Now, I will admit here that I am a bit of a snob about brownies. Not so much of a snob that I won't happily eat any kind of brownie set in front of me (except for those blondie things. I'm not sure what they are, but I know they are certainly not brownies!). But, I am enough of a snob that I refuse to make brownies from those mixes you can buy at the store. Making brownies is so easy from scratch, it seems kind of silly to me to make them from a box. Of course even while I am saying this, I will admit that if the box brownies tasted like my favorite recipe, then I would happily make the ones from a box.
My main hang up with the brownies out of a box is the fact that instead of using butter (mmmm......butter!), they use oil. I know you think I'm nuts, but I can taste the difference, I really can. And here's the thing. I have a love affair with butter. I come by this love honestly. I come from a long line of butter lovers - going all the way back to (at the very least) my great grandma, who ate massive quantities of the stuff. I figure since she lived to the age of 93, I'll take all the warnings about trans fats with a grain of salt & indulge myself in this 1 vice.
What was I talking about again? Oh yes ...brownies!
I thought I'd share my favorite recipe since it's so easy. It's actually from inside the box of Baker's Secret unsweetened chocolate - the stuff in the orange box.
Just as an aside here, I can't be the only person who ignored their Mom's warnings & tried to eat a brick of unsweetened chocolate can I? I mean I know my Mom told me it wouldn't taste good, but it looked like chocolate & it smelled like chocolate, so I figured she was just trying to pull one over on me. That is one lesson that I really needed to learn the hard way. It was also a lesson I never forgot! You see my chocolate addiction started at a early age once I discovered where my Mom kept her stash of chocolate chips. It's my only vice so, I figure that's ok. (What?! You mean you remembered that I listed butter as my 1 vice? So sue me...I have 2. Ok, maybe I have a few more, but we won't talk about those now. Just humor me!)
Ok, without further ado, here it is... The recipe. I promise you that it's so easy you may never go back to the mix again (assuming you have unsweetened chocolate in your pantry. You should you know. You never know when you may need to whip up a batch of brownies in an emergency).
Baker's Secret One Bowl Brownies
4 squares of unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 sticks butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Heat chocolate and butter in large bowl in the microwave until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate melts and mixture is completely smooth. Stir sugar into chocolate . Mix in eggs and vanilla until blended. Stir into flour. Spread in greased 13X9 inched pan. Bake 35 or 40 minutes.
That's it! See how easy it is? Really, you should try them. How about right now?
If you are really having an intense need for chocolate, I recommend adding semi-sweet or dark chocolate bits into the batter. Go on, you know you want to do it. I won't tell anyone.
I wasn't the only person here at the Cracker house who indulged in their love of chocolate today. After naps, the Cracker children wanted to go play in the 1 inch of snow that had fallen since this morning. We had some fun & made a few snow angels then headed back inside for the best part of playing in the snow - the hot chocolate.
As you can see, I have passed on my love of this dangerous substance to my children.
Here's C lovin' himself some hot chocolate
And my little K is addicted to the stuff
Seriously, right down to the last drop...
MMMmmmm.... Chocolate!
1 comment:
Correction!
I now know I am completely losing it. My Great Grandma was 104 when she died, not 93 (thank you Mom for gently reminding me of that fact). Just one more piece of evidence for you dear reader that I am losing my mind.
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