Homemade Brownies!

If you're like me, boxed mixes from the store just don't do it. The use of white flour, preservatives, additives, colorants, etc, all make for a brownie or cake that might taste good, but is chock full of things I cannot pronounce. If I can't pronounce it, the kids nor me or hubby eat it. Period.

So, like many of you, I make brownies and cakes from scratch. For those that don't, I'm sure you're thinking "but how long is that going to take you? I just dump my brownie mix, add a couple of things to it, and bake it!" You might be surprised to know that brownies only take a few ingredients. A chocolate, sugar, an oil/butter, flour, and eggs. I even use 100% whole wheat flour, and my family loves them! So let's get to it shall we?

What you'll need:

• 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)
• 2 squares of unsweetened baking chocolate
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup of packed brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp of almond or vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour

Optional:

• 2/3 cups of chopped semi-sweet chocolate
• 1/2 cup of slivered almonds or chopped walnuts, or the nut of your choice

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Grease an 8x8 pan, and set aside. In a small saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate over low heat, stir continuously  until blended completely. Remove from heat, set aside to cool. 
2. In medium bowl beat eggs and brown sugar until blended, stir in melted chocolate and your vanilla extract. 
3. Add flour and stir. Stir lightly, if you stir too hard, or use a whisk, you'll risk getting air bubbles and they won't be as dense! If you've chosen to add an optional ingredient you'll stir that in now. Pour batter in pan and spread till even. 
4. Bake 25-28 minutes or until firm in center. Cool completely before cutting. Makes 16 bars.