I needed a quick dessert recently, so I made brownies, the great fallback recipe for many home bakers.
As I made them, I was reminded of how I came to choose this favorite brownie recipe a long time ago.
While he was a college student one of my nephews stayed with us, and I was responsible for his care and feeding. Michael was a firm believer in dessert, whether it followed breakfast, lunch or dinner. And for him, all true desserts included chocolate.
In search of the appropriate dessert to eat after breakfast, I decided it was brownies. They are quick and easy to make, very portable, and as chocolate as you choose to make them. Each batch could be different; some could have nuts, others chocolate, mint or peanut butter chips or different flavors of frosting. The variations are endless.
That was the beginning of the search for “brownie nirvana,” as we liked to call it. I found a variety of recipes, baked them, and Michael and I voted on how good they were.
The final decision was the recipe you see below, from verybestbaking.com, a Nestle website. It’s rich and moist, with good cocoa flavor, and stood out among the others, according to Michael.
Brownies have been part of the American dessert scene since the late 1800s, according to Wikipedia.com. That’s when a Chicago pastry chef created them as a dessert for a women’s gathering where they needed a portable treat rather than something that required a fork. A century and a quarter later, they are as beloved as ever, especially among chocolate fans.
For extra richness I made this recipe with Hershey’s Ultra Dark cocoa and chopped walnuts. In my opinion it needs no frosting or chocolate chips and ably stands on its own. But feel free to change it as you like. We each have our own version of brownie nirvana.
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) butter or margarine, melted
2 tablespoons water
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup baking cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup chopped nuts (optional)
Powdered sugar
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
2. Combine granulated sugar, butter and water in large bowl. Stir in eggs and vanilla extract. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in medium bowl; stir into sugar mixture. Stir in nuts. Spread into prepared baking pan.
3. Bake for 18 to 25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out slightly sticky. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cut into bars.
Join our readers whose generous donations are making it possible for you to read our news coverage. Help keep local journalism alive and our community strong. Donate today.
