Ahh brownies one of the few uniquely American deserts. And we eat tons of them every year, stuffing them with everything from walnuts to Turkish hash (or so I am told). Face it, when someone says ‘but YOU were supposed to fix the desert’ almost 95% of us (according to a poll I just invented) immediately think ‘do I have a box of brownies in the pantry?’

But put down that box. Good scratch brownies are really easy to make and if you follow this simple recipe the people that you feed them to will tell you they are among the best brownies they have ever eaten. And even so you’ll still have something up your sleeve because we’re saving the ultimate brownie for another post (its a little harder to make). The goal here is to show how easy it is to make something good from scratch.

Plus you only use a single saucepan for prep so cleanup is a snap.

You need:

2 eggs lightly beaten

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Melt the butter in a big saucepan (do not let it get too hot!). Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sugar, eggs and vanilla in that order. Then add the cocoa, the flour, salt and baking powder. Combine everything together with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. At this point you want to fold the ingredients together until everything is combined. Do not use an electric mixer on brownies.

Pour the batter into a greased 8×8 pan (we like glass). Bake for about 25-30 minutes. If your oven runs hot like so many do check them earlier. Use a toothpick or similar. You want to see just a little bit of brownie clinging to the toothpick. Careful not to over cook.

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