Monday, February 28, 2011

The Cure for Chocolate Cravings

One night while sitting on the couch, I found myself craving something delicious, rich and chocolaty. Rather than whine about it or picking something up from the 7-11 down the street (ew) I decided to be a real problem-solver and googled myself some brownie recipes. I honestly picked this one because I had all of the ingredients handy in my kitchen. I don’t actually own a 8x8 brownie pan, so I just used a round cake pan instead, shortened the time and the brownies turned out beautifully (not having a certain pan is not going to keep me from brownies). I also cut the sugar a tad form the original frosting in order to create a richer, not overly sweet frosting. I was really happy with the result and will keep this recipe in my pocket for when nothing but chocolate will do. 



Best Brownies (modified from All Recipes)

What you need…

Brownies:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Frosting:
3 tablespoons butter, softened
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup confectioners' sugar
Water as needed

What to do…

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9 inch round pan.
In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Do not overcook.

To Make Frosting: Combine 3 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons cocoa, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar. Add water 1 teaspoon at a time until you get a fudgy consistency. Frost brownies while they are still warm. 

Everything can be mixed together in the saucepan...efficiency win

Freshly out of the oven and frosted

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