Brownies!

Brownies...mmmm...brownies. I'm in love with this yummy sweet treat. In fact, I love them so much that, as a child, I often requested birthday brownies over a birthday cake. Why do I love them so much, you ask? I think it's the combination of the dense (Yes, I like brownies and cakes dense. None of this "light as a feather" business!) texture, rich chocolatey goodness, and crispy, crackly top. Since I got married, I've tried a few variations. I've used my mom's applesauce recipe (always yummy), I've tried doctored up boxed versions, and (drumroll, please) the recipe from Baked in New York. Of course, I can never leave well enough alone. I added my own touches to the recipe to suit my tastes. In other words, I added more chocolately goodness! Ready? Here we go!

This is my assistant, Grace. Cute, isn't she? She helps Mama in the kitchen...until she loses interest, that is.

Step one: break or chop the super dark chocolate into a glass bowl.

Step two: cut the butter into one inch by one inch cubes and add to the chocolate. Try your hardest not to steal any of the chocolate!

Step 3: Add the espresso powder. You won't really taste it, it just adds depth to the chocolate flavor. However, if you're a coffee lover like I am, you could always add more.

Step four: Create a double boiler. This just means that you put a bit of water into a saucepan and get it up to a boil. Then, set the glass bowl with the chocolate, butter, and espresso into the pan. The water should NOT touch the bottom of the glass bowl. This creates a gentle heat that melts the butter and chocolate without scorching it. Nice, huh?

Step 5: As the chocolate and butter mixture melts (keep an eye on it!), mix together all of the dry ingredients - dark cocoa powder, flour, and salt. Good job, Gracie!

Step six: Either butter or spray your 13x9 baking pan. I prefer to save a few calories (ha!) and use canola oil spray.

Step seven: Crack five room-temperature eggs into a bowl. Set aside.

Step eight: Gently stir the chocolate and butter mixture as it melts. Resist the urge to stick a straw in the bowl and drink it!

Step ten: Once everything is melted, add the sugars and gently mix them in. Try not to over mix!

The mixture will look kind of grainy. Go ahead and remove the pan from the heat and set it aside.

Step eleven: Mix into the dry mixture a bag of your choice of chocolate chips. I go for a high quality dark chocolate chip. I've heard that by mixing the chips into the dry ingredients you'll keep them from sinking to the bottom of the pan once they are mixed into the wet ingredients. Does it work? Sure!

Step twelve: Now that the melted chocolate mixture is a little cooler, mix in the eggs one at a time. Be sure they are room temperature otherwise you'll have yourselves some chocolate scrambled eggs! That doesn't sound too good.

Step thirteen: Combine the dry into the wet. I didn't get a picture of this step until I'd already combined everything. Oops! This is another step where you want to be sure not to overmix. The mixture should be just combined.

Step fourteen: Pour the mixture into the baking pan and put it into a pre-heated 350 degree oven. They'll bake for a minimum of 25 minutes to a maximum of 35 minutes. Don't open the oven to peek at the brownies before the 25 minute mark. You'll just let heat out of the oven and prolong the baking process. You wouldn't want to do that, would you?

Step fifteen: To check the doneness of your brownies, simply stick and knife or toothpick into the center of the brownie. If it comes out clean, they're finished! Mine actually came out with a little goo on it, but I determined it to be melted chocolate chip and not raw batter. I'll admit, I licked it off the butter knife before I put it in the sink. Go ahead and judge me. =)

Here is the finished product! You can see that they didn't go untouched for long. I didn't even get to take a picture of the first brownie before and entire row was already eaten!

Enjoy these brownies. They are oh-so yummy. If you'd like the recipe, feel free to comment here or message me with your email address. I'll send you the recipe!