By Thirty-eight weeks. Still here. Still waiting. The baby has decided not to arrive on the schedule I had imagined and I am trying to be patient about this, which is easier some days than others. Tyler is very calm. He says she will come when she is ready. I say yes, I know that. He says do I need anything. I say no. He says okay. He checks again in two hours. This is the correct approach.
I have been eating Gloria biscuits every morning this week. Not making them, eating them. Gloria made four batches and sent them home with Tyler on his drive back from Prattville and I have been eating them with butter for breakfast every day and they taste exactly right. She made them because she knew I would want them. She knew before I knew I would want them. That is what forty years of paying attention looks like. You know what someone needs before they know they need it.
Ten years at the daycare. I realized it while sitting on the back porch this week. I started there when I was eighteen, just finished high school in that group home in Prattville, and Miss Patrice gave me a part-time job and then a full-time one and I have been there ten years as of this month. Ten years. Hundreds of children. I have loved hundreds of children the specific daycare kind of love, which is complete and professional and real. And I am about to love one the other kind. The all the way kind. The forever kind.
Gloria has been feeding me all week, and somewhere in the middle of all that butter and warmth, I felt the urge to bake something myself—not because I needed to, but because it’s the only nesting that still feels manageable at thirty-eight weeks. Brownies are what I land on every time I want to give something without having to think too hard about it: they’re the thing you bring when someone has a baby, or when someone is about to, or when you just want the house to smell like something is happening. Gloria’s biscuits are hers; these brownies are mine to offer back.
Classic Homemade Brownies
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 28 min | Total Time: 43 min | Servings: 16
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- Flaky sea salt for finishing (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat and prep. Heat your oven to 350°F. Grease an 8x8 inch baking pan and line it with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides so you can lift the brownies out cleanly.
- Melt the butter. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the butter completely. Remove from heat and let it cool for two or three minutes so it doesn’t scramble the eggs.
- Build the batter. Whisk the sugar into the melted butter until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each. Stir in the vanilla extract.
- Add dry ingredients. Sift in the cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking powder. Switch to a rubber spatula and fold until just combined—don’t overmix. The batter will be thick and glossy.
- Bake. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. If using, scatter a small pinch of flaky sea salt over the top. Bake for 25—28 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs (not wet batter). The edges should look set and the center should have just a slight jiggle.
- Cool before cutting. Let the brownies cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before lifting out and slicing into 16 squares. They firm up as they cool and cut much cleaner when they’re not hot.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 142 | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Carbs: 20g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 58mg