Brownies "from scratch"

This recipe was one of my Mom's "go to" desserts - particularly for unexpected guests.  It is about as quick and easy as using a mix but much tastier!  As I made the brownies, I did another series of photos for the (someday to be completed) family cookbook.  If you are having a picnic or cookout for the holiday weekend I think these would be a hit.

Here are the steps - first preheat your oven to 350 degrees...

Take two sticks of butter or margarine (1 cup) and four squares of unsweetened chocolate (4 one ounce squares) and put them in a pan large enough to mix the entire recipe.

Melt the butter and chocolate over medium to low heat.

The butter will melt first and then the chocolate.  Stir the mixture until it is completely melted then turn off the heat and let it cool for a few minutes.

Crack four (yes 4!) eggs into a dish and add two (2) teaspoons of vanilla.

Beat together the eggs and vanilla in the bowl.

While the chocolate and butter are cooling, prepare a 9 x 13 inch baking pan by spraying it with vegetable oil and coating the pan with cocoa (if you use cocoa instead of flour there won't be any white edges on the finished brownies).

After the melted butter and chocolate mixture has cooled, stir in the eggs and vanilla.

Stir to blend the eggs in completely.  Be sure to let the chocolate and butter cool down so you won't "cook" the eggs when you add them.

Next add two (2) cups of sugar, one (1) cup of flour and two (2) teaspoons of baking powder to the chocolate mixture.  (You can sift these together first but I get a little lazy and just throw them in the pan and blend).

Stir to blend all of the ingredients.

When the mixture is well blended, it will pull away from the pan a bit.  Use a spatula to make sure all of the dry ingredients have been mixed in.  You can add chopped nuts (1 to 2 cups) at this point if you like nuts in the brownies.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  It will be thick so you should use the spatula to spread it evenly in the pan.

Take the pan and tap it a few times on the counter top before putting it in the oven - this makes sure that the batter is level.

Bake for 25 - 30 minutes in the preheated oven.  The edges will look dry and pull away from the edge of the pan slightly.  Check the center in a few spots with a toothpick.  If it comes out clean, they are finished. 

Let the pan cool and then cut the brownies into squares (it looks like I could have used my Dad's cutting grid to make these a little more even!).

Serve alone or with ice cream and chocolate sauce (totally decadent!).

These are moist and chewy brownies.  For slightly more cake-like brownies you can substitute three (3) tablespoons of cocoa and one teaspoon of butter  for the unsweetened chocolate squares (just melt all of the butter, add the eggs and vanilla and then stir in the cocoa along with the other dry ingredients)

Enjoy the chocolately goodness!

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