Month two of Bakin’ Friends and no disappointment to report here! This time I got paired with Christine from California. I was beyond excited. I know what you’re thinking. Christine? From California? Hmm…sounds a bit familiar. Well, Christine just happened to be the lovely lady that introduced me to Bakin’ Friends. She was my Foodie Penpal back in June (and wrote a wonderful guest post for me). When Christine mentioned she was also part of a baking penpal program, I pressed her for details immediately. What are the chances of getting paired with the same program in two different programs?! Plus, I knew all about Christine’s small bakery business. Secretly I was hoping I’d get the chance to taste some of her delicious treats. Can you guess the secret ingredient?

No not chocolate, but something to give these rich brownies a bit of crunch. Give up? Pretzels! I laughed when I opened Christine’s box to find caramel pretzel brownies. Great minds think alike because it’s almost exactly what I sent off to my other Bakin’ Friend, Aisha (who was my other penpal last month and responsible for the most delicious tea cookies). Small world. There were a few big differences between Christine and my brownies, both good and bad. First, I went with salted caramel and added some chocolate stout. Very good. On the other hand, Christine’s brownies were far more gooey and delicious than mine were. Mine were dense, more cake like, but these were just magic. Melt in your mouth, chocolate on your face, ate 3 without even realizing delicious. I might have to attempt my stout brownies one more time, using Christine’s recipe as a base.

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Interested in joining Bakin’ Friends? Here’s everything you need to know:

Bakin’ Friends is all about connecting bakers, bloggers, foodies, and people who just like sweets! We’re in the business of baking and making friends!

Each month we will be baking goodies, with a secret ingredient, to send out to one another. I’ll let you know at the beginning of the month what secret ingredient we’re using. It might be chocolate, it might be maple syrup, it may be bacon, whatever it is though you’ll be required to use it (unless there’s an allergy to the ingredient) in your baked goody.

On the 6th of each month you will be paired up with a Bakin’ Friend. You’ll contact your newly appointed Bakin’ Friend to see if they have any allergies or dietary restrictions and you’ll also get their mailing address. Then you’ll bake your goody and have it in the mail and on its way to your new Bakin’ Friend by the 16th of each month. You’ll of course want to include the recipe for your baked goody so that your new friend can recreate the yummies at home! How cute would it be if we all did our recipes on vintage recipe cards, just sayin’!

Then, on the last day of the month we’ll post about who our new Bakin’ Friend is, what they baked, and how they used the secret ingredient. (This group right now is only open to US and Canadian residents. US residents will be paired with US residents, and Canadian residents with Canadian residents)

Are you ready to make some new friends? Then send an email to stephsbitebybite(at)gmail(dot)com with Bakin’ Friends in the subject. Emails MUST be received before the 4th of each month so that I have time to get all the match ups done. Please make sure to include your full name, your email address, your blog name and URL (if applicable), and whether you live in the US or Canada.

Related articles

• July Bakin’ Friends Reveal Day (bklynlocavore.com)
• Lemon Basil Sugar Cookies (bklynlocavore.com)
• Feel Better Brownies (happygostuckey.com)
• Raspberry Chocolate Brownies (thesugarbreakup.com)
• July Foodie Penpals (bklynlocavore.com)
• August Foodie Penpal Reveal (bklynlocavore.com)