Rich, Fudgy Brownies

There's not much better than a rich, fudgy brownie warm from the oven. Yum! I took the recipe for these brownies right out of my Big Red Cookbook from Betty Crocker. This is a cookbook that all cooks must have. It's one of the two (in addition to the original Better Homes and Garden Cookbook) that my mom gave me when I moved out on my own for the first time. This recipe calls for unsweetend baking chocolate. I didn't have enough (and didn't want to deal with it) so I substituted a mixture of cocoa and butter. For 1 oz of unsweet baking chocolate you substitute 3 tbs cocoa plus 1 tbs melted butter (or oil).

Chocolate Brownies
Source: The Big Red Cookbook from Betty Crocker
Ingredients:
2/3 c butter or stick margarine
5 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, cut into pieces (I used 15 tbs cocoa plus 5 tbs melted butter)
1 3/4 c sugar
2 tsp vanilla
3 large eggs
1 c flour
1 c chopped walnuts (I omitted)
Chocolate buttercream frosting (I omitted)

Directions:
Heat oven to 350. Grease bottom and sides of square baking dish with shortening.

Melt butter and chocolate together in microwave, following package directions. Cool 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat sugar, vanilla, and eggs in medium bowl with electric mixer on high speed for 5 minutes. Beat in chocolate mixture on low speed. Beat in flour until just blended. Stir in nuts. Spread in pan.

Bake about 40 minutes. I bake until toothpick comes out mostly clean (I like super fudgy brownies and they continue to cook a bit in the pan when out of the oven). Cool completely before frosting. If you don't want frosting, cool until easily cut and go ahead and dig in to warm deliciousness!