by Sandra Merville Hart

I thought I’d share a few of my favorite recipes around the Christmas holidays. My sister shared this yummy recipe with me when we were teenagers. I’ve made these brownies for my family numerous times.

Ingredients

½ cup butter or margarine

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

¾ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter and chocolate in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When melted, remove from heat and let it cool for at least two minutes.

Stir in sugar.

Beat eggs in a separate bowl and then combine them with the chocolate mixture. Stir well. Add pure vanilla extract and stir. Add flour and walnuts, if desired, and mix well.

Prepare an 8×8 baking pan with cooking spray. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes. Allow brownies to cool and then cut into 16 squares.

Since the entire recipe is made in one saucepan, the cleanup is minimal. It’s almost as quick to prepare as a boxed mix. My sister is a talented cook. I’m so happy that she shared this recipe with me!

I’d love to hear if you try this. Enjoy!

by Sandra Merville Hart

I decided to make brownies last week only to discover I didn’t any unsweetened chocolate in my pantry. There was an abundance of cocoa powder so I set about modifying my sister’s old recipe. It took a couple of batches before I settled on this recipe.

Ingredients

10 tablespoons of butter

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 ¼ cups sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

¾ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Simmer water in a large saucepan.

Place the butter in a metal or glass bowl. When the water is simmering, place the bowl over the top of the pan to melt the butter. Once the butter is melted, add the cocoa powder and sugar a little at a time, stirring with each addition.

Remove from heat. Set the bowl aside to cool for ten minutes.

Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and stir into the cooled mixture. Add the vanilla. Once those are all mixed together, stir in the flour, following with the walnuts, if desired. Mix well.

The chocolatey batter should be thick and creamy.

Prepare 8×8 baking pan with cooking spray. Pour chocolate batter into the prepared pan, spreading the mixture to the sides with a spoon.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 22-24 minutes. Allow brownies to cool and then cut into 16 squares.

This takes less than twenty minutes to prepare, not including baking time. It’s very easy to make brownies from scratch.

Using cocoa powder instead of unsweetened chocolate squares gave the brownies a richer, chocolaty flavor. Delicious and easy!

Enjoy!