Classic Brownies

Nothing says Valentine’s Day like chocolate, at least not to me.  And while I’m not a huge fan of Valentine’s Day, I’ll definitely take celebrating this holiday as an excuse to bake brownies.

Brownies are one of my favorite desserts, especially when served warm with vanilla ice cream.  They’re a versatile treat, easy to adapt in texture and flavor; you can bake them with nuts, marshmallows, chocolate chips, or other candies, flavor them with amaretto, raspberry, or mint, sprinkle them with powdered sugar, frost them with your favorite icing, spread peanut butter on them, or just eat them plain, right out of the pan, standing up in the kitchen in the middle of the night.  Or is that just me?

Ingredients

• 2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
• ½ cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¾ cup flour

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease an 8×8 baking dish and coat the bottom of the dish with sugar; this will give the brownie bottoms a nice crunch and make it easier to pop them out of the pan.

Melt butter and unsweetened chocolate in a medium saucepan on low heat.

Using a wooden spoon, stir together sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a mixing bowl until combined.

Add melted butter and chocolate and stir until combined.

Add flour and stir until combined.

Pour into baking dish and bake for 30 minutes.