Black Label Chicken Parmesan

This past Saturday I was gifted with a big bag of PC Black Label food products. Which came in very handy Sunday night when I was faced with deciding on dinner. I had my eye on the big box of Fiorelli pasta that was in my bag but wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, since I wasn't on grocery duty this weekend and wasn't sure what I had to work with. Then I spied a jar of Black Label Marinara sauce in the pantry that David happened to pick up, having been inspired by our gift bag bounty. Rustling through the fridge I found some chicken breasts while the freezer yielded up some grated mozzarella cheese. A quick Google search later and I decided on Baked Chicken Parmesan, using my bottled marinara and Fiorelli pasta.

Two-Bite Brownies

Two-bite brownies are still a pretty popular party offering despite their two-bite market dominance being tested by cake pops. The other day I saw that pie pops are also trying to become a thing. Ugh. Really? Mini pies or hand-held pies (turnovers?) I can get behind but pie on a stick just seems odd.

I love making homemade two-bite brownies even though when I bring them places I think people assume I bought them then arranged them on my own platter to pass off as homemade. So I overcompensate and find myself saying to anyone who will listen: "I made these. I know they look like store bought but honestly, I made these. Really." Once you taste them I think it's clear these are not a store-bought brownie. I whipped up a batch Friday night when Daniel was having a sleep over and they disappeared pronto, along with large glasses of frothy white milk.

Speaking of milk, we seem to buy an awful lot of milk these days. We buy our milk in bags and last week at one point we had nine bags of milk in our fridge. And I thought we were never going to need to buy milk again. Two days later - no milk. How is that possible? I shudder to think how much milk we're going to need to get through adolescence. Or how many of these two-bite beauties will be consumed.

I started making this recipe years ago after being gifted a wonderful cookbook called Grazing from our friends James and Lisa. I've made other treats out of this cookbook and never been disappointed.

Two Bite Brownies

At only 2 grams fat per pop, these will satisfy your need for chewy brownies. Be careful not to overbake them – they should be slightly puffed but still soft to the touch. Freeze leftovers and serve them frozen or warmed in the microwave with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. (If you don’t have mini muffin cups, the batter can be baked in an 8”x8” pan at 350°F for 25-30 minutes.)

1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. instant espresso or coffee, dissolved in 1 tsp. water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, mix together butter and sugar until well combined. Add eggs, vanilla and coffee and stir until well blended and smooth.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Add to the egg mixture and stir by hand just until combined.

Spoon the batter mini muffin cups that have been sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until puffed but still soft to the touch. Do not overbake! Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

Makes 24 brownies.