More comfort food recipes

Here's one of mine. I adapted it somewhat from the recipe that
Scharffen Berger includes in their unsweetened chocolate (ingredients
are the same, process is slightly different, so that you only get one
mixing bowl dirty).

Scharffen Berger Brown Sugar Brownies

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour, plus additional for the pan
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt (I usually leave this out)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
5 ounces Scharffen Berger 99% (Unsweetened chocolate) (roughly 1/2 the
package if you use the scharffenberger product)
2 cups packed dark brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Position the rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour a 9x13 baking pan.

Place butter and chocolate in a a large microwave-safe bowl, (large
enough to eventually handle all ingredients) and melt in the
microwave. (Usually the butter will be melted before the chocolate -
usually you can just let it sit, and stir it a bit, and the chocolate
will finish melting pretty quickly). Add the sugar and beat at medium
speed until mixture is smooth and silky (a couple of minutes with an
electric hand mixer). Add eggs and vanilla and beat until well
combined.

Add flour on top of chocolate mixture, but do not combine. Add baking
powder and if using the salt, add that too. With a fork, gently stir
the flour mixture by dragging the tines through it (but not digging
down into the chocolate). The idea is to mix the dry ingredients
without mixing them into the chocolate. When combined, then fold the
flour mixture into the chocolate until just combined. Do not beat.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it gently into the
corners. Bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a
few moist crumbs attached. Cool on a wire rack for at least 30
minutes (I just let it sit on the stove, and don't bother with the
rack). Cut the brownies into 24 pieces while they are still in the pan
and remove with an offset spatula. I've found that they cut better and
more neatly if you wait 30 minutes or an hour or until nearly cool
before cutting. Enjoy

Cathy Weeks
Mommy to Kivi Alexis 12/01