Dutch process cocoa will give you more intensely rich, chocolaty brownies. American or "natural" will give you a more complex flavor. Didn't you like the brownies you made? If they were too chocolatey tasting, try the Natural next time. If they tasted wonderful, you might not like the results if you use natural next time, because it's a more bitter flavor. That's the whole point. :) "Natural" in referring to natural cocoa powder is a designation that way predates the current standards in food verbiage. It doesn't mean anything about the way it's grown. It just means it hasn't had the surface acid neutralized. The Ghirardelli process uses heat and melts off the fats and gets more out, whereas the Dutch process is pressed, so Dutch process is moister (fatter) and American is powderier. When you make your recipes there are all kinds of chemistry things going on between acids and alkalies. Dutch processed cocoa just has one of those processes happening before you buy it. It's not bad, just different. Baking soda (potassium bicarbonate) is an alkali. They use potassium carbonate to neutralize the acid in the Dutch process. Baking soda has less potassium and is a much gentler alkali than potassium carbonate, but in terms of what's touching your food, by the time the traces that might possibly be left on the cocoa get to you, it's just a little potassium and carbon. :) Summation American: bitter, complex, possibly fruity or roasty tasting, interacts with baking soda for leavening. Makes for red cakes if it hasn't had the color adjusted. Dutch: chocolaty, rich, good for things you want to be fudgy. Requires baking powder for leavening, or an acid like lemon juice and baking soda.

Oh, my! I can't deal with an oven without mitts. My great auntie made lovely potholders but I can't use them. My skin cries. :) Word of caution--if the mitts you got aren't water shedding, don't use them near the hot water from the bain marie. It's like touching a hot pot with a wet potholder or towel, but your can't drop it until you can get the mitt off. Most are fine, but some are just pretty fabric. I have a pair of cute pink ones that I was given. Only, really, for taking a hot pot to the table because they're just cotton so not safe enough around water, and too pretty to use around spatter that will stain. :) The bread pudding will still be sweet, because there is sugar in the gingerbread, but it's going to have sausage and lots of spices and fresh ginger and onions. The other bread is one of my sourdough starter discard breads, also from the freezer, and it's very sour, so I'm hoping they'll cancel each other out. :) Congrats on delighting your suffering friend!!

I like Glenda's Refrigerator Bran Muffins. You mix a huge amount of batter and it keeps in the refrigerator for 6 weeks. You can bake just one or two, and have fresh muffins every day. I also like the Malt-O-Meal muffin recipe that is printed on the box of cereal. And lastly we all enjoy the Peabody Inn Vanilla Muffins recipe that I found in an article that said people drive from far and wide for these muffins. I will look up the recipe and edit it into this message. Here's a recipe I found online some time ago. I could not resist seeing what a muffin that is called a Dirt Bomb tasted like. Since I still have them in my computer, here is the recipe: Dirt Bombs Yields: 12 muffins* 3 cups all purpose flour, minus 3 tablespoons 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter 1 cup granulated sugar 2 large eggs 1 cup whole milk ** Topping *** 3/4 cups unsalted butter, melted 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon Preheat oven to 400º F. Place the rack in the center position. Generously grease a 12-cup standard muffin pan. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cardamon into a mixing bowl. In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl down half way through. Mix in the eggs. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk in two additions, mixing gently by hand to incorporate all the flour. The batter will be on the stiff side, but airy. Don’t over mix or beat the batter as this will make the muffins tough. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, without smoothing the tops. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. As soon as the muffins are cool enough to handle, turn them out onto a wire rack. Add the melted butter to a bowl. In another bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon. Dip the muffins (top, sides and bottom) in the butter, using a pastry brush -if necessary- to cover areas not buttered by dipping. Immediately roll the muffins in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Serve warm or at room temperature. *I've made this twice, and both times, this recipe has yielded 16 muffins instead of 12. **I substituted whole buttermilk for whole milk because I always have it on hand and prefer it for baking. *** The amounts listed for the sugar and cinnamon are not quite enough to coat all the muffins, so I recommend you double it. _______ Malt-O-Meal Magic Muffins 1 1/4 c flour 3/4 c Malt-O-Meal 1/2 c sugar 3/4 c milk 1/4 c vegetable oil 1 egg 1 Tbsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt Heat oven to 400 degrees. In large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and stir together till all are moistened. Fill greased muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. 1 doz. _____ Peabody Inn Vanilla Muffins 2 c flour 1 c sugar 2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 2 Tbsp melted butter, cooled 1 c milk 1 egg 1 1/2 tsp vanilla Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin tins well. 1) Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into large bowl. 2) Add melted butter to milk and egg. Beat to mix well. Add vanilla 3) Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Pour milk mixture in all at once. Stir with fork only until moistened. Do not over mix or beat. 4) Quickly spoon batter into muffin cups filling each slightly more than half full. 5) Bake 15 minutes for mini muffin pans; 18-20 minutes for full size muffins. Remove immediately from pans and serve hot. 12 regular muffins or 30 minis. These muffins have a lovely hint of a crunchy exterior when you bite into them the first day. That crunchiness disappears if you have left overs for another day.

My first reaction to the title was "take out some of the sugar". Since you're making more than two boxes worth, you could add flour. But then you'd have to adjust the leavening, etc. And does one box or the other have egg and the other not? I'd think it would be a heck of a lot easier to make muffins from scratch, with a nice recipe, especially if you want healthy muffins rather than cakey muffins.