Fudgy Brownies

*Update: I do believe these were twice as good this morning for breakfast.*

These could also be called Monday Night Brownies, for those Monday nights when you don't feel like hardcore baking, but you'll most likely perish if good, quality, chocolate baked goods are not consumed. Because they're pretty quick and easy. I don't even use the mixing bowl. I just mix them together by hand - or by wooden spoon, rather - in the same pot that I melted the chocolate and butter in.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

First you'll need ingredients. And a pot. And a wooden spoon.
Ready? Set....
Bake!

Actually, don't bake yet. First you must melt.

Place the chocolate and butter over low heat, stirring sorta-constantly until it's smooth and creamy:

Once that's melted, you just dump in all the other ingredients: eggs, flour, sugar, vanilla, salt. And walnuts, if you're that type of person. And stir it up.

And once it's all grainy and thick-looking, like this...

...You can put it in the pan.
Now, this part is kind of open to your own preference. The original recipe was actually half of this, and made an 8" square pan. But uh...8" square pans just don't cut it around here. So, I was thinking I'd use a 13x9 - aka Old Faithful, with the doubled recipe. But then I discovered, by trial and error, that using a 13x9 would make these brownies approximately the thickness of a piece of card stock.
So I used a casserole dish.
Yup.
A casserole dish.

I should probably be ousted from the ranks of bakers and chefs right now, for using a casserole dish for brownies. I don't know if it's taboo or what, but it worked for me.
Anyway, whatever size pan you decide to use, kudos and good luck. You're kind of on your own, unless you use a 4 quart casserole dish.

Grease and flour the bottom only, or you can actually follow the directions and do the whole waxed paper thing. Which would probably work better.
Spread the batter evenly.

Now pop it in the oven at 300, for about 35 to 40 minutes. Also open to your preference. I'm not even sure exactly how long I cooked these, because I kept pulling them out, testing them, and then adding 3 minutes to the time. Or 5. Or 2. Whatever struck my fancy.
But a good rule of thumb is to shake the pan. If they don't jiggle, then they're probably good. Don't worry if you stick a knife in the middle and it comes out gooey.
They're fudgy brownies.
Which could also translate Gooey Brownies, but somehow that's just not as appetizing.

Once you've determined that the brownies are finito, remove them from the oven (obviously), and let them sit for a good long while. Half an hour did the trick for me, but that's probably a bit overkill; I got distracted drinking milky tea and watching The Sound of Music.

A fact which you needed to know.
Really.

So as far as these brownies go, that's just about it. Too simple. And need I even mention their amazing, fudgy, rich, swoon worthy-ness?
I didn't think so.
But please, don't take my word for it. Try them yourself, and join me in the land of blissful brownie bakers.
You won't be disappointed.


Fudgy Brownies
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
2 teaspoon vanilla
confectioners' sugar, for dusting (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F.
2. Butter pan of your choice.
3. Line the bottom of the pan with wax paper, then butter and flour the paper.
4. In a saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate with butter, stirring to blend.
5. Remove from the heat and stir in sugar, egg, salt, flour, walnuts and vanilla.
6. Spread in the prepared pan and bake for about 30 minutes.
7. Cool for 5 minutes, then turn out onto rack and peel wax paper from bottom.
8. Transfer to a cutting board and cut in squares.
9. Dust brownies with confectioners' sugar if desired.

Happy Baking!