Easy Brownies

I recently had a yen for chocolate and figured that the easiest way to satisfy that desire was to make brownies. I went to Google and found different recipes that didn’t really suit my needs. Many recipes use unsweetened chocolate and while this ingredient helps to make for good chewy brownies, I usually don’t have any unsweetened chocolate around.

(I stopped buying unsweetened chocolate long ago because, except for brownies, there isn’t much call for it. It keeps for a time but eventually gets a white misty surface and bleaches out.)

I found a recipe that looked easy, but needed my own special assistance. Basically it called for 5 Tbs. dark chocolate, 2 Tbs. unsweetened chocolate, 8 Tbs. butter, 1 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 1 egg yoke, 2 tsp. vanilla, and 2/3 cup of flour. (I’m sure it called for salt, but the only time I use salt is when I’m baking with yeast.)

I had no unsweetened chocolate, had an inexact measurement for butter, in Lebanon it comes in 200 gram bars, and didn’t want to be bothered with separating an egg. I had a few different odds and ends of dark chocolate that I had used for holiday baking; one was too bitter so I sweetened it up with another brand.

Ingredients:

6 Tbl unsalted butter

6 Tbl of dark chocolate

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup of flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare your pan by buttering and flouring it and including a parchment bottom.

(In this case, the recipe called for an 8 inch square pan, but all I have is a round cake pan, so I used that. I buttered the sides, bottom and fit in a piece of parchment paper that I cut out from tracing it around the bottom of the pan. Butter the parchment paper too.)

Break up the bits of chocolate and put them in a sauce pan with the butter cut into tablespoons.

(It is always hard to tell with chocolate because it comes in bars not in spoons so I usually eyeball an amount that looks like it will produce a good chocolaty flavor.)

(A word about melting chocolate and butter: the original recipe called for a double boiler. It is true that you can control the heat better with a double boiler, but I think it is too much trouble. If you are really careful, keep a constant eye on your chocolate, keep stirring it, use a very low heat, and take it off of the heat while stirring when most of the chunks are melted, you can do it straight from the stove. With a microwave, it is best to do it in spurts starting with 30 seconds at 50% and when it is really starting to melt, 10 seconds. Be sure to stir it once it begins to melt. Basically the butter will melt first and needs to be incorporated. The last of the chunks should be melted in the pan that is warm to the touch. For brownies I use a pan directly on the stove, because I can put in the rest of the ingredients and not have to dirty a bowl.)

Once the chocolate is melted, stir in the sugar. Making sure your mixture is not hot to the touch; add one egg at a time stirring after each addition.

Incorporate the vanilla and flour.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, pop it into the oven and bake for about 30 minutes. You’ll know it is done if you stick a toothpick into the center and it comes out with a bit of crumb. Don’t over bake the brownies.

Put the pan on a rack for ten minutes and then turn it onto the rack to cool. Cool completely before cutting the brownies.

I love frozen brownies for a midmorning snack, so I usually store them in a sealed plastic bag and keep them in the freezer. When I have them around my clothes fit a bit snugger.

This recipe yielded some of the easiest and best tasting brownies I have made in a while, so enjoy!