Saturday, July 12, 2008

The Brownies

3/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbls water
1 12 oz package chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs



In a saucepan bring butter, water and sugar to a boil. Remove it from the heat, add 1 1/2 cups of chips and the vanilla. Stir it till melted. Add the eggs and stir to combine. Sift in flour, soda and salt. Place in buttered 8" pan and sprinkle the rest of the chips on top. Bake at 325 for 40-45 minutes or till a toothpick comes out almost clean.

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Ok, first off take a look at this. If you are going to get recipes from someone you want ones that look all grody like this. This means this is a recipe that is made a lot or in this case several recipes that have been made a lot. Now why do I make this one a lot? Because these are The Brownies. Easier than your average brownie recipe but at least twice as good. At least. They are chocolaty and gooey and rich and chocolaty. Now one thing you need to watch out for is it's entirely possible that you can't handle The Brownies. So please, be careful. But don't hold me responsible if you can't take it, you've been warned. First grease the pan. I am not fancy so I (or in this case, my lovely assistant) just grab a chunk of butter, still in the wrapper and go at it. You can also just use your fingers, since we are assuming you are cooking with clean hands. Now what you do is bring your butter, sugar and the water to a boil. The water helps hold everything together. How, I don't really know. My brother, who gave me this recipe and is helping bake them (for a share of the spoils), does, I'm sure. Once it's boiling take it off the heat and add the cup and a half of chips. Mix it together till it's melted. Also add the vanilla... with the chips. If you didn't screw up like me. Fortunately this recipe is very forgiving. Now add the eggs and mix it up till it's all combined.You could pour this on top of ice cream and call it hot fudge, if you wanted to. But we won't. We will add the flour, soda and salt. These should be mixed together beforehand so the stuff is all evenly distributed. Stuff is the culinary term, I assure you. Mix this up till it's combined. Then pour it in your greased 8x8 pan. Sprinkle the rest of the chips on top. Don't be shy. Now start pre-heating your oven to 325 since you forgot to when you began. Bake it for 40-45 minutes or so, till a toothpick comes out almost clean. You don't want to over bake them. Well, they are still really good even over baked, but they are best gooey. Cool them for a little bit, but I suggest having at least some warm. Gah. It hurts.I like to have them with some vanilla ice cream. Or you can just bury your face in the pan. Wait till it cools though.

5 comments:

  1. Mmm, The Brownies. You have to love confections which get definite articles. I believe the main function of the water is to help the sugar melt, and of course get the correct water balance into the batter. When you make caramel you use a lot of water which you then boil out, but dry sugar burns easily.

    It was good of you to define "Stuff". Technical terms can be confusing to laypersons!

    As for the condition of the recipe, that is why I laminated the copies of those I kept for myself :)

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  2. See? I knew you'd know. But when laminate it it can't get all gross! I can reach into my recipe cabinet and find that sheet just by feel. :)

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  3. I'd like to meet your lovely assistant. Those are some hot pan-greasin' hands there.

    PS - thanks for dinner the other night...yummy!!!

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  4. Mary Beth, you are a nut. Heh, but don't worry I won't tell your husband. :)

    I will cook dinner any time. You know me. :)

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  5. I followed your delightful avatar all the way over here. So glad I did. I am a total brownie junkie. OMG can't wait to try this. Got a chocolate high reading this :-)

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Thanks for all your comments. I try to answer any questions I'm asked, but if I miss yours feel free to email me.