OldRoses' Melt In Your Mouth Brownies

There was a big IT conference at my company this weekend. They brought in the IT staff from all of our offices in Europe and North America for two days of meetings. For some of these people, it was their first time in the US. One of them was a gentleman from the Hamburg office of our parent company. He had also been given the task of bringing back chocolate for his (female) co-workers. Specifically, they asked if he could please buy brownies. Apparently brownies are not available in Germany. He had never had them and was curious to taste the ones served at the lunch that was brought in during the meetings.

I'm sure you've tasted these so-called brownies. They are gooey and flat with a horrible chemical aftertaste. I told him these were not "real" brownies. Since he wasn't leaving immediately after the conference, I had time to bake authentic brownies for him to take back to his office.

The recipe I use is extremely simple. It was a Betty Crocker recipe. I merely substituted butter or margarine for the vegetable shortening called for in the original recipe. The resulting brownies are extremely rich and do literally melt in your mouth. I added a cup of chopped nuts (also included in the original recipe) to the brownies that are currently on their way to Hamburg to give the recipients the "authentic" brownies experience but I don't use nuts when I make them for myself. I am not a big fan of nuts in my cakes and cookies. This is a one-bowl recipe, always popular with me, and I have found that a whisk is the best thing to stir the ingredients with. The batter will be stiff. Stirring it will give you a good workout!

Verdict: Yum! This one's a keeper.

OldRoses' Melt In Your Mouth Brownies

(Source: OldRoses )

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2/3 cup butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 35oF. Grease baking pan, 13x9x2 inches. Melt chocolate and butter in the microwave for 2 minutes. Stir until completely melted. Mix in sugar, eggs and vanilla. Stir in remaining ingredients. Spread in pan.

Bake 30 minutes or until brownies start to pull away from sides of pan. Do not over bake. Cool slightly before cutting.

Recycle: vanilla bottle

Compost: eggshells