Brownies

My mother's brownies were always a staple dessert in our household. Delicious, sweet but not overly so (not coated such that you're drowning in a saccharine sea of frosting). So I decided to give it a try, as the recipe didn't seem overly complicated. David was particularly pleased with the prospect of having brownies for breakfast.

Recipe

3/4 cup butter2 cups all-purpose flour2 cups granulated sugar3 eggs3 tbsp chocolate powder1/2 tsp salt1/2 tsp baking powder1/2 tsp vanillaPreheat oven to 350 F. In a bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla until thick. Combine flour, chocolate powder, salt and baking powder. Stir into egg mixture until blended. Pour in a greased 9" square baking pan and bake for 35 minutes.

Musings

Baking, evidently, is a fickle mistress. The brownies came out tasting quite delicious, but unfortunately the top crust seemed to have separated from its moist interior, making it somewhat unsightly when cutting it up into squares. Upon consulting with my mother, she speculated that I might have over-beaten the brownie mixture. I used a hand-mixer to cream the butter and sugar, along with the eggs and vanilla. I also started to use it when mixing in the flour mixture, before I switched over to a spatula to fold it together instead. My using a hand-mixer initially to mix in the flour may have caused issues. She also speculated that I may not have waited long enough for the brownies to cool before trying to cut them. In any case, I'll will re-try the brownies at some point. I'm comforted at least that my baking mishaps have generally been confined to their aesthetics and haven't affected the taste because these brownies were tasty and moist, full of sweet, chocolatey-goodness.