How to Bake a Brownie Inside an Eggshell

When I first joined Pinterest, this was one of the first posts I laid eyes on and I've been too intimidated to try it until now. I was intimidated partially because a.) it's in a foreign language  and  b.) it would require converting everything from grams to cups but those were easy feats to conquer. I've converted everything for you here so you can try these at home and impress (or confuse!) your guests at your next dinner party!

To make the brownies you'll need:
* 3/4 cup of chocolate to melt (I used chocolate chips)
* 1/2 cup of butter at room temperature
* 3 eggs
* 3/4 cup of sugar
* 1/2 cup of flour
* 3 Tablespoons of cocoa powder
* A pinch of salt
* Eggshells (I decided to fill four eggshells but I could have easily of filled a dozen with the amount of brownie mix I had leftover!)

To prepare the eggshells you'll need:
* 1/2 cup of salt
* 4 1/4 C of water
* Some vegetable oil
* A skewer or toothpick
* A corkscrew

Start by taking your corkscrew and poking a hole in the bottom of an egg. You'll want the hole to be the size of your pinky finger.

Once the hole has been made, peel off the shell and using a skewer or a toothpick, start to jab the egg yolk and egg whites inside the egg.

This will help make it easier for the egg to come out of the shell. Do this for all of the eggs you plan to have empty shells of. Once the egg is completely out of the shell, rinse off the inside and outside of the eggshell.

Combine your 1/2 cup of salt and 4 1/4 C of water in a bowl and dunk your eggshells into the water. Make sure the eggshells are completely submerged and filled with water, otherwise they'll float to the top. Once the bubbles have stopped coming to the top, you'll know they'll stay on the bottom.

Let them sit in the salt water for 30 minutes.

And give them another 30 minutes to dry, with the hole down on top of a paper towel.

Once they're dry, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and pour a little vegetable oil inside each eggshell. Roll it around so the oil coats the entire inside of the shell. This will help prevent the brownie from stick to the sides of the shell when baking. Pour out any excess oil that might be inside the shell.

Now it's time to make the brownie mix! Melt the butter and chocolate (as I said, I used chocolate chips and it worked just fine) in a microwave for 30 seconds and then 10 second intervals after that, so as to make sure the chocolate doesn't burn (mine took 50 seconds total).

In a separate bowl, add the 3 eggs and sugar and mix (I used what used to be inside the eggshells - no point in letting it go to waste!)

Once the chocolate has cooled, add it to the sugar and egg mixture.

Add your cocoa, flour, and pinch of salt to make your brownie mix complete!

Pour the brownie mix into a plastic bag and cut off one of the corners, as this will make it easier to fill the eggshells with brownie mix.

Slowly add the brownie mix to each eggshell, filling them up 3/4ths of the way. If you hold the eggshell up to a light, you'll be able to see how much you've filled.

Once your eggshells are filled, carefully place them in a muffin tin (you can use foil to keep them centered, if you like) and stick them in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

When you take them out, they'll be very hot but you need to cut off any excess brownie mix or else it'll be harder to do once it has cooled. I recommend holding the eggs with a wet paper towel or oven mitt and using a knife to cut off the excess brownie that has spilled over.

Let them cool completely before removing the shell (I put mine in the fridge for half an hour and that did the trick).

Remove the eggshell and eat your egg-shaped brownie! I had one right after another... needless to say, they're a little addicting! Your dinner guests will be so confused when their dessert is presented to them as an egg!

TOTAL COSTS: About $20 to make at least 9 brownie eggs (if you buy a dozen)
$2.50 for chocolate chips
$.99 for butter
$2.49 for eggs
$2.69 for sugar
$3.29 for flour
$4.49 for cocoa powder
$.99 for salt
$3 for vegetable oil
Corkscrew and toothpick/skewer already on hand but you could use a fork to poke the hole and the toothpick or skewer is only to help get the egg yolk and egg whites out faster... if you have patience, then you don't need anything.

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 2 hours, 18 minutes
5 minutes/egg to empty
30 minutes to soak in salt water
30 minutes to dry
25 minutes to make batter and fill
18 minutes to bake
30 minutes to chill

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 3 out of 5
These are actually a lot easier to make than one might expect. You have to be very careful not to burn yourself when getting the excess brownie off the egg but other than that, it's just a matter of being patient. Waiting for the egg to drip out of the shell, waiting for the eggs in the salt water, waiting for the eggs to dry, waiting to devour them...

Microwave Meals in a Mug -- from Scratch!

NPR came out with a great blog about meals you can make in your microwave from scratch, which is perfect if you work in an office, live in a dorm, or simply don't feel like paying for gas in your apartment (and therefore can't use a stove). I decided to try out three different meals to see if they were any good.

Breakfast - Scrambled Eggs

I followed this recipe from Mr. Food and here's what I concluded:

PROS: This would be a good meal to make in the morning if you work in an office or a dorm. Very easy clean-up and very quick to make.

CONS: 2 eggs might not be filling enough for some and it was pretty bland. I recommend putting in the salt before you microwave instead of after. Might want to add other seasonings too (oregano, maybe some salsa, etc.)

RECOMMEND?: Yep, I'd recommend this. Super easy to make and a good source of protein!

Lunch - Mac and Cheese

I followed NPR's blog and here's what I found:

PROS: This will be better for you than any Kraft or Velvetta Mac n' Cheese mix you might make for a meal. It tastes good and again, is very easy to make.

CONS: Water does spill all over the microwave when you're first heating the pasta, so be sure to have a couple paper towels underneath. It's also a bit bland so be sure to add some seasonings. Also, 1/4C is not enough cheese so try 1/2C. Finally, this is very hot so be very careful!

RECOMMEND?: I've had better mac and cheese but for 7 minutes (4 minutes boiling the water and 3 minutes for cheese to melt and sauce to form) and a microwave, it's not bad!


Dinner: Brownies (No, not dessert. Dinner.)

Again, I followed NPR's blog for the recipe and here's what I found. Note that I did not include instant espresso, dried cherries, or almonds (I wanted to stick with the ingredients I already had at home).

PROS: Very chocolate-y. If you like brownies but don't want to be overpowered by chocolate, leave out the chocolate chips on top.

CONS: This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it had more of the consistency of chocolate cake than a brownie.

RECOMMEND?: Abso-freakin'-lutely. All you need is a glass of milk or put some ice cream on top and you're in business!

TOTAL COSTS: Free!
But that's only because I had all these ingredients already at home

TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME: 1 minute, 15 seconds for the eggs, 7 minutes for mac & cheese, and 1 minute, 30 seconds for the brownie

EASY-PEASY SCALE (1 super easy - 5 very difficult): 1 out of 5
These recipes were made for those who a.) either don't like to cook or b.) don't have the time to make big meals ...so they were perfect for me! Give 'em a try and let me know what you think!