Brownie Love

I adore brownies. Cakey, fudgy, chewy, crackly-topped, the edges, the middle, with icing, powdered sugar, or plain . . . what's not to love about a good brownie?

My favorite recipe for brownies changes every six months or so. Probably because I like all kinds. My newest favorite recipe is from Alton Brown, star of Good Eats. If you've never watched his Food Network show, you really should. We love how he uses scientific principles to explain cooking and baking, and he has many unconventional (yet brilliant) ways of doing things.

I discovered this recipe late one night when I remembered that I needed treats for Ian's soccer team the next day. My go-to brownie recipe for the past year has been Prudence Pennywise's (and it remains fabulous) but I didn't have enough baking chocolate on hand to make the ginormous pan needed--so I went to the internet in search of a good cocoa brownie recipe. These whipped up quickly, consisted of ingredients that I had on hand without planning ahead, and turned out to be so yummy I wondered if they were too good for five year old soccer players!:) Needless to say, even though I discovered this recipe just over a week ago, I've already made it twice.

You need these brownies, too. They don't take much longer to whip up than a box and are soooo much yummier--I promise.

This makes an 8x8 pan, about 16 small or 9 large brownies. Double it for a 9x13 pan or triple if you're using a jelly roll pan. These are rich and chocolatey enough to stand alone without icing.

If my camera wasn't on the fritz, I'd have an enticing picture here. Sigh.

Cocoa Brownies from Alton Brown's Good Eats

• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar, sifted
• 1 cup brown sugar, sifted
• 1 cup butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups cocoa, sifted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 cup flour, sifted
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Butter and flour your pan and preheat the oven to 300 degrees (F).Use an electric mixer or stand mixer with whisk attachment to beat the eggs until they are fluffy and light yellow. Add both sugars and mix. Add remaining ingredients and mix to combine.

Pour into your prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes (you may need to adjust this depending on pan size-- but check it after 45 minutes.) When they are finished, a toothpick will come out clean.

Eat them as soon as they don't burn your tongue, or hold off till they cool. I sent some to my brother and he said they were delicious five days later--but they don't last that long at my house.