So Mr. Meat and Potatoes doesn’t have any interest in dessert. Like, ever. Except for brownies. He loves brownies.

I, then, get tired of brownies. There is little reason for me to go to the trouble to bake (because, as you know, I am baking challenged) anything besides brownies, because usually a good portion of whatever it is goes to waste, as he has this bizarre “no dessert disease”. Unless, of course, dessert is brownies, and then he’ll eat nine.

So I am always looking for ways to enliven the brownie, to give Mr. Meat and Potatoes what he likes, while still satisfying my compulsion to change it up, do it different, stir the proverbial pot. I can’t ever make the same exact thing twice. It’s a sickness. I will sometimes make a dish, serve it, and ask him, “Well, what do you think? Should this go in the rotation?” and he will say, “What rotation? I have never had the same meal twice in this house, save lasagna and paella.” I believe this is not quite true, but I do get his point.

Anyway, I have a lot of ways to mess up a brownie.

First and foremost, I offer you this miracle of a dessert.

A) This thing is so easy, it’s the next best thing to a boxed brownie mix.

B) It is amazing, delicious, and perfect in every way. Especially if you put a little ice cream on top. This is the dessert you serve when you want to look fancy for your mother in law, or you want to see someone naked without having to give him or her six gin and tonics first.

I made it in six small tart pans instead of one large one, because I don’t have a large one.

I also used Oreo’s instead of chocolate graham crackers, because they didn’t have chocolate graham crackers at Checkers. If you use Oreos, you don’t need to add any butter to the crust. The lard-y middles do that for you.

This is not really a brownie, but it is close enough for Mr. Meat and Potatoes. He also will admit to loving truffles, and this is sort of like a truffle in a tart pan with baby love on top.

My other new favorite way to mess up a brownie is to do it in a muffin tin. I think it would work better in a mini-muffin tin, but I don’t own one.

Start by making your usual brownie batter, either from a mix or from scratch. I love the Ghirardelli products – especially the chocolate chunk one. And, they’re cheap.

Then, make yourself some chocolate chip cookie dough. Or, chop up a log of dough. Whatever satifies your needs.

Grease your pan and fill the cups 3/4 of the way full with brownie batter, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. You want them almost done. I like my brownies to be underbaked a little in the final product, so for me this means almost-almost done.

Cool the brownies, then top each one with a cookie dough round. If you made your own dough, you will need to roll it into a small ball and then smash it down into sort of a thick circle before you plop it on top of your brownie. Remember that it will continue to spread while it cooks.

Bake again for about 8 minutes (or however long it takes to get the cookies done). I have been known to top that whole thing with a smear of cream cheese or chocolate frosting, but that is because I can never leave well enough alone.

Crack, on crack, with a topping of crack.

I don’t recommend doing this unless you are pregnant and eating with abandon, or you are like Mr. Meat and Potatoes, and you only store a minimal amount of fat for the winter and immediately lose it, and are unable to find it until November of the next year, no matter how many brownies and crack tarts you eat. And if you are like that, let me just speak for all of the normal people in the world and say, “WE HATE YOU.”