Carter and I made a double batch of brownies in honor of twins Paul and Sonia (4-year-old neighbors) coming over for a playdate. Now I have double the temptation! I can’t stop sneaking bites! The brownie recipe comes from my friend Amy Sherman, who posted it on Cooking with Amy blog after she and I debated the merits of different brownie recipes. We both agree: this is a no-fail recipe.
Perfect Brownies
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter (one stick, room temperature)
2 eggs
6 tablespoons cocoa
2 tablespoons oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line an 8-inch square baking dish with parchment paper. Using an electric mixer, beat sugar and butter until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until the mixture is smooth and fluffy. Add the cocoa, oil, and vanilla and blend well. In a separate bowl, mix the flour and salt, then add the flour mixture in two or three parts, mixing well after each addition. Pour batter into pan and spread evenly. Bake for about 20 minutes.
Note from Amy: “If you can smell the brownies baking—it’s time to take them out of the oven! That smell tells you the delicate cocoa flavor is evaporating into the air and out of the brownies.”
I carefully cream the sugar and butter before adding room-temperature eggs one at a time. Nandini, the Paul and Sonia’s mom, doesn’t have a mixer, so she melts the butter and throws all the ingredients in together. The brownies taste great either way; mine are just fluffier. I love that this recipe uses cocoa powder instead of melted chocolate. I just don’t have the patience for chopping up chocolate just so and melting it over-but-not-touching quivering-but-not-boiling water.
Get some before Mommy eats them all.
