Ultimate Brownies!!

I think I may finally have it! I love desserts and I love to bake. I have to admit that when I moved to the U.S. I viewed with such contempt all those people who used box mixes for baking. I really believe that it's just not the same, and almost eleven years later, I still hold to that. However, I have been known to make the occasional boxed brownie in an emergency, but they really have to be covered in vanilla ice cream to make them worthwhile.

I've tried many brownie recipes in my quest to find, in my opinion, the best one, and been rather disappointed. Almost all the ones I tried were too cakey for my liking, I prefer the fudgy ones, and they have eluded me...until now!

We were going to a potluck this past weekend and I had signed up to take a dessert. I decided to make brownies and take whipped cream and raspberries to go with them. I know it can be a little risky to try a new recipe when you're cooking for others but in this case I am so glad I did. I found the recipe on this blog right here and the writer had a number of helpful pointers and precise instructions. I didn't quite cook them long enough on Saturday (the writer made hers in a larger pan to make them thinner), so made them again today with a couple of my own tweaks (I added cocoa to make them a little richer and more chocolatey, as well as substituting brown sugar for half of the sugar in her recipe).

The kids love to 'help' with all things baking; the pouring of the ingredients, the raising and lowering of the mixing bowl, turning the mixer on and off...and of course the clean-up is what they enjoy the most.

Unfortunately they're not very helpful yet with the real cleaning up!

Anyway, here is the recipe:

1 cup butter (two sticks)
4 oz chocolate
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa

Bring the eggs to room temperature.

Melt butter and chocolate in double boiler, then set aside to cool to room temperature.

Prepare the pan.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Beat eggs and sugar together.

Add vanilla.Add chocolate mixture.

Fold in flour and cocoa, mixing only until blended.

Pour mixture into prepared pan.

Bake on the middle shelf of the pre-heated oven for 30 minutes.

Cool brownies in pan for 30 minutes. (Set your timer—this step needs to be precise.)

Cut brownies into bars with a plastic knife and transfer to cooling rack.

These are amazing; dense and fudgy, with the absolute thinnest 'crust'. They really are to die for and I will no longer be looking for that perfect recipe. I HAVE IT!!!

Try them, and leave me a comment to let me know how right I am :)