Were floating through my head yesterday at school. I started dreaming of brownies and I couldn't stop.  And I was not dreaming about the cake-y kind of brownie. No sir, I was dreaming of the kind of chocolatey, soft, chewy brownies I remember my MoM making when I was growing up. (Oh and it turns out you can spell <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chocolatey">chocolatey</a> this way or this way chocolaty but somehow both look pretty silly to me.)

It was such a serious dream that I even started looking up recipes online.  What a daydream--right? I'm supposed to be grading papers and instead I can't stop thinking about brownies.

[caption id="attachment_2388" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Homemade Brownies"]<a href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/img_2666.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2388" title="Brownies" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/img_2666.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="333" /></a>[/caption]

I went downstairs to get something off the department printer and that's when I realized why I was dreaming about brownies.  The Onda at school is on the first floor of my building--they are in the perfect location for my coffee addiction but today they were also fueling my brownie fantasies.

They were baking brownies and filling both the first floor and second with the smell of brownies.  The thing is Onda has gotten me before this way but the brownies smell much better than they actually taste. So I put brownies of out my mind for the afternoon until I was on my way home and then I stopped into the grocery store and bought everything I needed to make my own.<!--more-->

I had to improvise on a recipe--of course. Baking is I think one of the most frustrating parts of living in Bulgaria. The ingredients I am used to in the States just aren't always easy for me to find in Bulgaria.  Of course, it probably doesn't help that I start these baking/cooking projects at the last minute and usually as a direct result of a craving of some sort. Needless to say, I couldn't find cocoa powder or bittersweet chocolate. So I bought four bars of dark chocolate, some butter, flour, sugar and baking powder and figured I'd give things ago.  And on a whim, I also added almonds, hazelnuts and dried cranberries to the shopping trip.

[caption id="attachment_2390" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="More Brownies!"]<a href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/img_2668.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2390" title="Brownies 1" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/img_2668.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="333" /></a>[/caption]

At home, I wondered: Carolyn, what have you gotten yourself into? I did a little math and figured that at worst I was out 6 or 7 leva and at best I was up one pan of brownies.

I looked at a few more recipes and figured I'd wing it.  I also figured that this was either going to be a really good plan or a really bad one.  There's not much in between when you decide to just give it a go. Oh and I think it's generally not recommended to just make a new recipe up on the fly when it comes to baking.

Then I made these brownies.

They turned out pretty good but I might have over done things a little bit. I forgot that simplicity can be an amazing thing. So I added chopped nuts and dried cranberries.  I wish the brownies were chewier and not so cake-like but all in all for my first go making brownies abroad I am pretty happy.

Here's what I did:
<ul>
	<li>175 grams of butter</li>
	<li>2.5 bars of 100 gram dark chocolate</li>
	<li>1/2 cup sugar</li>
	<li>3/4 cup flour</li>
	<li>3 eggs</li>
	<li>1 tsp baking powder</li>
	<li>50 grams each of chopped nuts and dried cranberries</li>
</ul>
I melted the chocolate and butter together on the stove and once these were combined I added the sugar and cooked it on low until everything was smooth. Then in a separate bowl I combined all of the dry ingredients together and I poured in the chocolate mixture. I stirred to incorporate the flour and then I added the eggs.  Once it was mixed together I poured it into a greased pan. I baked it at 180 degrees C. for 20 minutes.

[caption id="attachment_2391" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Yum, yum brownies"]<a href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/img_2660.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2391" title="Brownies 2" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/img_2660.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="333" /></a>[/caption]

I will be trying these again. The goal next time: less cakey more soft and chewy.