Did you check out that picture? The rich, dark choclateyness of those truly scrumptious brownies? If you want a guilty pleasure, these are it.
After breakfast this morning, the kids tucked Riley (our dog) in with blankets and stuffed animals, and headed upstairs to play, leaving me and Riley in peace in the kitchen. Poor Riley had a big surgery yesterday, removing a basketball sized mass from her chest (it was benign and her bloodwork was normal—yahoo!!). She’s such a trooper, coming through surgery with flying colors, and patronizing Aaron and me while we put t-shirts and maxi-pads on her. Yep—t-shirts and maxi-pads. The ol’ girl has a little drain coming out of her chest for the next week or so, and while we absolutely want a full recovery, we don’t want her draining all over the house! She’s been amazing today, taking her meds and getting up and walking around, up and down the street with me. As neighbors drive by, I’m sure they’re wondering…why is that poor dog sporting a Hanes v-neck?!?!
While Riley and I were downstairs enjoying some peace and quiet, I started going through my old recipe box once again. I came across this fabulous brownie recipe that I can remember my mom and I making when I was a kid. I distinctly remember her finding the recipe in the newspaper and cutting it out, tucking it away for later. Well, it’s later baby! I called Zoe downstairs to help me with my little surprise for everyone, and we got to work (what a cute helper…right?!?!)
The brownies, with my modifications (hee hee hee), are out of this world! If you are used to box-mix brownies, these ones will make you never want to go back! The original recipe called for eggs, regular cocoa and semi-sweet chocolate chips, but I decided to amp it up a bit (plus I didn’t have any regular cocoa powder). We used dark chocolate cocoa powder, dark chocolate chunks (Aaron is amazing—he knew I wouldn’t want anything with a milk base so he read all of the ingredients on all of the packages until he found one with no milk!), and a bit of cinnamon. I love cinnamon and chocolate…in fact, I may add more cinnamon the next time. There’s just a hint of cinnamon at the end of your bite. Plus as a bonus, you mix everything in one bowl, with one spoon…I’m all about having to do less dishes—and so is Aaron…he’s usually on clean-up duty! The recipe is easy to read and is kid friendly—a great one to start baking with a little one.
On a side note, I thought it would be fun to take a picture with a bite out of one of the brownies…mistake!!!! I took one bite, took a few pics, and then said forget it and ate the rest (plus another one…and downed a glass of almond milk!) 😉
The Ultimate Chocolate Brownies
¾ cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
½ tsp baking soda
2/3 cup Earth Balance butter, melted and divided
½ cup boiling water
2 cups sugar
½ cup applesauce
1 ½ cup flour
¾ tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt
1 cup dark chocolate chips
Directions:
- Preheat your oven to 350. Grease a 9 x 11 pan.*
- Combine cocoa powder and baking soda in a large bowl. Stir in 1/3 cup of the melted butter. Add the boiling water and stir until thickened.
- Stir in the sugar, applesauce, and the rest of the butter. Stir until smooth.
- Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt. Blend in completely.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Spread your batter into your pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes. To check the brownies, insert a toothpick, but be aware that you may poke a chocolate chip. If you aren’t sure if you have batter or chocolate chips on your toothpick, poke in another area.**
*I edited the recipe to take out the smaller pan option. Friends have tried it with the smaller pan, and the brownies just don’t seem to bake all of the way through. So definitely use a larger pan!
**I also added an explanation for checking the brownies for doneness–it can be a bit deceiving with those chocolate chips in there!
It's Truly Scrumptious! 