Different people want different things from a brownie. Some people like a more cakey brownie, while others want a fudgy brownie. I’m in the second category; the more fudgy the better.
Several years ago (2003) I was toying with the idea of writing a children’s cookbook (haven’t given up on the idea), and one of the recipes I wanted to have in the book was for an easy brownie. What kid doesn’t like brownies, right? I didn’t want to use dry cocoa because the brownies I remembered from my childhood were made with cocoa and they were more like cake. So for the chocolate I used chocolate chips. I thought most people who cook would have some hanging around their cupboard, and I thought melted chocolate would get me closer to fudgy. You can also use regular bar-type baking chocolate if you don’t have, or don’t want to use, chocolate chips. Of course, my favorite chocolate is Ghirardelli š
I had a working recipe that was pretty good and then I had to put the project on hold for a while (ended up being 6 years). This spring a friend of mine wanted to know if I had a good scratch brownie recipe. I remembered the recipe I’d been working on, but I wanted to test it before I gave it to her. Good thing I did, too. It was definitely not at the share stage. I made it six more times to get it just right. She and her husband loved them, and like all brownies, these are awesome with vanilla ice cream š
Fudgy Brownies
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or 6 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 eggs slightly beaten
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
- 2 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 325. Spray the bottom of a 8×8 glass pan with non-stick spray.
- Put the butter and chocolate chips in a medium microwaveable bowl, and heat on high for 1 minute; stir. Heat for 30 seconds more and stir until the chocolate is completely melted.
- Add the sugar and stir until the sugar and chocolate mixture is completely combined.
- Add the vanilla and eggs, and stir until the mixture is completely combined.
- In a small bowl, combine the baking powder, salt, cocoa powder and flour; mix well to break up any lumps in the cocoa powder.
- Add to the chocolate mixture and stir until completely combined.
- Bake for 26-28 minutes, or until the top of the brownies are flat and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean (you want a few moist crumbs to cling to the toothpick).
- Cool completely (if you can stand to wait) before cutting to get the best looking pieces.
Notes
When I was taking these pictures in my back yard my 2 year-old was sitting next to me on a over-turned bucket. She was so excited about the brown squares on the plate she could hardly keep herself off them. I turned my head at just the moment she leaned over to lick the brownie closest to her. Well, at least she kept her hands off š
