Brooke's Best Bombshell Brownies

I discovered this recipe several months ago, and it is hands down the best thing I have ever made from scratch. I can whip up homemade noodles, I can bake a good cookie, and my cakes are light and moist......

But never before have I been able to make a really. great. brownie. I've made them all, really. Dense, fudgey, eggless, cake-like, burned around the edges, raw in the middle, flat, huge, you name it. Some have turned out good (usually the ones that originate from the box) and some have set my smoke detector off. But I really wanted a knock-your-socks-off brownie, one that was chocolatey and rich and had just the right amount of crust on the top-one that didn't require complicated methods to create. So when I googled "Best brownie recipe" at the beginning of this year, I was not let down. I discovered this recipe from All Recipes (with glowing reviews), then found that I had all of the ingredients in my cupboards.

After the brownies came out of the oven, I had an attack of the Can't-Wait-Syndrome. You know the one where you have a smoking hot dish of something that is supposed to be 'cooling' but is really wafting it's delicious aroma all over the house? And you know you shouldn't get close to it as it is about 5746 degrees hot, but you really, really want to sink your teeth into it? Even though it is about to burn off most of your taste buds? Yeah, I had that.

But these bad bombshells are worth waiting for. So dense, so fudgey, so so chocolatey. The best part is that they get better as they sit, so when you sneak out of bed at 3 AM to have a tiny snack, you will not be dissapointed. Your kids might be though, when they wake up in the morning to find you sitting on the kitchen floor, licking the crumbs out of the empty dish.

Here is the link to the recipe, you can also read the hundreds of five star reviews, some from expert chefs vowing to never try another recipe. My suggestions will follow the recipe.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter, melted
3 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish.

Combine the melted butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each, until thoroughly blended.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Gradually stir the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture until blended. Stir in the chocolate morsels. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish.

Bake in preheated oven until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove, and cool pan on wire rack before cutting.

*Some of the reviewers have suggested substituting this insane amount of sugar with 1 1/2 cups brown, and 1 1/2 cups white sugar. Not sure what it does for the calorie factor, but it does cut the sweetness a tiny bit for those without a raging sweet tooth.

*Another suggestion is to add 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts. Adds just the right amount of crunch.

*If you don't like big chunks of chocolate in your brownies, you can also sub the chocolate chips for mini (also try peanut butter chips...yum!) or use your knife to chop up your chips before adding.

*And lastly, a brownie or five, goes great with a super tall glass of ice cold milk. Or a scoop of vanilla ice cream if you are feeling wild.

Ok, so there you have it. As I am writing this a batch of brownies is in my oven and I am just starting to smell that "Come eat me" scent.

One more thing, even though this recipe sounds incredibly fattening and heart-disease-causing, it only has about 250 calories per serving. Ok, that is a lot if you are dieting. But really, it is not *that* much. You probably shouldn't eat the entire pan, but it's okay to indulge a little. Brooke said so!

By the way, I totally picture Brooke as a beautiful, 105 pound woman who can eat whatever she wants. Or she could be a 460 pound man who parks his recliner in the kitchen next to the oven, I don't really know. All I know is you have to try these brownies. Really, you do.