WetLeather Recipe Database - food for bikers

Name:	Basic Chocolate Brownies	Contributor:	Ellen Carrico
Description:	This is the basic, create-anything-from-here brownie:	Posted:	1994-11-13
Key words:	brownies, chocolate	Category:	Desserts
ID:	440	Updated:	2005-12-18 10:49:21
Ingredients:	2-1/2 squares of any kind of unsweetened baking chocolate (such as Bakers or Hersheys) - this is 2.5 oz 5 Tbsp of unsalted butter (reduce salt in recipe if using salted butter). 2 large (or medium large) eggs 1 c of sugar 2/3 c flour 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp of salt (not required but you shouldn't be eating these anyway if you have heart or blood pressure problems, now should you?) 1 tsp of real vanilla extract 1/2 c coarsely chopped walnuts (or nuts of your choice)
Preparation:	Oven Temp: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees or whatever your country of origin considers 350. I think this is about gasmark 3 or 4. Pans: This will fill an 8X8" or 9X9" square pan or a 9" round cake pan. Spray with non-stick cooking spray OR smear with a bit of butter or shortening OR line with non-stick foil. The foil works very well - when they are done you can just lift the whole thing out of the pan, wrap, and carry off to the party. Making Them: Break the chocolate pieces along the score marks and put them in a microwave safe bowl. A 2-qt glass baking dish works well. Slice the butter up into about 4 hunks and add to the chocolate. Cover the dish, place in the microwave, and cook 1 minute on high. Remove the bowl and stir the chocolate and margarine mixture. Chocolate melts and then burns at a very low temperature, so you don't want to overcook it. It also melts slowly. Stir it for about three minutes or so. If it seems as if it simply will not completely melt, you may microwave it again for 30 seconds. That should do the trick. The chocolate mixture should be smooth and shiny. For the microwave impaired: Cook over low heat in a heavy pan, stirring constantly until this is melted. Heat only until the butter is melted. Then remove from the burner and continue stirring until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Stir in the 1 cup of sugar. You will have a very dark brown grainy mass. You may taste this if you like, but do not consume more than a tablespoonful or you won't have enough left to make brownies. Beat in the 2 eggs and the vanilla. Now you have a thick, dark brown mass. Dump in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Incorporate this into the brownie mixture until it is very thick and nothing white shows. Stir in the walnuts for boy brownies. Scrape the batter into the pan and shove it around until it is a relatively even layer. Fight off the kitchen marauders who are trying to get the utensils away from you. Point out that raw egg is responsible for salmonella poisoning. You may, of course, ignore this warning if you are feeling brave. Cook in the middle of the oven for about 25 minutes. Check them. They are done when the edges pull away from the sides of the pan and look cooked. You can also poke the center of the brownies with a toothpick or some other thin long object such as a skewer. This object should come out with only a few particles clinging to it. It is easy to overcook these. If that happens and they are hard, serve them warm with ice cream on them to soften. If they are undercooked, eat them with a fork or spoon.
Notes:	These are lovely with about 1/2 cup of chocolate chips (use good quality) or white chips, or peanut butter chips tossed in before baking.
Equipment:	You could use an electric mixer I suppose, but it seems like overkill. A big old wooden spoon works great.