Chocolate Cobbler

"It's like all the flavor fell out of your brownies." - Shayne


I got this off the Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen site (are y'all tired of hearing about her/her site yet? TOO BAD.) Y'all, this stuff is...weird. I'm just going to say it, it's weird.

It's not very sweet. You would think you'd be drowning in sweetness by the look of it, but...then you aren't. It's weeeeird. I could probably fix that, by upping the sugar content, but...I'm not sure it needs fixing. Because it's also warm, gooey, comforting, and made me feel like...like, you know how a cat kneads its paws on a blanket while it purrs to let you know how ridiculously, smugly satisfied it is? It made me feel like that. It made my head buzz.

(Okay that last part is probably because I don't make a lot of desserts or eat a lot of sugar, because sugar does psychedelic things to my brain. Seriously, when I went to dig in my pantry to make this, I realized all of my baking ingredients expired in May. Of 2009. So I had to buy all new stuff to make this. True, pathetic story.)

Since this stuff is not packed with sweetness on it's own, I think the most crucial ingredient involved is the ice cream you serve it with. Next to the ice cream, it's suddenly perfect. Even Shayne changed his mind and decided he liked it with the ice cream (he has a raging sweet tooth, and was clearly underwhelmed with it straight out of the oven). I used Vanilla Bean ice cream, but I think next time I'll try Homemade Vanilla, or some other more old-fashioned variety.

Y'all still here? Have I scared you away? I hope not. Weirdness aside, it's really an easy, cheap chocolate fix if you don't have the sweetest sweet tooth ever. Or if you want a bowl of warm LOVE at the end of the day.

It's just...a little weird, is all. And isn't everyone?

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Chocolate Cobbler

• 1 cup flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 7 tbs cocoa powder, divided (I would make these heaping spoonfuls, and use a good quality cocoa because the cocoa is the whole point of this thing)
• 1¼ cup sugar, divided
• ½ cup milk
• ⅓ cup melted butter
• 1½ tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1½ cup hot tap water
• Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Oven temp: 350

Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, 3 tablespoons of the cocoa, and 3/4 cup of the white sugar. Reserve the remaining cocoa and sugar.

Stir in the milk, melted butter, and vanilla to the flour mixture. Mix until smooth. Pour the mixture into an ungreased baking dish.

In a separate small bowl, mix the remaining white sugar (1/2 cup), the brown sugar, and remaining 4 tablespoons of cocoa. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the batter.

Pour the hot tap water over the whole thing. Do not stir! (WEEEEIRD)

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the center is set. Let stand for a few minutes to cool. Serve with homemade ice cream.