Pnterest Challenge: 2 Ingredient Brownies

My second new recipe for the month was 2-Ingredient Nutella Brownies, from thekitchn.com. These went immediately into my 'make it soon' board, despite having spent nearly two months working hard to reduce the amount of sugar I've been eating. I knew if I made these while we had company, I wouldn't be faced with eating half the pan -- both my husband and one of our regular guests are huge chocolate fans, maybe more than I am or ever was!

Since the recipe suggests it should take 7-8 minutes to whip the eggs into the right size, color, and consistency, I didn't have Greg start working the Nutella right away. This was a mistake. I was using an old electric hand mixer, and the eggs were easily triple their original size within three minutes. I think by the time the Nutella was melted and ready to add to the mixture the eggs might have been larger than that!

My baking pan was small enough that I was able to completely line it (roughly) with baking paper. It wasn't pretty - but it seemed to do the job well enough.

In my gas oven, it did take longer than 30 minutes for the toothpick test to come out clean, I'd say more lie 40-45 minutes. I know some people really like gas ovens, I'm just not one of them I guess; I can't seem to adjust to the differences -- though if I ever get another electric I don't know what I'll blame my issues on... Maybe the high altitude has something to do with the differences I sometimes encounter when baking or cooking...

After letting it cool for 40 minutes (during which we all had to leave the house to avoid temptation), we cut in to it. Sine it was fully surrounded by the paper, I was able to lift it out of the pan completely before cutting and serving. This helped keep the pieces neat rather than looking like I dug them out with my fingers...

I almost forgot to get a photo before they were all eaten!

All six of the tasters agreed that the brownies needed nuts - both for a little more flavor and a little more crunch. I really enjoyed the mellow flavor, and thought that both the fudge style inside and the crispy top were fun textures. My husband and I both were impressed with how easy this was to make, despite the wait time to allow for cooling (something I am never patient enough to allow for). These did all disappear quite quickly, before our seventh would-be-taster even had a chance to try them. I'll let him try again next time I make these -- which might be tonight!