The Lazy Girl's Guide to Cooking - Chocolate, Fudgy, Brownie Cake in a Mug

Otherwise known as How To Make a Brownie in the Microwave!

I make no secret of the fact that I am a lazy girl. A lazy girl who is not too keen on cooking. But on occasion, when need be, I can step-up in the kitchen and cook a thing or two. It's not that I'm a bad cook, I just don't like cooking as much as I do eating. And I hate cleaning even more!

She's too lazy to cook dinner but not too lazy to make her own meme!

When I do cook it's always something simple and easy. Scrambled eggs. Baked potatoes. Roast lamb (when you've roasted as many legs of lamb as I have it's easy!). Slow cooked lamb stews. Weet-bix-crusted lamb cutlets (are you sensing a theme here, and my favourite meat?!). I make quick and easy desserts. Brownies. Strawberry Mini-muffins. Mars Bar Slice. Mini chocolate and caramel tarts. And I've never met a packet mix I couldn't make my friend, especially since having kids!

So when I realised that the parenting morning tea that I sometimes go to was on tomorrow I panicked a little because I didn't have anything to take. Thank god for a packet lemon cake mix I've had sitting in the back of the pantry. I whipped that bad boy up in to some mini-lemon-cupcakes (I like desserts mini ok!) and a crisis was averted.

Oh yeah, I made that packet mix my bitch! Would you check out those muffin tops!

Sunday night however I was craving chocolate and I was starving! To steal a term from the Hunger Games, I was having a "hollow day". Didn't matter how much I ate, I was still hungry and feeling hollow. After having dinner some hours ago I was still feeling hungry and craving something a little naughty. I've been pretty good with the whole "operation lose baby weight" thing so figured I could afford to treat myself a little. And Dave was at work so there was no one to stop me!

What I really wish I had was a Donna Hay Brownie packet mix, that shit is the bomb! But alas I did not, so cue frantic searching on the web for mug brownie recipes. I knew I had some 85% cocoa Lindt chocolate in the cupboard and figured that would do in place of actual cocoa, and I could make my own self-raising flour with the plain wholemeal flour and baking powder I did have.

There are heaps of brownie/chocolate cake in a mug recipes on the net but I ended up using this one I found on Kidspot. When I say I used "about" this much of each ingredient it's because I wasn't measuring very accurately. It turned out pretty good though, although it was quite fudgy, so if you like your brownies like that then you'll like this. I also broke up an extra square of chocolate and dropped it in to the mixture, my own version of chocolate chips! It definitely needed some ice cream to go with it though, to break up the chocolatey-fudginess of it all, but sadly there was no ice cream in the house. Adding a tablespoon of milk was a poor, poor substitute, just so you know!

My Mug Brownie Recipe

My totally scientific and accurate mug brownie recipe. I should be on Masterchef don't ya think?!

It made a pretty huge serve though so I think if I make it again i'll halve the quantities. I'll also reduce the sugar (I used raw) by a third as I found it a bit too sweet for me (the beauty of not eating a lot of sweets since being on the gestational diabetes diet), and I'll try it with milk and butter too I think. You know, just for the fun of it. I'm also starting to think I might try it with some almond meal instead of flour and see how that turns out. Could be interesting. And I like to live dangerously.

The most important thing though about this recipe is that it was fast, simple and easy. Everything the lazy girl likes in her cooking. Feel free to pin the shit out of this and try it for yourself but be warned: I take no responsibility for how it turns out. If it's shit don't blame me, blame the internet! And your microwave!

And make sure you have some ice cream to have with it!

Linking this shit up with Essentially Jess coz it's Tuesday people, and I always blog on Tuesday! And say shit a lot, apparently.

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