Ultimate Chocolate Brownies

When you have a craving for chocolate, a pregnant craving no less, only the ultimate in chocolate will do. While pregnant with our first child I had the craziest craving for chocolate brownies on July 4th no less. This was after we had already dropped off my in-laws at the airport and considered our day done. Not me! I wanted BROWNIES, and no one would stop me! If I recall, we had just enough ingredients to make the batter but I was short on chocolate chips, but had lots of Rolos and nuts so I just threw everything in and baked away. They were the tastiest brownies I ever had.

Later on when we got home from the hospital with our first child, all I wanted – brownies!  I mean, what better way to recover from labor and delivery than chocolate right? My hubby and oldest daughter even made a batch of brownies just for me (I did share), when I came home from the hospital with our second child. It’s now become sort of a tradition to bake a batch of these for friends and family who are adding to their families. This time around, I am making some brownies for some friends and co-workers that just had babies.

The recipe is pretty easy and probably the longest part is waiting for the butter to melt, well besides waiting for these to come out of the oven! Best part about this recipe is, you can do it all by hand if you wanted to and you can add anything you want into the batter. It is an excellent base for other brownie creations, and they freeze well too! Add some fudge frosting to these brownies for some serious chocolatey goodness.

Chocolate + espresso = parents best friend.

Print Recipe

Ultimate Chocolate Brownies

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Servings: 24

Author: thesugarpixie

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup Butter - melted and divided
• 1/2 cup Hot water
• Optional: Add 1 tablespoon Instant Espresso to hot water OR
• 1/2 cup Coffee
• 3/4 cup Cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking soda
• 2 cups Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1-1/3 cups All-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1 cup Chocolate Chips
• *Optional: Nuts Candy (Rolos, caramels, York peppermint patties, Heath candies)

Instructions

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan OR two 8 inch square baking pans. (Line pans with parchment paper and non-stick spray for easier cutting and removal.)
• Melt butter on the stovetop (it will explode in the microwave).
• Heat 1/2 cup of water on stovetop, or place in a microwave safe container and cook in the microwave for about 45 seconds to 1 minute. Cook a little extra in case of evaporation, and double check the quantity. Optional: Dissolve 1 tablespoon of espresso into the water, OR use reheated coffee.
• While waiting for the butter to melt, in a large bowl combine: 3/4 cup Cocoa powder, 1/2 tsp Baking soda
• To the cocoa powder mixture add HALF (1/3 cup) of the melted butter, and slowly add the hot water (1/2 cup) to make a thick chocolate paste.
• After the chocolate paste has formed add the following ingredients. Be sure to mix well before moving to the next ingredient: 2 cups Sugar, 2 Eggs, 1/3 cup Butter
• When the batter is nice and smooth, slowly add the remaining ingredients. Works best when the flour is added in small batches and the mixer is on a low speed: 1-1/3 cups All-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon Salt, 1 cup Chocolate Chips (or other mixins, nuts...candy...)
• Take the batter and pour into prepared pans:
  13x9 pan: Bake 35 to 40 minutes
  8x8 pan: Bake 30-35 minutes
• Brownies are done when a toothpick placed in the center comes out fairly clean (sometimes it pokes a chocolate chip), and when the brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.
• Place the pans on a wire rack to cool. Cut and enjoy, over...and over...and over again!

Ultimate Chocolate Brownies Step by Step

• 2/3 cup Butter – melted and divided
• 1/2 cup Hot water
  • Optional: Add 1 tablespoon Instant Espresso to hot water OR
  • 1/2 cup Coffee
• 3/4 cup Cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking soda
• 2 cups Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1-1/3 cups All-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1 cup Chocolate Chips
• *Optional: Nuts, Candy (Rolos, caramels, York peppermint patties, Heath candies)

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan OR two 8 inch square baking pans. (I sometimes line the pans with parchment paper and non-stick spray to make for easier cutting and removal.)

Prep the butter and hot water. First, melt 2/3 cup of butter. I have tried melting butter in the microwave, and inevitably in the last 5 seconds it explodes – so, I am sticking with the stovetop for now.

Heat 1/2 cup of water on the stovetop, or place in a microwave safe container and cook in the microwave for about 45 seconds to 1 minute. Cook a little extra in case of evaporation, and double check the quantity. Optional: Dissolve 1 tablespoon of espresso into the water, or use reheated coffee.

While waiting for the butter to melt, in a large bowl combine:

• 3/4 cup Cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking soda

To the cocoa powder mixture add HALF (1/3 cup) of the melted butter, and slowly add the hot water (1/2 cup) to make a thick chocolate paste.

After the chocolate paste has formed add the following ingredients. Be sure to mix well before moving to the next ingredient.

• 2 cups Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1/3 cup Butter

When the batter is nice and smooth, slowly add the remaining ingredients. This works best when the flour is added in small batches and the mixer is on a low speed.

• 1-1/3 cups All-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1 cup Chocolate Chips (or other mixins, nuts…candy…)

Take the batter and pour into prepared pans.

• 13×9 pan: Bake 35 to 40 minutes
• 8×8 pan: Bake 30-35 minutes

The brownies are done when a toothpick placed in the center comes out fairly clean (sometimes it pokes a chocolate chip), and when the brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Place the pans on a wire rack to cool. Cut and enjoy, over…and over…and over again!

Since these were a gift to our friend who just had a girl, I added pink ribbon and a note on the top of the container of brownies. Ultimate Chocolate Brownies = Ultimate New Baby Gift!

https://www.thesugarpixie.net/2009/11/30/ultimate-chocolate-brownies/Ultimate Chocolate Brownieshttps://i0.wp.com/www.thesugarpixie.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/dsc_53261.jpg?fit=500%2C752&ssl=1https://i0.wp.com/www.thesugarpixie.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/dsc_53261.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=12009-11-30T14:26:54-05:00thesugarpixieBakingRecipesStoriesBaking,brownies,chocolate,chocolate chips,easy,gifts,quick,Recipes,ultimateWhen you have a craving for chocolate, a pregnant craving no less, only the ultimate in chocolate will do. While pregnant with our first child I had the craziest craving for chocolate brownies on July 4th no less. This was after we had already dropped off my in-laws at...thesugarpixie thesugarpixie@gmail.comAdministratorThe Sugar Pixie