Brownies (gasp!) from a box

Mindy, if you’re reading, the credit goes to you on this one for alerting me to your raspberry brownies.

I’ve been told that most people actually generally make brownies from a box mix, rather from scratch, and don’t feel ashamed of this but in fact see it as being normal. I seriously want to believe that scratch is unquestionably better, but I know enough people who swear Betty Crocker just is the way to go and that they don’t actually even like homemade brownies. I promised to bring brownies once to a party and ended up not having motivation to bake so I picked up a box of mix and figured people would forgive me. I accidentally left out an egg, and people totally raved about them. One wanted the recipe. Kind of reminded me on Friends when Phoebe swears her grandmother makes these secret-recipe awesome chocolate chip cookies, and Monica being the food snob we can all relate to goes through dozens of different batches fiddling with cardamom and cinnamon trying to replicate the cookie Phoebe gave her. Punch line is it’s the Toll House cookie recipe on the back of the bag. You can feel her pain.

But Sandra Lee has a made a career out of doing it, and these are seriously good eats and much cheaper than a homemade batch of brownies will set you back.

IRISH PECAN BROWNIES

1 c chopped pecans

1 box dark chocolate brownie mix

2 eggs

½ c oil

2 tsp vanilla

3 Tbsp Irish Cream liqueur

scant Tbsp water or another Tbsp Irish Cream (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spread the pecans in the bottom of an 8x8 baking pan. Toast the pecans in the oven about 7 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and turn the heat down to 325 F.

Dump the brownie mix into a large bowl and make a well in the center. In a mixing cup whisk together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and Irish Cream. Pour the mixture into the well and stir well to combine using a spoonula. Add the water or additional Tbsp Irish Cream if the brownie mixture is not smooth after the requisite 20 to 30 strokes. Add the toasted pecans and mix to combine. Pour the batter into the pan and smooth over the top; tap the pan on the counter to eliminate any air bubbles trapped in the batter. Bake at 325 F for 50 to 55 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Let cool and cut carefully into pieces. These taste good (sadly) still warm, at room temperature, or even partially thawed from the freezer.