Sweet Brownies
My husband likes to “hint” at things he wants me to try and bake. I know he has an evil scheme to get an idea in my head and to get me to make it a reality. In my head it’s almost a conspiracy, an evil plot to do his bidding in the kitchen.
What can I say? I’m just a sucker for a pretty face.
So he puts in my head something tasty. Brownies. Sometimes it is posed as a curiosity, like “What do you make brownies from that don’t come in a box?” For someone who never bakes I guess that can be a pretty common question. Most people now only know how to bake from a box. Add water and go! Yeah, not me as much anymore.
I went through my pile of cookbooks looking for a good brownie recipe. You wouldn’t believe how many different ones I had to choose from. Some books had 2-3 recipes! Most had things like nuts added to them, but I omitted those (allergy).
I finally decided on a recipe from a cookbook that was actually given to me by my husbands Grandma. She seems to have adopted me and likes giving me her cookbooks, but I think she’s just happy I’m not crazy and I keep the husband happy.
I took the recipe from Better Homes and Gardens new Cook Book circa 1953.
The recipe is wonderfully basic. I did do my own thing like normal and slightly alter the recipe. It called for 2 oz. of unsweetened chocolate, which I didn’t have. So instead I used 3 oz. semi-sweet chips, 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder, and left out 1/4 cup of sugar.
The great thing about this recipe is that it’s basic and not too complicated. The bad thing is that it might just be TOO basic. I found them to be quite sweet even though I cut down the sugar. I think it is a good jumping off point, but unless you want a really sweet brownie you definitely have to cut down the sugar even farther, probably to a 1/2 cup. They just were not what I was wanting at the moment, I wanted something dark and fudgy. Oh well, I have lots more to try!
Brownies
Makes 12
- 2 one ounce squares unsweetened chocolate
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ cup sifted flour
- Preheat oven to 325F
- Melt chocolate over hot water (double boiler).
- Meanwhile, cream together sugar and butter. Add eggs and beat until combined.
- Blend in remaining ingredients and pour into greased pan 8x8x2” pan.
- Bake for 35 minutes.