Brownies Make It All Better

We are - as I've written about in boring, endless detail on my other blog - recovering slowly from some grim illnesses, including one that led to me experiencing the delights of nasal swabbing. (if you've never had one, let me warn you - it's less fun then you might think.) Being mildly sick in bed is sort of pleasantly relaxing if one is allowed to recline in catered-to splendor on piles of pillows and such, but having to look after one's sick children while one is sick oneself is a hideous punishment, this endless rheumy misery. It might also lead to one no longer referring to oneself in the first person, apparently. The Flu: FEAR IT.

The Girl decided yesterday afternoon that the only thing that would help her in her recovery was a pan of homemade brownies, which made me beam with pride - that's my girl! Brownies are ridiculously easy to make and the homemade kind just so much unthinkably better then the mix sort, which have the revolting taste of rotten cheese and are not substantially easier to make. IF I'm going to eat something indulgent and unwise (and I likely am, being me), I would much rather have it taste of chocolate and butter and sugar instead of preservatives and stabilizing ingredients. And homemade brownies are a perfect first baking project  - simple to make and rewarding.

Double Chocolate Brownies

Turn your oven on to 350. Lightly grease an eight inch square baking pan and set it aside.

In a small pot, put:

6 tablespoons butter

6 ounces semisweet baking chocolate, chopped into chunks

1/4 cup cocoa powder.

Place it on LOW heat and stir constantly and vigilently until the chocolate and butter are mostly melted. Take it off the heat and stir, and then use a spatula to scrape into the bowl of a stand mixer or into a medium sized mixing bowl.

Add:

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Now beat on medium speed until the batter is combined. If you don't have a stand mixer, use a hand mixer and if you don't have one of those, you can just use a spoon. Make sure you stir well.

Add:

3/4 cup flour

and beat until well blended, scraping down the sides occasionally.

That's it. You're done. Scrape the batter into your prepared pan, smoothing the top a bit with your spatula. Bake for 35 minutes (more or less).

Isn't that EASY? There are a few things you should do before you bake, the most important of which is to MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL OF THE INGREDIENTS YOU NEED. I don't know how many times I've been in the middle of a baking project and then realized, bleakly, that I was out of eggs or baking powder, but that says more for the current grim state of groceries in our house then any ongoing egg shortages. Still: check first.

The last of the brownies was packaged up and tucked into The Girl's lunchbox, as she bravely headed off to school again after missing nearly a week - paler and thinner but game and having a day that is full, I hope, of sweetness, full of friends and books and running outside on a suddenly well-again day.

Comments

[sharon]

I JUST made these brownies. MMMMMM..... so good an' fudgie. My house smells so dreamy too. As soon as my daughter came home she said "Smells like fudge." Thanks for sharing this easy peasy recipe!

[Marta]

One should always indulge in homemade brownies. Such a good prescription for a flu recoverer!!! Enjoyed your post!

[dragonfly]

I made these today. So so so so so good!! And incredibly easy.

Yay for brownies!!

[Lori]

Rats! I should have read your posting on my hubby's birthday before our Internet connection went down. That way he could have come home to the goodness of home-made brownies instead of the ones we had with dinner at a brew pub. Not that they weren't good but isn't a birthday celebration better with something home-made? Guess that is just another thing to add to my "the hardships you have caused us" list for our Internet Service Provider.
Glad you have all recovered from the flu!

[lisa b]

you do make that seem remarkably easy. However, ingredient gathering is one of my weakest skills

[edj]

Brownies-in-a-box are vile and evil and never ever worth the calories.
I have a good recipe (ok a really good recipe) that Elliot makes, but these look super too! I'm going to print it out and let him try. (E is my 12 y/o son) We'll taste-test and let you know which is best :) Want to play too? I can send you my recipe. It's actually really similar to yours.
Glad The Girl is better--hope the chocolate in the brownies soon has its normal healing effect on you too!

[chelle]

mmmmm so need to try this .... mmmmm

[Angeline]

I love brownies, but I have always been the one that eat and never thought of trying, 'cos something inside me tells me that its difficult.

But the ingredients are actually so simple and you made it sound like a-piece-of-cake, no big hoo-haa.

Humph!!!Must go get an oven fast so that I can get down to baking!

[dlyn]

Brownies are the first thing I ever taught our girls to bake - so easy and satisfying. No leavening at all in these though?

[dragonfly]

This sounds WONDERFUL. And I am a bit amazed at how easy that is.

Must...make...brownies...

(with Swiss chocolate, oh so easy to get here in Germany...)

[nomotherearth]

Hm. I think I could make these...

[Becky]

I baked cookies today ... my favorite Butler's Chocolate Chip. Then proceeded to make them my lunch.

I am glad you are feeling some better. Or at least I hope you are following The Girl very soon.

[Mad Hatter]

A double boiler would reduce the stress of the only complex step, would it not. This from the woman whose burners work on only the HOT and NOT settings. Am hoping to get a full kitchen reno out of it.

[flutter]

yes please!

[Catherine]

Beck: "bleakly" really made the whole thing for me. You are so awesome.

But I'm so sorry you've all been sick. That just totally sucks.

xo

[Pieces]

So cool. The Loved aches for brownies sometimes. Now I can make them from scratch for him.

