Store-bought Skookies

If I haven't said it about myself at some point or other, then it's no doubt been said about me: I've never met a dessert I didn't like...until now.

It started a week or so before Christmas when I was wandering through my local Sportman's Warehouse looking for presents for my family. I picked up some camping utensils for my kids, and was walking through the cast iron aisle when I fell in love. I spotted a boxed skookie set! I figured the best way to get myself some new cast iron was to disguise it as a present for Kara so I picked it up, playing it from the skookie angle, because I know how she loves skookies. The set included two skookie pans, two skillet potholder things, a recipe booklet, and some just-add-water-and-oil double fudge brownie mix. Score!

Last night, I finally got around to making my first batch of skookies in the new pans. I mixed up the prepackaged mix using the 3/4 cup of water and 3/4 cup of oil that it recommended. The instructions said to pour the mixture into a greased 9x13" pan...which confused me a wee bit since it came with a pair of skookie pans! I divided it between the two pans and hoped they wouldn't overflow. (For a little overflow insurance, I put a 9x13 on the rack two positions below the skookie pans. I knew that it'd affect the cooking of the skookies to have that pan there, but figured that however it affected them would be small potatoes compared to how Kara would affect me if I managed to spill skookie dough onto the floor of the oven.)

After the allotted time (25 min), I checked the skookies and decided they needed another 4 or 5 minutes, probably due to the sheet pan below them. At 30 minutes, they appeared done...but were a rather odd consistency. They were spongy, had a slightly rubbery feel, and were pockmarked--just like the texture that I associate with microwave brownies. They didn't taste much better. They were bland and cakey, and even that squeeze of caramel topping I drizzled on couldn't save them. (Okay, it was two squeezes. So sue me.)

Yes, I have finally met a dessert I didn't like.

If I had this particular recipe to do again--which is highly unlikely since it was rather nasty and I have much better recipes for skookies--I would switch out the oil for 1/2 cup of applesauce, and add one chopped chocolate bar.

I do recommend the skookie pan set, but if you dare to try the prepackaged brownie mix it comes with, take my advice: tinker with it.

Disclaimer: There are probably other prepackaged skookie mixes out there that are much better. I don't know, since I haven't tried any others. If you find one though, let me know!