"Corner Brownie" Cookies (Gluten Free!)

My friend Todd makes these terrific gluten-free cookies out of brownie mix! His recipe is below.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 16oz brownie mix (I use Aldi's Live G Free chocolate mix)
• 5 tbl melted butter
• 1/2 tsp instant coffee
• 2 eggs
• 2-6 tbl water
• 1 cup pulverized chocolate chips*
• Whole or chopped pecans (optional)

DIRECTIONS

• Heat oven to 350° F
• Mix all ingredients except water in a bowl, add water until a workable dough results (usually 3ish tblsp)
• Using a medium scoop, put dough on cookie sheet with cooking/parchment paper leaving enough room for cookies to spread slightly. I add a whole pecan in the center, but that is optional. 
• Bake 12-14 minutes, allow cookies to cool on cookie sheet 6 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling

*Pulverize in food processor - process the chips as quickly as you can, the food processor will heat them up and they can melt together into a single mass, you want them to be like a coarse powder

Val's Banana Bread

I love banana bread, but am not wild about bananas themselves. Don't ask me why, I couldn't tell you. So usually if I buy bananas they wind up getting black and I make banana bread out of them. On a recent visit with my friend Val, she made some bread that was really tasty and I asked for her recipe. I took a shot with my iPhone to preserve the data until I got home.

For those that can't read Val's handwriting, here's the info:

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter or margarine

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 cups baking mix (Bisquick or equivalent)

1 cup mashed ultra-ripe banana

1/3 cup mini-chocolate chips

Cream the butter and sugar together, then add the rest of ingredients and mix well. Bake at 350° in a greased loaf pan for 55 minutes.

Kevin's Brownies

I created this recipe for Pete. I started with a Parker brownie recipe and a recipe for cake brownies and "reverse engineered" them until the result was a gooey, extra chocolatey brownie that will still come out of the pan better than a Parker brownie will.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 Cup cocoa
  
• 2 Tbl oil
  
• 1/4 c butter, margarine or shortening
  
• 1 cup flour
  
• 1 cup sugar
  
• 1 egg
  
• 1/8 tsp salt
  
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
  
• 1 tsp vanilla
  
• 3 -4 Tbl milk
  

Prep:
Measure cocoa, flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl and mix together.

Cream oil, butter and sugar with mixer until well blended. Add egg and vanilla and mix well. Add dry ingredients. The batter will be thick, so keep adding tablespoons of milk until it is soft
enough to spread in a greased 11/7 pan.

Bake in 300 degree oven for 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Hershey's Fudge (YUM!)

Ingredients:

•  2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa or HERSHEY'S Dutch Processed Cocoa
  
•  1/8 teaspoon salt
  
•  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
•  3 cups sugar
  
•  1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
  
•  1-1/2 cups milk
  

Prep:
Line 8-or 9-inch square pan with foil, extending foil over edges of pan. Butter foil.

Mix sugar, cocoa and salt in heavy 4-quart saucepan; stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to full rolling boil. Boil, without stirring, until mixture reaches 234"F on candy thermometer or until small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water, forms a soft ball which flattens when removed from water. (Bulb of candy thermometer should not rest on bottom of saucepan.)

Remove from heat. Add butter and vanilla. DO NOT STIR. Cool at room temperature to 110"F (lukewarm). Beat with wooden spoon until fudge thickens and just begins to lose some of its gloss. Quickly spread into prepared pan; cool completely. Cut into squares. Store in tightly covered container at room temperature. About 36 pieces or 1-3/4 pounds.

NOTE: For best results, do not double this recipe.

VARIATIONS:
NUTTY RICH COCOA FUDGE: Beat cooked fudge as directed. Immediately stir in 1 cup chopped almonds, pecans or walnuts and spread quickly into prepared pan.

MARSHMALLOW-NUT COCOA FUDGE: Increase cocoa to 3/4 cup. Cook fudge as directed. Add 1 cup marshmallow creme with butter and vanilla. DO NOT STIR. Cool to 110"F (lukewarm). Beat 8 minutes; stir in 1 cup chopped nuts. Pour into prepared pan. (Fudge does not set until poured into pan.)

HIGH ALTITUDE DIRECTIONS:
-- Increase milk to 1-2/3 cups
-- Use soft ball cold water test for doneness OR Test and read thermometer in boiling water, subtract difference from 212"F. Then subtract that number from 234∞F. This is the soft ball temperature for your altitude and thermometer.