Taking a break from Japan nostalgia to share these delicious brownies that make for a perfect Ramadan treat. For the last few Ramadans, I've been fortunate enough to either be on break for some part of Ramadan (summer breaks in med school, the break before starting residency), or be on a relatively relaxed work schedule (home before 5, and non-stressful rotations). This usually meant sleeping in as late as possible, and being able to stay up as late as I wanted. However, working through Ramadan this year has been a new challenge. Trying to stay awake after iftaar (dinner where you break fast) at ~8:30pm has been almost impossible. The food coma hits almost instantly, and I usually end up passing out on the couch before 10. After suhoor (the pre-dawn meal which I have to eat before ~5 am), I get to have a quick 45 minute nap before getting up as late as I possibly can to throw on scrubs and make it to the psychiatric ED by 6:45ish for my 12 hour shifts. 12 hour shifts during Ramadan have their negatives and positive(s). The negatives are obvious. The surprising positive has been that the psych ED is so busy that time ends up going by pretty quickly. By the time I deliriously stumble through my front door at 7:30pm, I chill for 30 minutes before H & I start preparing for iftaar (if he's home from work by then).
By day 2 of fasting this Ramadan, the caffeine withdrawal headaches had hit. I hadn't realized my daily caffeine intake had slowly been creeping up before Ramadan. While I have spent a lot of time daydreaming about a cold, smooth iced coffee, these indulgent mocha brownies with cafe latte frosting have hit the spot come iftaar time. Even without the frosting, these brownies are amazing and have a hint of coffee in both the brownie mix and frosting.
Recipe from Just So Tasty, with the following adjustments: instead of using 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of instant coffee granules in the frosting as the recipe suggests, I used about 3 for a stronger coffee flavor. Additionally, I baked the brownies for about 30 minutes (longer than the original recipe recommended).
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