Homemade Brownies Made Simple

We grew up with brownie mixes. You know the kind – you dump the powder in a bowl, crack a few eggs, and throw it in the oven. It’s fast and easy, and it tastes pretty good. There’s nothing wrong with brownie mixes… until you realize there’s something SOOOO much better!

Enter Smitten Kitchen. Thanks to Deb, I am never returning to brownie mixes again. She shared a fantastic recipe for homemade brownies, and it’s really not that much harder than a brownie mix. Yet the taste is exponentially greater.

Yep, we’re talking baker’s chocolate. And only a few more quality ingredients. (If you want another fantastic recipe using baker’s chocolate, try this out!)

Chopping up chocolate is therapeutic. Unleash your energy, work those muscles, and think ahead to what it will become!

Then you melt it and a stick of butter in a saucepan on the stovetop. That’s it.

This is really the only extra step in the brownie recipe. And it’s soooo worth it!

At this point, it’s not a wise idea to stick your finger in and taste the chocolate, because no matter how great it looks, it’s not sweet. Believe me – I speak from experience. However, after you whisk in the sugar, it’s fair game.

Once you add in the eggs, it begins to look like traditional brownie batter!

There are only 2/3 cup of flour in this recipe. It’s mostly chocolate. Tell yourself that when you consume 7 in a row. Chocolate is good for you, right?

The batter is thick and chocolatey! (And our brownie pan is well-used and loved.) We used an 8x8 inch pan. Bake times for different sized pans should be pretty comparable to what’s printed on those incorrigible brownie mixes.

We let it cool for at least 10 minutes. (You’re supposed to let it cool for 30+ minutes, but who can wait that long?) Then I slice them pretty small because they’re very rich! (Yes, I used the handle of a plastic spoon; we didn’t have any plastic knives. The brownies don’t stick as much to plastic as they do to silverware.)

Best Brownies Ever (recipe from Smitten Kitchen)

3 oz. unsweetened baker’s chocolate, chopped

1 stick of butter

1⅓ cups sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

¼ tsp. salt

⅔ cup flour

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease pan with shortening, butter, or cooking spray.
2. Melt chocolate and butter on stovetop, then remove from heat.
3. Whisk in sugar, then eggs, then vanilla and salt. Stir in flour, then pour into pan.
4. Bake for 30 minutes.