Cookin' the Books: Sadie's Better Brownies

Sadie's Better Brownies (from Lemon Tart by Josi S. Kilpack)

(Sorry about the poor quality of the picture - food photography is A LOT harder than it looks)

24 oz. (1 1/2 bags) semi-sweet chocolate chips (using 1/2 mint chocoalte chips is delicious!)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

6 large eggs

2 cups granulated sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1 cup walnuts (pecans are better than walnuts though Shawn hates both)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and melt chocolate chips and butter in a double boiler. (Or melt in microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between each heating until smooth.) Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly. In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs and sugar. Mix in the melted chocolate and the vanilla. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to the chocolate mixture and mix well. Pour into a 9 x 13 greased pan and bake for abotu 35 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Remove from oven and let cool before cutting into 2-inch squares

Makes 24 brownies.

(Parentheses indicate notes from Sadie Hoffmiller, the fictional baker/sleuth in Lemon Tart.)

My thoughts on the recipe: I'm strictly a brownies-from-the-box kind of girl, but this recipe sounded so good I couldn't pass it up. If you like from-scratch brownies, you're going to think you've died and gone to heaven when you bake these babies up. This recipe makes a very rich, cakelike brownie. Mine turned out nice and moist, just the way I like them. Just be sure to have a tall glass of milk on hand, because these are super, super sweet. Yummy.

(This recipe was used with permission from Josi S. Kilpack.)