My Miracles

Not a baking blog... However, yesterday I decided to try my hand for the very first time at some made from scratch brownies and they came out so good that I had to share! I do also have a great Sicilian pasta dish for you too but for now, some fantastic (and not hard) brownies!!

If you like cake-like brownies, you may not like these. These are a bit more of a "fudgey" brownie, but not overly dense and chewey. They are really soft and moist! I used Ghiradelli cocoa, highly recommended but ultimately cocoa is something that does matter, just like when you buy a chocolate bar to eat, would you rather buy a delicious ghiradelli chocolate or a store brand chocolate bar? Same with cocoa, it does matter in the end product...

I doubled the recipe and made it in a 9x13 pan but did not double the frosting and there seemed to be just the right amount of frosting on top so my guess is that making the recipe as is would make a pretty thick layer of frosting on top (which some may like!). The frosting does add a nice touch! Another tip on the frosting, the original recipe said to just used softened butter but in reading the comments on the recipe (which I have linked at the end) I melted it completely, which was the right choice, also, I added just a bit of warm milk to make it a bit more spreadable but you want to gently and slowly spread it on the brownies as soon as they come out of the oven and that will help you to spread it so it doesn't need to be really thin, it can be thicker than you might think as the heat will help you spread it.


Best Brownies Recipe

1/2 Cup butter (1 stick)
1 Cup sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 Cup unsweetened cocoa powder (don't go cheap here)
1/2 Cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.

In a large saucepan, melt butter. Meanwhile beat Eggs well in a small bowl. Remove butter from heat when melted, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder, stir for about 50 strokes or so with a wooden spoon, you don't want to overmix but you want to get everything well mixed and smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Do not overbake! If you know your oven tends to overbake things then set the time for 20 minutes and check it (I had set my timer for 20 minutes with the 9x13 pan and it took about 25 minutes to be done) Take it out when the toothpick is just about clean. While baking mix together all but the butter of the frosting and just melt the butter and add when the brownies have a minute left.

Frosting:
3 Tbls butter
3 Tbls unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbls honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Cup powdered sugar

Blend all ingredients together with a fork. Slowly incorporate a small amount of warmed milk until it's just smooth enough to be able to spread (but still thick). As soon as it's ready and the brownies are out of the oven, slowly and gently spread it on top of the brownies (watch your hands on the hot pan!). The heat from the brownies will help you spread it the thick frosting.


This recipe came from Allrecipes.com
http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/best-brownies/Detail.aspx