Chocolate Chunk Fudgy Brownies

I'm not quite sure what's been happening with my blog, but I know that a few previously sent recipes were recently sent out a second time - oddly enough, the day I got home from the hospital with baby Logan. No, I wasn't blogging away on my first day at home, pretending to be some kind of wonder woman. It must have just been some sort of a bug in the system, since today is the first day I've entered by account.

Yesterday, while Logan was down for a 3 hour power nap, I had a chance to make a few treats to stock in the freezer. This way, I'll have something to offer to guests as they come by to visit the baby. So note to all, those of you who drop by first will get treats... we'll see how long it lasts though, as I wasn't expecting to actually have a chance to make anything for an eternity. But so far, he's being a pretty easy baby and I'm getting several long stretches throughout the day when I can get things done. If only these stretches also extended to the night... but I get enough during the day that I can nap at times and still get things done at other times.

That being said, this recipe comes from the cookbook 365 Great Cookies and Brownies, which again, was a gift from Antonia back in my undergrad days. These brownies are nice and fudgy and freeze well. I've never bothered icing them, though I'm sure that'd make them all that much better.

1 C melted butter (I use low-fat margarine)
3/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder
2 C sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla
1 C flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 C semisweet chocolate chunks (I use dark chocolate chips)
1 C chopped nuts (optional)



1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Grease in a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan.

2. Melt butter over low heat or in a microwave. Scrape into a medium bowl. Add cocoa powder and stir until well blended. Mix in sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla, then flour and salt. Do not overbeat. Stir in chocolate chunks and, if desired, nuts.

3. Turn into prepared pan, leveling surface. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near centre comes out with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Remove pan to a rack. Let cool completely in pan before cutting into 24 bars.

I find the recipe has quite a bit of sugar in it. I've never bothered trying to cut down the amount, as I make them only very rarely and figure that a treat's a treat. But if you make them more frequently and want to make them healthier, I'm sure you could cut back the sugar by 1/3 and they'd be just as good.