Mini Brownie Bites

 Did you ever have one of those days when you just needed a little bit of chocolate?  Today was one of them for me. School is starting back up soon, and I feel like I haven't gotten anything accomplished that I wanted to. Back in June, when I looked at the weeks spreading out before me that I would have off, I made grandiose plans of cleaning my basement, baking and blogging, making jam, canning tomatoes, reading that stack of books that just keeps getting taller, ........you know how it goes. Now I'm looking at just a couple of weeks left. Will I have time for it all? I don't know, but I did have time to make these. These didn't solve my time management issues but they sure were tasty.

 Little nuggets of chocolate nutty goodness that were ready in a jiffy, these were probably the quickest and easiest cookies that I've made in a while. Six ingredients and about 10 minutes were all I needed to have these cooling in my  kitchen. I made these this afternoon, and I'm having trouble keeping myself from picking up one of these two-bite cookies every time I pass by them.

 I found this recipe scribbled on the back of an envelope stuck in my "try this" file. It was originally called Seven Minute Chocolate Cookies, but after making these I took the liberty of renaming them. They were so much like a brownie in taste and texture that I thought their new name was much more fitting. Enjoy them with a cold glass of milk and say "Thank you very much." (You're welcome.)

Mini Brownie Bites
Recipe found scribbled on the back of an envelope in my "Try this" file. If you happen to know where it came from originally, please let me know!
Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1 pkg. (12 oz.) semisweet chocolate morsels
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans ( I used about a cup and a half, because I didn't want to put such a small amount back in the freezer. I liked the extra nuts.)

Directions:

• Combine the butter (cut into chunks), semisweet morsels and condensed milk in a heavy bottom saucepan.
• Gently cook and stir over low heat until butter and morsels are about 3/4 melted. Remove from heat and stir until butter and morsels are completely melted. 
• Stir in vanilla and flour. Fold in pecans.
• Drop by level Tablespoons onto a parchment covered baking sheet. (I used a tablespoon cookie scoop.) If you do not have parchment, lightly grease your cookie sheet.
• Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 7 to 10 minutes. Do not over-bake. Cookies should lose some of their shine when they are done. They will still be soft, but will have a bit of a crust. Cool 5 minutes on baking sheet and remove to rack to finish cooling.
• note: As the batter cools, subsequent batches may take longer to bake.
• yield: about 5 doz small cookies