In past years, January and February have felt like reset months for us.
Things slow down, activities are fewer, and it’s time to catch our breaths.
Not so this year. Last week, Joey and I were honored to be invited to speak at the Kentucky Press Association’s annual conference, and we ended up spending an extra day out of town, thanks to the deluge of snow, and while I might have normally been tempted to phone in my column this week, due to a lack of time, that simply wasn’t possible.
I have a dessert auction counting on me.
Well, OK, so it’s not really counting on me, but I promised Peace Connections in Newton that I would provide a dessert for their annual auction next week, and I was not about to disappoint.
I needed to find something that would be delicious and look darn tempting to drive up the bids for a great cause. Enter some chewy, decadent brownies.
This comes from the blog “Georgina Eliza.” You can find the original post at https://georginaeliza.co.uk/2022/09/23/chocolate-ganache-gooey-brownies/. I converted everything into U.S. measurements, and I added extra vanilla and chocolate in my version.
Chocolate Ganache Gooey Brownies
Ingredients
- 8 1/4 tablespoons butter
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons vanilla
- 16 ounces dark chocolate chips divided
- 1 1/3 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease an eight-by-eight-inch baking pan, and set it aside.
- Add the butter to a saucepan, and heat over low heat. When the butter is melted, add the sugar, milk and vanilla, stirring regularly until the sugar is dissolved, and then stir in half of the chocolate chips, stirring until the chocolate is melted.
- Meanwhile, add the flour, salt and cocoa powder to a mixing bowl, and stir to combine.
- Add in the chocolate mixture, and stir until everything is well combined, and pour the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it out evenly.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the top of the brownies looks set and crackled. (The brownies are meant to stay a bit gooey.)
- Set the brownies aside to cool completely.
- When they’re cooled, add the rest of the chocolate chips to a small saucepan and heat over low heat, stirring regularly, until the chocolate is melted. Stir in the peanut butter until everything is smooth, and pour it over the brownies, spreading evenly.
- Put the brownies in the fridge until the topping sets up, and then store them in an airtight container.
These were fabulous. They were dense and chewy and would be awesome with a bowl of ice cream or a good cup of coffee.
They would also be a wonderful dessert to bid on to support Peace Connections on Thursday, Feb. 5, at Salem United Methodist Church, 115 Old Main St., Newton. The soup dinner is by donation and starts at 5:30 p.m. The dessert auction will begin at 6:15 p.m.
If you want more information about this awesome group, visit their website at https://www.peaceconnections.org/. They do a lot of good to help a lot of people in the area each year.
And if you’re like me, and your 2026 is already insanely busy, what better way to take something off your to do list than not having to make dinner yourself on Feb. 5?
This piece first appeared in print Jan. 29, 2026.
Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.
