Everyone knows that the best part of a brownie is the edge. They even have brownie pans that wind all over the place so you get nothing but edges. Clever, but I've owned two and they are a pain to clean.

The thing is that they have edges - but hard edges that you can't clean. What makes the edge of a brownie so good is that you have the crunchy edge next to the chewy middle.

Most pans focus on edges - but create corners that don't add to the texture and are hard to clean.

The simple solution is a donut pan. Pick the size you want depending on portion - or mix em up to add some texture like in the picture above. You can pick them up on Amazon:


It has the right amount of surface area to give that crunchy edge - but since it's round, it just wipes clean. Genius.Diane Rodriguez

The Problem:
The fact is that all honey crystallizes once it's out of the hive. In fact, under the right conditions, it'll actually crystallize in the hive.

It's caused by the ratio of glucose to fructose. It's horribly affected by temperature (under 55º and it will really crystallize fast. Unfiltered honey (or raw honey) tends to crystallize even faster. Probably because of the little bits still in it that help the process get started.

There's no real way that you can stop it, and everyone knows that you can heat it up in the microwave and it'll pour just fine again.

The problem is that it will recrystallize the next day (most likely) and all of that heating and cooling ruins the flavor, texture and aroma of the honey. Seriously, once that's gone - what do you have?

So most people will end up heating it up once or twice and then tossing it. What a shame. What if there were a proven way to decrystallize the honey and have it stay that way for at least a few weeks - maybe longer? Well, after years of trying different techniques I've stumbled upon a solution.

Initially I tried everything from adding liquids, mixing with other uncrystallized honey, changing containers, re-filtering.  All of which were either to difficult or to temporary to count as an actual solution.

I started another attempt when I discovered a crystallized, half-empty squeezy bear of honey. I started to heat it up and then as luck would have it, I got busy and forgot about it. But when I remembered, I tried adding a bit of corn syrup.

But discovery requires experimentation. And even when you abandon (or forget) about the experiment - it still counts if it works.

The Solution:
So here's the technique:

1. Place your crystalized honey, in whatever jar it came, in a pot of cool water.
2. Place it on the stove on low and let it slowly heat up
   to about 100º. Don't heat it up faster than that. Don't let it get hotter than that.
3. When it gets to 100º, turn it off and watch the honey decrystallize. If you have a lot of honey, or a small pot, you may have to let it simmer longer - but don't let it get hotter.
4. Add about 1/4 tsp of corn syrup.
5. Use some of that honey if you need to, but when you are done, put the lid or cap back on it and place it back in the water to cool down slowly.
6. When the water is back down to room temperature, remove it from the water, dry off the container and keep it on the shelf.