**New series!** Recipes I shouldn't make in a one-person household

Episode 1

::Pretzel-Toffee Chip Brownies::

Photo credit: Recipegirl.com

So these are pretty much the fulfillment of every woman's PMS-induced fits of rage, uh, I mean dreams.

Pretzel-toffee chip brownies. Salty, sweet, chocolate, chewy, crunchy - what more could you ask for? I stumbled across this on Foodgawker the other day thought it would be wrong of me to not try these out. So after church, on my socially jam-packed Saturday night (gross popularity exaggeration), I whipped these together in about 20 mins., popped 'em in the oven and drank decaf tea and watched an episode of Walker (hey, don't knock it til you've tried it) while waiting for these to bake. FYI, I found these needed an extra five minutes - maybe because I intentionally left out the chocolate chips? But they sure are yummy.

Needless to say, while I froze a few to keep for cravings, there's no way I should, I mean can, eat all of these. Even if Wayne were home, he's not a huge choclate fan (I know - why is it that men are denied this gene?!), so they still would need to be eaten somehow. And I have to fit into a bridesmaid dress in two weeks, anyway, so these ain't gonna help matters at all.

This is where my trusty coworkers come in. Homemade goodies don't last long in our department, so I always know where I can take the balance of my baked goodness. Angela, Erin, Sheira, Elaine and Divine - tomorrow, you can look forward to a Pretzle-toffee chip brownie invasion in the Corporate Communications department!

::Pretzel- Toffee Chip Brownies::

½ cup butter (1 stick)

Two 1oz. squares unsweetened chocolate

1 cup granulated sugar

¾ cup flour

2 large egg, well beaten

8 ounce bag toffee chips (I used 4 Skor bars ground in my mixer, instead)

11.5 ounce bag Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips (I left these out completely)

1 cup broken up stick pretzels

1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a square pan with foil. Spray lightly with cooking spray or grease with butter.
2 Melt butter and chocolate in a small saucepan. Transfer to a bowl. Add sugar, flour, and eggs and whisk together. Add chocolate chips, toffee bits, and pretzels.
3 Pour mixture into prepared pan and spread evenly (batter will be thick and chunky). Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until brownies appear firm and done.

Yield: 2 dozen brownies (yeah, right. More like 16 decent-sized ones - hey, just being honest)

Recipe Source: Adapted from San Diego County Fair 2007 Cookbook