Brownies from scratch (Baker’s chocolate)
I did end up making those brownies I mentioned after I finally picked up some eggs. I made them from scratch, using Baker’s chocolate (100% cacao). This is the way we made brownies when I was a kid, and I always was kind of a snob about it! I didn’t like brownies from a mix as they were usually too cakey. Now, I have to say… the mixes are getting pretty good. Everyone who used mixes thought I was crazy for making brownies from scratch instead of the easy way. Actually, making them from scratch is incredibly easy but you don’t have to tell people that…
I just followed the recipe on the Baker’s chocolate box (“One Bowl Brownies”):
- 4 squares Baker’s unsweetened chocolate
- 3/4 cup butter
- 2 cups sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 cup flour
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt chocolate and butter – the recipe says to microwave it and that’s what I always did as a kid, but our only large microwaveable bowl is currently full of cat food. So I used a double boiler instead which is just as easy. Then stir in sugar. Then eggs and vanilla. And finally the flour.
Grease a 13″x9″ pan. If you’re smart, line it with aluminum foil so you don’t have to wash the pan! Even so, you have to grease the foil. Pour the batter into the pan. Bake 30-35 minutes.
These came out pretty good, nice and fudgy, but I think I have been spoiled by great chocolate. I actually think the brownies from the Ghirardelli mix may be better than these from scratch! Heresy! I think it just comes down to the quality of the chocolate. All 100% cacao is not created equal…
Wow, when you wrote about making brownies from scratch as a kid, I felt like one of those good Moms who bakes with her children until I remembered that we probably did that ONCE…..Maybe you meant “kid” as in teenager, when you could make brownies unassisted. Glad to know I raised a brownie purist though.