Splurge

Can I just tell you what Carlee and I had for an after lunch dessert? Homemade vanilla ice cream from yesterday with a made from scratch brownie from last week that had been individually wrapped in the freezer and thawed which tasted like I just made it AND homemade chocolate sauce from the other day too. Yikes. Talk about good but overload of sugar. I think I am going to have a tummy ache. Was it worth it? Probably!
Here are the recipes for the brownie and chocolate sauce recipe which come from Elk Creek Ranch in Island Park, Idaho where I use to work:

Pecan Brownies—incredible good!

16 Tbsp. unsalted butter

8 oz bittersweet chocolate, cut into ¼ inch pieces

4 large eggs

1 C. dark brown sugar firmly packed

1 C. granulated sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

½ tsp. salt

1 C. all-purpose flour

10 oz. coarsely chopped pecan pieces



One 19x13x2-inch pan buttered and lined with buttered parchment or foil.



Set a rack in the middle level of the oven and pre-heat to 350
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Take off the heat and add the chocolate. Let stand 2 minutes and then whisk until smooth. If all the chocolate had not melted, return the pan to very low heat and stir constantly until the chocolate melts.
In a large bowl, use a rubber spatula to stir one egg into the brown sugar. Make sure any lumps in the sugar are dissolved. Add the remaining eggs. One at a time, stirring each in with the rubber spatula in the same way. Stir in the granulated sugar, the vanilla and salt. Stir in the chocolate mixture.
Finally, fold in the flour and then 2 cups of the pecans.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula. Scatter the remaining chopped pecans over the top of the batetr and with your fingertips gentle y press in.
Bake for about 30 to 35 min. or until a toothpick or small knife inserted in to the center emerges clean. Cool completely.
Wrap and refrigerate the pan so that the cake solidifies completely—at least four hours, overnight is best. This also makes the cake easier to cut.
Transfer the whole cake to a cutting board and slide a long knife or spatulas under it to loosen the paper or foil, and the pull it away. Use a ruler to mark, and then cut the cake into 2-inch squares.
For up to several days, store the brownies between sheets of parchment or wax paper in a tin or plastic container with a tight-fitting cover. Freeze for longer storage. If you plan to keep the brownies for any length of time, it is better to wrap them individually. Enjoy!


Chocolate Sauce—oh so yummy!

2 Cups sugar

4 Tbsp. flour

1 Cube real butter

4 Tbsp. cocoa

1 large can evaporated milk

1 tsp. vanilla

Melt butter and then add sugar, flour cocoa and stir well. Then stir in the evaporated milk and vanilla. Cook over low heat stirring constantly until it boils. Boil for 3 min. Cook slowly or it will go sugary/grainy. Remove from heat. The sauce stores indefinitely covered in the refrigerator if you can keep everyone out of it!