Best Homemade Chocolate Brownie Recipe

Best Homemade Chocolate Brownie Recipe

Ingredients

1. 1 cup granulated sugar
2. 1/2 cup butter, softened
3. 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
4. 2 eggs
5. 1/2 cup unsifted all-purpose flour
6. 1/3 cup cocoa
7. 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
8. 1/4 teaspoon salt
9. 1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla, blend until smooth. In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Gradually blend dry ingredients into sugar mixture, stirring until just blended. Do not overmix. Nuts may be added at this time, or sprinkled over some or all of the batter in the pan just prior to baking.
2. Spread batter evenly in a greased 8 inch square baking pan, or an 8 inch round or heart shaped pan. I usually use my 8 inch glass baking dish, or double the batch and use a 9x13 pyrex baking dish. I've taken to sprinkling the nuts on half of the batter because my husband likes them but my boys don't, so that way they can each grab what they prefer easily.
3. Bake metal pans 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees F, glass pans 30-35 minutes at 335 degrees, until edges are set. Center will be soft but will firm up at the brownies cool. DON'T OVERBAKE! Only the edges should be set up when you take the pan out of the oven. If they're coming out on the dry side, bake them for less time or drop the temp, or both. I always bake in a heavy glass pan, so that takes longer to bake then metal, and doesn't dry out as quickly. The Cup4Cup or Pamela's flour blends work great! You'd never know they were gluten free.

Adapted from Hershey's Chocolate and Cocoa Cookbook