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
Katie says
Just made these in my waffle iron… TO.DIE.FOR!!!
Christi says
Katie, in the waffle iron??? Oh I HAVE to try that. Can we then justify them as a breakfast food? I say yes…
Precious says
1st WOW can’t wait to try these & the chocolate chip a la mode. 2nd I’m not a dark chocolate person so I wanted to know why do you prefer the dark chocolate?
Christi says
Precious, I just prefer the taste of dark chocolate. I’m not a milk chocolate person, so just a matter of personal taste. 🙂
Hanna says
Made it in a mug and left it for about 20 min, when I came back it was rock solid…. it was still delicious!
Jasmine says
That looks amazing! Mmmm……
But if I wanted to make 3 servings, let’s say, do I triple the ingredients? Thanks for sharing this recipe, your recipes are always so creative!
Sam says
I made this the other day and I loved it so much I made many more batches of the dry ingredients so I only have to pull out a baggie and cook! I used 2 Tbsp of oil because I wanted mine super moist. Also, next time I am going to use less cocoa powder since these are super rich. (Needless to say, I did not use any extra chocolate chips!) I made mine all in the same mug to create less dishes and topped it with mint chocolate chip ice cream! It was fantastic! And it was a hit at the office too!
Tami says
Saw this at dinner time. Ended up making this instead of dinner! Good thing I didn’t have to cook for anyone tonight!! Added peanut butter chips and chopped pecans. Delicious!! Dangerously good and easy!
Christi says
Tami, your version sounds delish! Dinner is SO overrated. 🙂
Sam says
You are a genius! Although microwave brownies may be dangerous in my hands… too easy!! Cant wait to make (and eat!) xx
linsey says
I tried this delicious looking treat and followed the instructions exactly, but sadly, they turned out completely disgusting! Unfortunately for me, it didn’t really taste like a brownie at all. I mean, it looked just like the brownie you have pictured, it just didn’t taste the way you described it. So I guess I won’t be trying that recipie again 🙁
Lari says
Hey…
That sounds perfect… Unfortunately I don’t have a microwave, does this also work in a normal oven?
XX
Lari
Cent4urThoughts.blogspot.com
steph says
amazing!!!! tried these tonight with chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. awesome! also – i was out of cocoa powder, so as a sub i used dark hot chocolate mix and omitted the sugar. turned out great!!!