This week, I've been doing some baking in anticipation of a weekend event. I've made some brownies and blondies, one new recipe (the brownies) and an old favorite (the blondies). I also made a batch of my favorite brownie-top/blondie-bottom bar cookies. In every case, there were issues.
I was utterly perplexed, especially after the batch of brownie/blondies baked 10 minutes longer than usual, then was still terribly underbaked in the center, a situation that had been the case to greater and lesser degrees all week. When I thought it over, the only common thread I could come up with was that I'd used the same pan for each batch of bar cookies. It's a shiny, silvery, reflective aluminum 9x13 pan. Is there something about the shiny pan vs. a matte gray nonstick-coated pan? It makes me wonder if the use of that pan contributed to the creamy success of the Oreo Cheesecake I made earlier in the week.
Anyway, recipes made:
Omigod Brownies from Rick Rodgers
Peanut Butter Brownies from The Ultimate Brownie Book by Bruce Weinstein
The Great Blondie from The Greyston Bakery Cookbook
I also did a batch of Kara's Blonde Brownies from Kathleen King's Tate Bakeshop Cookbook, but they did not survive the pan debacle. First time I've ever botched that recipe.
