Quick and Easy From Scratch Brownies

It's Steve's week for dinner so in the interest of not letting the blog lag in the mean time I'm going to share one of my all time favorite and most versatile dessert recipes. They are more of a cake-y dense brownie, which I prefer, so don't go into this expecting fudgey and gooey... unless you undercook them :)

What you'll need:
9x13 baking dish
Large microwavable bowl
1/2 c butter (I use unsalted when baking)
5 tbsp unsweetened coco powder
2 c white granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
1 1/2 c flour

Preheat your oven to 350*
In large bowl, microwave butter until completely melted.
Stir in coco powder until mixed well
Stir in sugar and vanilla and mix well
Stir in eggs ONE AT A TIME (I've forgotten the one at a time part before, and it won't ruin the recipe, but it does make it easier to get a smooth batter)
Stir in flour.
TIP: I NEVER use a mixer with this recipe. This makes a THICK batter and you may burn out your motor. You're probably safe in a kitchen aid, but really this is so simple you might as well just use a spoon.
THOROUGHLY grease and flour your baking pan OR line REALLY well with parchment paper. These will stick and it is very sad when that happens.
Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick/knife inserted to the center comes out clean.

That's it. You now have the perfect, most versatile brownie EVER. Here are some suggestions...

Bake plain batter. Cool, and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Sprinkle batter w/ mini m&ms before baking.
Sprinkle batter w/ any kind of chocolate or flavored chips before baking.
Sprinkle batter w/ nuts (or nuts and chocolate chips!)
Bake plain batter, frost with mint frosting and top with ganache.
Sprinkle batter with almonds, bake as usual. Pull out your brownies, turn oven to broil, top warm brownies with marshmallow, pop them back under the broiler til puffed and golden brown. Let cool. Top with a light chocolate frosting. (This is a favorite!)

See you can pretty much do anything you want with these! They are perfect with ice cream. They work great in different size pans (try a mini muffin tin for brownie bites but watch so they don't burn!), and I almost always have everything on hand for these when I'm craving a treat.

ENJOY!

This has been a standard family recipe for as long as I can remember so credit goes to my mom.