My adventures in baking continue with my first attempt to make brownies from scratch. They’re basic chocolate, but the beauty of a simple chocolate brownie is that so much can be done in the way of toppings: whipped cream, fresh fruit, nuts, chocolate sauce, ice cream … there is no limit to how you can doctor the results of this yummy recipe.
I adapted an old recipe to my own tastes as well as the supplies that were readily available in the kitchen without having to make a trip to the grocery store. And when I tell you this is the simplest brownie recipe in the world, believe it. In a mere 30 minutes, we had yummy, homemade brownies. Can’t beat that!
Ingredients:
1 cup of butter OR 1 Crisco Baking Stick PLUS 2 tbsp water (this is what I used, being short on butter at the moment)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Mix butter and sugars together in a large bowl until relatively smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then add vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, and cocoa–add dry ingredient mixture gradually to the wet ingredients and beat until moistened. If you are making brownies with nuts, stir them into the mixture at this time.
Lightly grease a 9×9 baking dish. Spread brownie mixture evenly in pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before cutting into squares and eating.
The end result is a deliciously chocolaty brownie, rich but not too sweet. And it’s even better on the second day. 
Enjoy!
