Bad Boy Brownies

This recipe came about around 10pm tonight, when I was craving something sweet, and to fill my house with the warmth of the summer, now that fall has begun to nip at the edges of our nights. I have this cookbook put out by the New York Times in 1971 called simply Natural Foods Coobook, by Jean Hewitt. She was the home economist and food writer for the paper, and was an early advocate for cooking with whole, natural ingredients. Now, I don't do a lot of baking, I daresay, I'm pretty miserable at it. I have yet to sit down and figure out the science of it - I tend to be a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants cook. However, tonight I wanted brownies, and it just so happened that I had a cupboard full of wholesome ingredients. I based my recipe on Hewitt's, but gave it a few twists and turns. These bad boys might even be healthy for me - well, except for the flourish of peanut butter chips over the top.

Bad Boy Brownies

1 C raw sugar
2/3 C oil - be creative here, use coconut, peanut, or even sunflower
2 T honey
2 eggs
1/2 t vanilla
3/4 C wheat pastry flour
1/4 C quinoa flakes
1/4 C flax seed meal
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 C carob powder
1/4 C peanut butter chips (optional, but STRONGLY suggested)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter a 8 inch square/round pan. In a large bowl mix together oil and sugar. Add in eggs, vanilla and honey and mix thoroughly. Sift the flour, quinoa flakes, and flax seed meal into a separate bowl. Stir in baking powder, salt and carob powder. Mix the flour mixture into the sugar mixture and stir thoroughly. Pour batter into buttered pan and sprinkle top with peanut butter chips. Bake for 30 minutes on middle rack. Remove from oven and cover the edges of the pan and brownie with tin foil to keep it from burning, and put back in oven for 5 to 7 minutes. Keep a close eye and remove when batter comes out clean in the center. Let rest on cooling rack for 5 to 10 minutes, then enjoy!