I am a dessert purist.  Meaning, I like my treats straight.  No nuts, raisins, coconut, jams, jellies, fruit, or any other kind of frou-frou ornamentations.  Just give me the good stuff.  And if I had to choose just one dessert?  That would be the brownie. For as long as I can remember brownies have been my favorite – a nice chewy, chocolatey, crispy corner cut.

One of the first things I noticed when we were back home in Europe last fall (or should I say finally noticed after 5 years of travels!), is that there aren’t a lot of pre-packaged “convenience” foods available, so recreating the familiar American favorites can be challenging.  We always have a stash of my favorite Betty Crocker® Fudge Brownie mix on hand at home, but I wanted to have a handy ‘travel-ready, know-it-by-heart, who-wants-some-delicious-American-brownies?’ recipe as well.  I have tried only a few times to make homemade brownies from scratch, but every recipe turned out either super oily and mushy or very dry and cakey. And a cakey brownie is just, well, cake!  😉

I was given a few homemade recipes that promised “just like a box mix” fudge brownies and decided to give one a try. I don’t like my desserts sickening sweet, so I had to modify the amounts of chocolate to my taste – but the results were as promised: a beautiful crispy crackled crust, a soft and squishy substrate (not under cooked or grossly gooey), and a bottom firm enough for hand-held snacking. Crispy.  Chewy.  Chocolatey.  Moist.  Yes, not quite as good as the box mixes I love, but for homemade, it’s the closest thing I can recommend!  And I can find (and pronounce!) all of the ingredients!  😉

Chewy Double Chocolate Fudge Brownies

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

55 mins

 

Author: Jaime @BloomWhereHePlantsYou.com

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

• ¾ cup cocoa
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ⅔ cup melted butter, divided
• ½ cup hot water
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1⅓ cups flour
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. In a large bowl, combine cocoa and baking soda.
3. Pour in ⅓ cup melted butter and hot water and whisk until creamy.
4. Add sugar, eggs and remaining ⅓ cup butter and mix well.
5. Add flour, vanilla, and salt; mix well.
6. Fold in chocolate chips.
7. Pour into a greased 9" × 13" pan and bake for 35-40 minutes.
8. Allow brownies to cool completely before cutting.
9. Serve with ice cream or whipped topping.

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If you are a brownie “edger” like I am (there is just something that makes those chewy edges taste better!), this Wilton Brownie Bar Pan makes perfectly “cut” edge brownies!