Monday, December 3, 2012

Brownies Without a Box


Sorry I haven't posted in so LONG... I've been in a cooking funk lately and nothing new or wonderful has been coming out of my kitchen.  Just a little of the same old - same old.  Even frozen pizza - eeeek!!!!  

This evening I had the oven on while I was baking oven fries and I decided to stick something yummy and ooey gooey in the oven while I had it all heated up.  I'm not exactly sure why I decided to heat up my oven on one of the only December evenings that I ever remember in Missouri with the temperature outside at over 75 degrees, but I did.  It was SO worth it!

I made a favorite brownie recipe.  I love really good, chewy and dense brownies.  Yes the Black Bean Brownie was an option, but I wanted to make a more traditional brownie.  

Several months ago I tried a recipe I found for brownies that taste just like the box kind.  You know... with the little shiny, paper thin top that almost lifts off the brownie.  Yep!  Those are the ones!  And I have discovered the way to make them at home - without the box!  They do use chocolate chips instead of cocoa but I usually have some stuffed in the depths of the pantry. 

This recipe is the closest recipe I have ever come to those brownies in the red box that we all grew up eating.  

This is how I make Brownies Without the Box AT HOME MY WAY:

Brownies Without The Box

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter (I used margarine)
  • 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Heat the butter/margarine in a small pot until melting.  Add the sugar.  Cook just until the sugar dissolves.  Remove from heat, stir in the chocolate chips.  Stir until they are melted into the margarine/butter & sugar.  Let cool to room temp.  In a small bowl, whisk the eggs until blenDed. Add a spoonful of the egg to the melted chocolate to temper the eggs.  Then add all of the eggs into the pot with the melted chocolate.  Stir in the baking soda, then vanilla, then flour.  Stir well.  Add nuts if you want (we like chopped pecans).  Pour into greased/sprayed 9 x 13 pan.  

Bake in preheated 350 oven for 18 to 20 minutes.  Try to let them cool before slicing.  And remember, slicing brownies with a plastic knife will leave a smoother slice for cutting the brownies.