuts
They were very specific about how to mix things up. First add the sugar and vanilla to the oil. Stir it up, then add the eggs and flour followed by cocoa, baking powder, salt, and nuts. Bake at 350° in a 9 x 9 pan until a knife stuck in the center comes out almost clean (about 25 minutes).
You can reduce the calories by substituting 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce in place of the oil. That's what I did. I also used egg white in place of the whole eggs. I got brownies that were less moist and gooey-chewy, but still darn tasty.
So, that's my waste-not-want-not brownie recipe. Give it a try.
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