Brownies

I've been wanting to try several fancy brownie recipes that I've see on Pinterest, but my pantry has been a bit on the empty side lately. We keep putting off grocery shopping for some reason. We always say, "Next weekend, let's go grocery shopping and really stock up." And then the weekend arrives, and we end up driving to towns we've never been to, going antiquing, and checking out the local activities. As much fun as this is, I think we actually need to go grocery shopping at some point.

By the way, if you have a toddler that wants to grab everything when you go into a fragile store, here's a tip from Aunt B's Kitchen: Give the kiddo a toy for each hand. If their hands are busy, they're less likely to grab everything in sight.

This comment was left on my Facebook page. Thanks Aunt B! Click here to see Aunt B's Facebook page.

Ok, back to the brownies now. So, with a sparse pantry I tried to decide what tasty treat I could make. I wanted something simple because my toddler was next to me and wanted to help. I wanted something fast because, well, I wanted to eat something sweet as soon as possible, but also because my 4-month-old was napping and I knew that would end soon. After some thought, I went with brownies. They are one of the easiest things to bake. You need cocoa powder, flour, sugar, and a few other common ingredients. Some recipes do call for solid chocolate that you have to melt first, which I've made, but I prefer this one because I always have cocoa powder in my house. If you follow the recipe below, with no extra additions, you will get a brownie that's a little more cake-like than some. It does not taste like a cake, it's still a little chewy and dense, but not as chewy and dense as some (you know, the ones that border on fudge). If you want a dense brownie, then add some chocolate chips to help out.

By the way, I love icing on my brownies even though I didn't add any this time around (although, I did drizzle some chocolate sauce over them). For a few icing ideas, head on over to Premeditated Leftovers. Mmmm can't wait to try some of these!

The dry ingredients (in lovely vintage pyrex!) 

My toddler mixed the dry and wet ingredients

Mmmmmm brownies!

Brownies
Serving Size = 1 8-inch square pan
Original Recipe

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease an 8x8-inch baking dish.
2. Combine the cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. Combine the melted butter (melted but not hot, might need to let it cool a bit), vanilla, and eggs. Mix until just combined.
4. Add the dry to the wet and mix until JUST combined, do not over mix.
5. Spread into the baking dish and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool, cut and serve. I also drizzled some chocolate sauce over mine.
6. Note: I've also doubled the recipe and poured it into a 9x13-inch pan and it worked perfectly. I had to cook it for about 35 - 40 minutes.

Does anyone have any delicious icing recipes that would go well with brownies? If so, feel free to copy/paste the recipe into the comments or leave a link to it. I would love to check them out.

Linking to: Mix It Up Monday, Melt In Your Mouth Monday, This Week's Cravings, Mangia Mondays, Savvy Homemade Monday, Hearth and Soul