The Pentagon's Brownie Recipe

According to this article at Huffington Post's food page, the recipe is 26 pages long. This is the U.S. military so, of course, there are lots of rules and regs that govern such things as baking temperature and final size -- each brownie "shall not exceed 3-1/2 inches by 2-1/2 inches by 5/8 inch."

The brownies, if baked in accordance to the "specification . . . approved for use by all Departments and Agencies of the Department of Defense," are made to last years, if necessary. But how tasty are the hardy treats?

Penny Karas, owner of the bakery Hello Cupcake in Washington D.C., made the brownies for NPR's "All Things Considered" and concluded: "It's not so great." (NPR host) Guy Razz concurred: "Yeah. They're awful."

Sounds like an industrial-sized box of Duncan Hines brownie mix would be a better choice for a military base.

Hotcake Hogwash

That's the best term I can think of for what Aunt Jemima writes on its website about its "Complete" line of pancake mixes:

Pancakes made from Aunt Jemima Complete Pancake & Waffle Mix have the same great taste as those made from Aunt Jemima Original Pancake & Waffle Mix, but they are easier to prepare.

Don't believe it. I accidentally bought a box of Aunt Jemima Complete -- the mix that you only add water to (instead of adding eggs and milk) -- and I used it to prepare some pancakes this weekend. What a disaster. The pancakes don't hold their shape and, in addition to issues with the texture, the hotcakes made from the Complete mix are as tasty as cardboard.

I thought that perhaps I just didn't add the right amount of water. So I made another batch. The result was identical: bland, flavorless pancakes that don't hold their shape well.

This is one mistake I won't make again. Aunt Jemima Original: definitely worth buying. Aunt Jemima Complete: a complete mistake.