Sure, finding Kenny wasn’t too bad. I was only 25 when we started dating, so I can’t pretend that I had a huge struggle to meet the man of my dreams. But when it comes to recipes, life can be a bit more complicated.

After several years of baking, I’ve honed my go-to recipes. I have my favorite chocolate cake recipe (thanks, back of the Hershey cocoa container!), my favorite chocolate chip recipe, my favorite blondie base, my favorite cheesecake base, and my favorite peanut butter cookie. But let’s not forget the most important one of them all: the perfect brownie base.

If you’re a regular reader, this recipe will look familiar because I use it ALL. THE. TIME. I can’t help it. These are the best brownies, and they are just as easy as using a mix. Why wouldn’t you try them? Especially when I’ve included yet another fun video tutorial right here!

This video thing is getting addictive, by the way. I’m going to have to keep making them. But at some point I’ll also need to get some really good lighting, an agent, and a personal assistant. A girl can dream!

Back to The One. Last week in class, we were discussing the concept of soul mates. With Valentine’s Day just behind us, my creative writing class has been writing love stories. When I asked how many people believed in the construct of that one person, very few kids raised their hands. Then again, kids can be very cynical, especially teenagers. It’s one of the reasons that I find them so entertaining.

I was once talking to a colleague who expressed that while he believes in the idea of The One, he also thinks that we encounter several versions of that person as we progress through our lives. He used that theory as a good reason to not get married. After all, why settle for one soul mate when you can have six or seven?

To be honest, I’ve never been sure about anything so absolute as the idea of just one soul mate. Is Kenny my soul mate? No doubt. Would he have been my soul mate if I’d grown up in Russia instead, or would I have met a different soul mate nearer to home? These thoughts don’t keep me up at night or anything, but the fact that so many people meet their intended spouses in college is a pretty good argument for true love being partly a matter of convenience.

In other words, I know very few people who have combed the globe to find their intended ones. We’re not lazy, but we’re probably too busy to go searching. Anyone got a dramatic love story for me? Just because Valentine’s is over does not mean that we have to stop talking love. Let me know!

And speaking of love stories, these brownies are it. I made these once and never went back. It takes a lot of arm-twisting for me to make another brownie recipe. Why?

The best reason ever: these are EASY. They come together in less than five minutes (the video doesn’t lie!) and they’re very happy being customized however you like. This time it was peanut butter M &Ms. Next time it might be peanut butter cups. Or something without peanut butter entirely. I’ve got range!

Who knows if finding the perfect brownie recipe is easier or harder than finding the perfect partner? I seriously am not sure. All I know is that it took me longer to find this recipe than it took me to marry Kenny, so draw your own conclusions. But for now, make you some brownies. It’s true love!

And I feel almost the same, but not quite, about salty sweet treats.  When salted caramel burst onto the food scene a few years back, I couldn’t get enough. I still can’t, but my brain has adjusted a little more. Back in those days, it was hard to find salted caramel anything. Now you can’t turn around without it smacking you in the face with its coy deliciousness.

Now, today’s cookies are not salted caramel. But you can get excited anyway! In honor of the Super Bowl, I decided to make a cookie that would please salt and sugar cravers alike. So instead of the usual chocolate chips or what-have-you, these cookies are filled with potato chips, pretzels, and peanut butter M & Ms!

As a die-hard sugar craver whose blood pressure is pretty dang low, I don’t gravitate naturally toward salt. In fact, my doctor has told me to put salt on everything, even my cereal (gross), to bring up my blood pressure. I don’t want to. Salt is not my thing. But when it’s paired with sugar, it suddenly becomes irresistible. So you can imagine what these cookies did to me.

If you’ve ever had a chocolate-dipped potato chip or pretzel, just add a soft, thick cookie to the equation. And the M & Ms, of course. That should give you some idea of what these babies can do.

Now, you can’t be impatient when you’re making these cookies. You have to let the dough chill overnight. Don’t worry: the potato chips and pretzels will bake up just fine. You want mounds of dough pillowing your mix-ins, not a flat pancake of cookie. It’s worth the wait!

This Sunday, I’ll be ignoring the game (see Wednesday’s post if you wanna know why) while I focus on game-day food. But when the game’s over and my kids are in bed, I’m heading to my own bed with these cookies. Sounds like the perfect ending to another Sunday!