Too G-darn Cool

Ah - hem.

You are currently reading the blog of a recipe award winner. Not too long ago, in December to be exact, I submitted a recipe to a contest that Pamela's brand gluten-free foods was having. I entered my German Chocolate Brownies in the decadent dessert category and just yesterday I found out I got "Runner Up!" You may say to yourself, "Lizzie, it's runner-up, it's not that big of a deal." To that I would say "Sure, you may think so, but this was the first recipe I have ever submitted to anything, and with Pamela's being so well known in the gluten-free community, I'm pretty proud." Oh, and this which Stephanie at Pamela's told me about:

“We are pleased to tell you that your German Chocolate Brownies have won Runner Up in the Delicious Dessert Category of the Pamela's Products Second Annual Greatest Gluten-free Recipe Contest. We don't officially plan for runners up, but when a recipe strikes us as really good and we want to be sure that it receives its due recognition, we allow for this special award. What does that mean for you? We'll be sending you a care package with our congratulations, we'll be publishing your recipe on our website (per our official rules) noting your name, and the best of all really, bragging rights! All yours!”

Another reason this is pretty cool: I created the recipe because my Mom would always make my Dad german chocolate cake for his Birthday. But now that he, my sister and I are gluten-free, I knew it would be difficult to replicate her cake. So I attempted to get the german chocolate feel in a brownie -- just for Pops.

I will post the recipe soon, I promise. But first I have to take Henry for a walk. He's getting pretty tired of hearing me say "Who's your little baker?"

Here's a pretty bad picture of the brownies. I took the photo in a bit of a rush so I could get the recipe in on time.

German Chocolate Brownies (gluten-free, dairy-free**)

One bag of Pamela's Chocolate Brownie Mix
One egg
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup water

Topping:

1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup toasted pecans
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons margerine or butter, melted (I use Earth Balance to make it dairy-free)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease 8x8 inch pan with shortening.

Follow "oil" instructions for Pamela's brownies and pour into greased pan.

In a bowl, combine shredded coconut, pecans, brown sugar, salt and melted margarine. Crumble mixture evenly on top of brownies.

Bake brownies in the middle rack of the oven for approximately twenty-five minutes. Let the brownies cool on a wire-rack and cut into squares.

*Please note: there's not real german chocolate in here, the idea was to replicate the frosting that tops a German Chocolate Cake, sans dairy.
**Also note that if you are allergic to dairy in very small amounts, Pamela's brownies have a disclaimer that there may be dairy residue due to manufacturing equipment, but the mix is otherwise dairy-free.