First post – Brownies!

First of all, let me just say this. I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing as far as blogging goes.

Oh, and I suck at photography…

I know, weird way to start things off, right? 

Here’s what I do know, though. I know my way around the kitchen. I have no formal training, but I honestly think none of the best bakers do. It’s just a practice I’ve been honing for over 35 years (good grief…35 years???).

Years ago, the company I worked for sent me to a rah-rah, you-are-amazing, you-can-do-anything seminar. Near the end, the instructor wrote out a list of accomplishments and we all had to choose something from the list we knew how to do. Sitting there, I felt like a huge dope because there was NOTHING on the list I knew anything about, until I got near the end where it said “I know how to make a creme brûlée.” Aha! Finally something I knew how to do!!! So I wrote it down and we all went around the room reading out our talents to the group. When it was over, I was pretty surprised at the number of people who came over to me in awe that I knew how to make a creme brûlée. At the time I thought, “you just follow the directions…what’s so hard about that?” But there’s an instinct to baking, and, at the time, there were’t a lot of places to go to really learn about things like knowing how much flour to use in a bread dough, no matter what the recipe says. Or how to adjust your oven to get a better rise on your cupcakes. Or how to prevent cookies from spreading too much. That all changed when the internet really came into play and food blogs took off. 

So to start things off, I’m going to keep it simple with the one thing I think literally no one can refuse, and that’s a good brownie. Much as I love cookies, pies and cake, brownies are just about perfection to me. These are not choco-covered cherry strawberry banana cheesecake filled brownies with cookie dough centers dripping in salted caramel sauce with bacon bits sprinkled on top. (I’ve been spending too much time on Pinterest.) These are basic, fudgey, rich, good ol’, brownies. The kind with the shiny, flaky top. They are perfect, alone or (my personal favorite way to eat a brownie) topped with vanilla ice cream. 

Brownies

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Servings 9

Ingredients

  

• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder I prefer natural for these
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips I prefer the mini kind…better chip distribution that way!

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees and spray an 8” pan with cooking spray. (Optional step…line the pan with a parchment sling. To do this, cut a piece of parchment that is the width of the pan, but a couple of inches longer on either side. Press down into the pan.)
• Combine the chocolate chips and butter in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at 50% in 30-45 second intervals, stirring in between until melted and smooth. Set aside to cool for about five minutes.
• In a large bowl, mix the flour, cocoa, and salt together. Add in the eggs, vanilla, coffee granules and sugar. Add in the melted chocolate and mix until just combined.
• Fold in 1/2 cup chocolate chips (or 1/2 cup chopped nuts, or 1/2 cup of whatever the heck you prefer!). Bake at 325 for 40 to 45 minutes (I usually check after 35, just in case…it all depends on how hot your oven gets) until a toothpick comes out mostly clean. (Mostly is the key word here. You want a few wet crumbs on the toothpick. Otherwise they’ll be over-baked and over-baked brownies just suck.)
• Let cool and enjoy!!!