While I love almost all desserts, to me the BEST desserts fall into the “a la mode” category. They are warm and topped with ice cream, and that combo takes almost any dessert to a whole other level. I LOVE A La Mode.
For a while I’ve been trying to come up with a quick and easy way to make an individual serving of brownie a la mode at home, and the results aren’t always the best. Some have turned out like this…
We’ll call those Brownie A La Garbage Disposal. Bleh. I tried using mixes, thinking that would be a nice way to keep it easy, but I was never happy with the results. Today I decided to work on one based on my favorite brownie recipe and see what I could create, and I think we have a winner.
Yeah, this recipe is a keeper. Hot, gooey, dark chocolatey brownies in a few short minutes using the microwave and simple ingredients??? We’ll call them Brownies A La Anytime.
Here is what you need…
At the very last moment I decided that I wanted to add baking powder, so this guy didn’t make it into the photo, but he made it into the brownies. The ingredients are as follows. This will make one generous serving. It could be shared, if you are feeling generous, but I won’t judge you if you keep it all to yourself.
Brownies A La Anytime
4 Tablespoons Flour
3 Tablespoons Sugar
Pinch Of Salt
1/8 teaspoon Baking Powder
2 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder (I prefer Hershey’s Dark Cocoa Powder)
1 Tablespoon Melted Butter
1-2 Tablespoons Oil (such as vegetable, canola or coconut)
1 Tablespoon Water
1/4 Teaspoon Vanilla
You can top with a few chocolate chips or nuts if you like.
Melt your butter in a microwave safe bowl or cup (took me about 12 seconds). Add the oil to your melted butter and mix well. If you want a moister brownie, go for the full two tablespoons. I prefer a really solid, dense brownie (which I top with ice cream adding a lot of moisture) so I use one tablespoon of oil. Add in your vanilla and water, stir well to combine. In a separate bowl or cup, combine all dry ingredients.
As I said, I used only one tablespoon of oil, so my mix is a bit on the drier/firm side. I pressed it into my ramekin. You could also use a mug, microwaving things in a mug seems to be the popular thing, but being a non-coffee drinker (hello, Diet Coke!), I have more ramekins than I do mugs.
I added a few chocolate chips to the top.
I started with 45 seconds in the microwave and ended up cooking mine for about one minute and ten seconds. That’s 70 seconds people – until hot, gooey, delicious, dark, sweet chocolate goodness. SEVENTY SECONDS! That’s like magic!
Instant. Gratification. Which is both a very good, and possibly very bad, thing. These may be too easy to whip up!
In my opinion, anything “a la mode” needs ice cream. End of story.
These are best enjoyed within a few minutes of heating them up. I have a few yummy variations coming up, but I have to pace myself, eating four of these in a day is probably not recommended. Though it would be damn delicious. ENJOY!
If you are looking for some other delish brownie recipes, maybe I recommend…
My all time favorite brownie recipe, my EASY BROWNIES
More Fudge Less Pudge Brownies
Candy Cane Cookie Crunch Brownies
Clarinet :P says
The first time it came out VERY runny, so I cut back on the oil. Wasn’t sweet enough for me so I topped it with powdered sugar! OH YEA!
Im eating this all MYSELF!!! 😀
Christi says
Enjoy!
Sonali says
Wooooould anyone judge me if I said I ate this raw? It was delicious, 10/10 would make again
Sonali says
P.S. I cut out the oil and swapped the butter for almond milk b/c I knew I wouldn’t be baking it. YUMMM
Cheshire Cat says
This was wonderful. Made with GF flour, highly recommend. Also placed a splot of peanut butter in the center and covered it over before cooking and used butterscotch choco chips on top.
Christi says
So glad you enjoyed it, and were able to make it GF to fit your needs, that’s great!
RP says
This was great! I substituted regular flour with almond flour, used 2 TBSP of sugar instead of 3, light butter spread instead of regular butter, and no salt. Still tasted amazing!
Heather Cerda says
I am in love with this recipe! I have tried so many different ones and none of them hit the spot like this one!! This was the perfect ratio and the right amount of chocolate! I topped mine with chocolate ice cream and nuts. I will definitely make this again and again(:
Ash says
I’m a big fan of your recipes!!! I made this one a few days ago but the consistency didn’t come out soft and moist like I would’ve hoped; it tasted quite granular for some reason. Any thoughts on what might have gone wrong? Did I microwave it for too long? (50 seconds)
Christi Johnstone says
Ash, at the end of the day it’s a quickie brownie in the microwave, so it’s not going to give you the same consistency of traditional brownies. I would suggest really stirring your ingredients well, the sugar is likely what impacted the texture, but it is not going to be exactly like an actual baked brownie.
Sharen says
What size ramekin do you use? I have three different sizes and I’m thinking of using the one that holds 1 cup of liquid. Is that big enough?
Christi Johnstone says
That should work!