Successful Brownies- Hoorah!

Faithful blog readers, you might be wondering why my subject is so excited about something as commonplace as brownies. Brownies- a classic dessert, simple in its existence and a basic for any cook/ baker.

Well, it was never basic for me, so leave me alone!! I have never made a successful brownie before. They've always been too hard, too bland, too thin- just not good. For the record, [I also suck at making Jell-o, cooked (not instant) pudding, and steak. I know, those aren't complicated either, but I've had bad results multiple times with each.]

My Adam loves brownies. He maintains if it isn't chocolate it isn’t a worthwhile dessert. I personally beg to differ, but that's a completely different topic. I felt bad that I have never made him brownies due to my terrible history with them.

This past weekend I looked that dessert horse in the eye again, got back in the saddle, and amazingly enough I made delicious brownies- hoorah indeed! Many thanks to the Hershey company- I now have an amazing chocolate cake and brownie recipe in my repertoire thanks to them.


Brownies
From Hersheys.com

• 1/2 C. (1 stick) Butter, melted
  
• 1 C. Sugar
  
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
  
• 2 Eggs
  
• 1/2 C. Flour
  
• 1/3 C. Cocoa Powder
  
• 1/4 tsp. Baking Powder
  
• 1/4 tsp. Salt
  
• 1/2 C. Chocolate Chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour an 8" or 9" square pan.
   
2. In a mixer, blend the butter, sugar, and vanilla. Add in the eggs and mix again until smooth, using a rubber spatula to clean the sides.
   
3. Add in the rest of the ingredients except the chocolate chips and mix thoroughly. Again, use the spatula to make sure the creamed mixture on the bottom gets integrated.
   
4. Gently stir in the chips and then pour batter evenly into the prepared pan.
   
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean and the brownies pull away from the side of the pan slightly. Remove from oven and cool in pan on a wire rack, or in my case, just on a gas stove burner.
   
6. When the pan is cooled, slice the brownies and enjoy!

I ate one warm, and it was delicious and gooey. I probably could have cooked mine another minute as even after they cooled completely, the brownies still were very crumbly. But c'mon, no one will fault a brownie for being a little too moist, right?! You could also add in nuts, more chocolate chips, or other goodies, and the original recipe says to frost these, but I hate frosted brownies- they are plenty good in their pure form to me!