Fan-fudgin'-tastic Brownies

By BFF Nicole saved the day with a brownie recipe I actually succeeded at after last weekend's huge brownie fail. If you compare the two, they are very different recipes. But I think the key is that these use cocoa powder over actual chocolate, which could have contributed to my brownies' inability to set. These are also much fudgy-er, less cake-y brownies (as you can see by the small amount of flour the recipe calls for). They ended up dense, rich and delicious!

These are definitely a remake, but I'm not completely satisified .. I'm still determined to mast a cake-y brownie. So the testing will continue!

Fudgy Cocoa Brownies
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8-inch baking pan; set aside.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Off the heat, stir in cocoa. Pour butter-cocoa mixture into medium mixing bowl and stir in sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating with a hand mixer after each addition. Add vanilla, flour and salt. Beat until just combined. Do not overbeat!

Pour brownie batter into prepared baking dish and bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool and serve.


Now I have to admit, I was super paranoid about getting the bake time right because I was afraid of ending up with gooey middles and charred edges. After 22 minutes in the oven, they weren't set so I put them back in for 3 minutes. After 25 minutes, they might have been set, but I was still worried so I put them back in for 2 minutes. At 27 minutes, my edges were a little browner than I would have liked, but the centers seemed about perfect. In retrospect, I probably should have taken them out at 25 minutes to avoid the crispy edges ... but if you like that sort of thing, maybe 27 minutes will be right for you!