Easy Basic Chocolate Brownie Recipe

I love using chocolate bars while baking and definitely feel like the taste and texture is significantly better when I do. The only thing that I don't look forward to is the melting of the chocolate, especially if it involves a double-boiler set up.

That's why these brownies are so ideal when you want a fuss-free, easy and yummy snack. The ingredients are most probably lurking in your pantry already and you need less than 20 mins to whip them up before sticking it into the oven.

Basic Chocolate Brownie Recipe with Cocoa Powder
Makes about 12 large squares
Adapted from here

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter (doesn't have to be room temp, isn't that awesome?)
1 cup regular white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa powder
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt

How I Made It:

1. Preheat oven to 350F / 180. Grease a 9" square (or round, who will know) pan.

2. Heat the butter on low flame until just melted (use the microwave or stovetop works just fine too). Stir in the sugar and vanilla.

3. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the cocoa; beat well until well blended.

4. Finally, add the flour, baking powder and salt; beat well.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from the pan sides.

There are a dozen different ways you can customize this brownie, that's why this is the basic brownie recipe. Add orange zest, white chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, let your imagination go wild!

This basic brownie recipe is heading to The Chocolate Fest over at Cook Curry Nook.

I also want to congratulate Divya, one of my fave bloggers, on her 3rd blogging anniversary. Sending these basic brownies to her e-party!

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On an unrelated note, a good friend who introduced me to the world of Yoga is now celebrating 10k hits to her blog - Back to Basics. She has some cool things to giveaway so go ahead and check them out before time runs out!

Guest Attempt: Matt's Special Seeds

If you're like me, All Hallows' Eve means one thing. Yep, you guessed it. SEEDS! When I was a kid, my Dad was in charge of the pumpkin seeds, and every year, the days following Halloween would be marked by us kids flooding our bodies with handfuls of these addictive, salty snacks. I tweaked the recipe (added more salt) and now, according to Amelia, they've become: Matt's Special Seeds.

Making Matt's Special Seeds is so easy a toddler can do it! First, you must harvest the seeds of one or more pumpkin-gourds. You can do this during a solo pumpkin-carving session, or you can show up to pumpkin-carving parties hosted by your friends with a one-gallon ziploc bag, waiting in the wings for the right moment to sweep in: "Lemme get those seeds?"

Once you have procured the seeds, you are on the home stretch. To close the deal, you'll need to wash the seeds and let them soak for an hour or two in a soy sauce bath. The amount of soy sauce depends on the number of seeds you're working with but, like everything in life, be generous. Oh, and PLEASE preheat your oven to 325.

Spread the seeds in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet. (You are almost done.)

Bake for 45 minutes to an hour—until dry and crispy. Pull out, sprinkle with coarse kosher salt and let cool.

Eat the seeds!

Every once in a while you get a loner seed...

Boiled-Egg Squarer

Apart fromt the fact that it looks totally cool, egg squaring can help prevent them rolling off the plate or counter and imagine how neatly you can stack them in a sandwich!

To use, place a just-boiled, peeled egg in the middle and use use the swivel screw to push it down until its square.

Interested? Buy here.