Adventures in Baking: The Best Brownie Recipe and a Stencil How-To!

I was never really a giant fan of baking brownies... To me, they were the lazy person's chocolate cake, since you just mix ingredients and pour them into a pan. And how could someone mess up chocolate and butter? But then one fateful day...

Out of all of the recipes I cut out from the backs of flour bags, extract boxes, etc., I decided to make this recipe and was completely amazed. I think the trick is to cook them for less time the original recipe calls for. This makes for a crunchy, yet gooey brownie that tastes like true love and happiness. And also, if you're thinking about omitting the chocolate chips...Don't do it. The chocolate chips make this recipe extra tasty.

These brownies were so good that I made them three times in one week. THREE TIMES.

Super Yummy Brownies

(recipe adapted from here.)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 c. cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 2/3 c. butter, melted
• 1/2 c. boiling water
• 2 c. sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1-1/3 c. flour
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9 x 13" pan.
2. Stir together cocoa and baking soda in a large bowl.
3. Stir in half the butter.
4. Add boiling water and stir until thickened.
5. Stir in sugar, eggs and remaining butter, until completely combined and smooth.
6. Add flour, vanilla and salt; blend completely.
7. Fold in chocolate chips; pour batter into prepared pan.
8. Bake for 30-35 mins, or until brownies pull away from the sides of the pan.

Stencil How-To:

1. Trace the base of the pan onto parchment paper; cut out.
2. Trace shapes onto the paper (I used the two smaller heart Wilton fondant cutters)
3. Cut out with a (clean) craft knife.
4. Place over still-warm brownies and dust with powdered sugar.

Seriously, one of the easiest recipes to make. AND, it uses cocoa powder instead of melted chocolate, which is a plus for me since I go through 2 pounds of chocolate chips in like a week.

MAKE IT!