Brownie Drops

While I had the oven all fired up on Sunday, in addition to baking the bread and pizza, I made a batch of Brownie Drops. And as a result, this is why I am now able to walk around without crutches. Ya-hooo!

I’ve been trying to walk for a week and, honestly, I was afraid to place all of my weight on my foot. Still wearing the aircast (which will be a part of my stylish ensemble for another 2 weeks), I first went through the walking motions while placing my weight on the crutches. After a couple of days I was able to add a little more weight onto the foot. Then a little more. But every time I attempted to walk normally I panicked and stumbled. I knew that my ankle wasn’t going to break again, but I was having a difficult time with convincing it.. That Sunday afternoon, tired to death of sitting on the sofa (for Day #43), I decided to spend some time in the kitchen since there was some bread dough rising which would need my attention anyway.

The supply of peanut butter cookies which I made Jack for Valentine’s Day was dwindling, as were the truffles which he bought for me. We needed to replenish our sweet-stash! :)

Last week I found this Brownie Drops recipe on cooksimple.com. They looked easy enough and I loved the fact that along with the melted chocolate, there was only ¼ cup of flour. Little flour, lots of chocolate. Sounded good to me! I assembled the ingredients onto the kitchen counter, placed the mixing bowl in the sink to contain any splatters, plugged in the hand mixer, and away I went. The directions called for beating the eggs and brown sugar together for 4 minutes.

So I stood, propped up at the sink, crutches leaning against the doorframe a few feet away. I placed a little weight on my broken ankle. Hmmmm. No pain, no snap (*shudder*). More weight. A little more. As those four minutes wore on, I was able to transfer all of my weight onto my bad leg. When I was done making the batter, I saw the baking sheets across the room on the table. I took a step. Then another. And another… Cool! I was walking without crutches and without pain!

Anybody who has gone through this knows what a wonderful feeling it is. After 6 weeks of hobbling around with crutches or a walker, unable to carry anything, I am finally getting around on my own. Now I wonder how long it will take for the calluses to go away from my palms where I had to grip the crutches…

I attribute the Brownie Drops to my walking around again (thanks, Carrie!). Okay, I admit that it would have happened sooner or later, but having to stand for four long minutes, propped up by the counter, gave me the opportunity to do this gradually.

So, back to the cookies.

These have a rich, deep chocolate flavor that makes them hard to stop eating. They are moist and chewy inside with the crunch of walnuts, just like pan-baked brownies—I finally put them in a plastic container and asked Jack to please, for heavens sake, hide them from me. I love chocolate, and I have no willpower. A deadly combination around treats such as these are!