[Aliki]

Well, of course I'm just going to HAVE to make these now...!

I'm glad everyone is on the mend, I really am.

[Omaha Mama]

Okay, now I must make these. We LOVE the red box brownies, the super-cheap fudge kind. For an extra special splurge, we get the triple chunk variety. I've never noticed any rotten cheese flavor...maybe they're made differently in the States? I will let you know what our taste test and labor comparison reveals.

[amreen]

those sound so good. i think i need to make them now.

[Alyssa Goodnight]

What kind of mix brownies are you eating?? I LOVE brownies from a Betty Crocker mix--one of my favorite desserts... Yours sound more difficult. ;)

[Cristan]

I think I just gained 3 pounds reading your yummy recipe!

[Kyla]

There are brownies that taste BETTER than store mix? I better never try them, because I can hardly resist the call of the fake brownies, how could I ever stop eating the yummier version?

[Heidi]

Yum. Brownies are usually my husband's thing, but I made them from scratch a couple times and was happy at how easy they were.

When I bake, I generally run low on eggs. Very rarely any other ingredient, but eggs seem to go quickly.

So do brownies.

[Bon777]

Yummy...I've made these before, from Beck's recipe and I can vouch for their perfection!! (Boy it sure pays to have you as a friend!!)

[Sue]

I think I'll run to the store again today and get all these ingredients -- I am one of those moms who really makes most of life out of a box - but, I'd like to expand my abilities and try something from scratch! :)

[bren j.]

Boy, is your timing impeccable or what!? I've had a hankering for brownies for more than a week but keep putting it off because I just can't find the perfect brownie recipe (well, okay, I have ONE, but it has Guinness in it and I just don't want drunken brownies EVERY time). There's just enough time left in naptime to make these I think. Also.....I've no doubt one could simply mix these by hand...you just want to use your fancy new stand-mixer, don't you? :)

[Guinevere Meadow]

So glad The Girl is feeling better! (I hope you're feeling better, too...)

those brownies sounds DELICIOUS and I will be copying and pasting this recipe into my "Beck's Recipes" folder on my computer. :)

I made a pan of brownies the other day (although they came from a box!) I have found that if I use milk instead of water (as the box directs,) that tends to give the brownies a much more homemade taste.

[Karen MEG]

Can't wait to try these. We just made the William Sonoma mix ones, which the girlie found a bit too gooey.
Glad to hear everyone's on the mend!

[chaotic joy]

I too love brownies from a box. But I have never tried another kind. They do seem suspiciously easy so I may try them, but will I be ruined for brownie mixes for life? And where are the nuts? :)

[Jen M]

I love you for this. Screw the diet today.

[Pastormac's Ann]

Yum! And of course, after a bout with a stomach illness, The Girl could definitely use the extra calories that these delicious brownies provide. Me....not so much. ;-)

So glad to hear that The Girl was feeling well enough to go to school today!! Hopefully you'll be feeling back to 100% soon too.

[Susan]

I am so ashamed. I have never before made homemade brownies. Boxed mixes are the only brownies we have ever known. I think I'll give your recipe a try!
Susan

[Cyndi]

I am glad you are all doing a bit better. We are also, thanks. :) This recipe sounds really yummy and easy.

[Julie]

brownies is the ONE baked good I always flub up.. well that and pie.. though to be honest I've never really tried to make pie. Why is it that the middle is always raw and the bottom always burnt? Grrr the bane of the brownies. I'm sure yours are quite tasty tho :)

[Elizabeth]

I wish you were my mom, although her comfort meal of Cream of Mushroom soup and a Tuna Sandwich on white bread worked wonders as well.

[Kathryn]

Brownies make everything better. I hope you are all FINALLY on the mend. How many more days until spring?

[Mary Beth]

I cannot understand putting vegetable oil in any sweet recipe like the box mixes call for - there is NO substitute for butter. We just add a few steps, like tasting the batter to make sure that everything is in proper proportions:)

[Susanne]

Brownies are the cure all to anything. Yummy. Now I have to go satisfy the craving for some and make my own.

[LoriD]

Mmmm. I made brownies on the weekend - a 9x13 pan and they're all gone! I started out making the bakers chocolate kind, then realized I didn't have, um, bakers chocolate, so made the cocoa kind instead. Duh. Hope your clan is on the mend. A sick house is just yucky.

[Soul Fusion]

brownies are the best dessert! Very healing, I'd say. And I am a complete snob about them and will not allow the box variety to even enter my home or pass my lips (if I can help it!).

[Veronica Mitchell]

Enabler. You know how I feel about brownies.
http://toddleddredge.wordpress.com/2006/05/29/brownies-are-my-abusive-boyfriend/

[Sister Honey Bunch]

I am making these for the Super Bowl party. My kid loves to cook with me and his dad. He'll dig these. Thanks!

[kim from hiraeth]

Hey, Beck!

Brownies are evil. Well, not really evil but they are tempting and I can't always resist temptation when it's brownies. . .

[Alison]

I'm totally putting that recipe in my file. I need to know how to make homemade brownies. I NEED them.

Is 9:07 am too early to make brownies? ;-)

[Kimberly]

Yum! Brownies do make all things better, don't they?