Brownies

It’s just brownies (with lots of chocolate). I based this recipe off of one from Sally’s Baking Addiction, with some practical simplifications.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, chopped into 1 tbsp pieces
• 2 cups dark chocolate chips, divided
• 1 and 2/3 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and coat a 9x13 inch pan in nonstick spray (or just butter).
2. Melt 1/2 cup of chocolate chips with the butter in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds.
3. Beat sugar and eggs for about 3 minutes, until they form ribbons.
4. Combine melted butter mixture, sugar and eggs, and vanilla and beat until smooth.
5. Sift cocoa powder, flour, and salt into batter. Add remaining chocolate chips.
6. Spread the batter evenly over the pan and bake for 30 minutes. The brownies are done when a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Allow brownies to cool completely, around 2 or 3 hours. Cut into 1 inch squares with a sharp knife.

Notes

• When testing whether the brownies are done, you might accidentally hit a chocolate chip, causing the toothpick to get caught into a melted chocolate sludge. You will likely have to try the toothpick test a few times to make sure.
• I happen to like the crunchy parts of brownies more than the fudgy insides, so I intentionally spread the batter over a large pan. Use a smaller pan for fudgier, thicker brownies.
• For style points, you could reserve some of the chocolate chips to spread on top of the brownies about halfway through the baking process. This doesn’t affect the taste at all but might make them more photogenic.
• After spreading the batter in the pan, you can swirl some creamy peanut butter into the brownies with a butter knife to make peanut butter brownies.