Brownies

I said last time that I was going to make brownies this week and I generally try not to be a big ol' liar, so here they are!  Plus I'd told my friend that I was going to bring them for his half-birthday party, so I really needed to make them anyway.  It's really a pretty simple recipe and I haven't made brownies from a box mix since I found it.  What you will need is: 1/2 C butter; 2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped; 1 C granulated sugar; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 2 large eggs, lightly beaten; 2/3 C flour; 1/2 tsp baking powder; 1/4 tsp salt.  Plus, I threw in about a cup of peanut butter chips because they are delicious, though entirely optional.

And because a half-birthday doesn't come around every day, I got the good chocolate.

Heat your oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8" square pan and set it aside.  In a medium saucepan, melt your butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly.  Once it's all melted, remove it from the heat and let it cool slightly.  Then whisk in the sugar and vanilla, then the eggs, and finally the flour, baking powder, and salt until it's all blended.

If you're going to add in peanut butter chips, or chocolate chips, or anything else that melts, let your batter cool a while longer before you stir them in.

Only a few melted peanut butter chips

Once you've done that, just spread the batter in the pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached.  And I seem to have forgotten to take a picture of the finished brownies, but I'm pretty sure you can guess what they look like.  Instead, here's a picture of my kitty investigating the package of mousies she got for Christmas last year.

Uh-oh, mousies, you better watch out! Hilda's gonna get you!

And that's it!  They may take a little longer to make than a box mix, but I think they're a lot tastier, so it's worth it.  Stay tuned for next time, when I try making something maybe a little healthier!