Brownies!

I have had a love affair with brownies since I was a kid. My mom used to buy a box every week from a neighborhood bakeshop, called Snow White. The box had this whimsical colored illustration of Disney's Snow White with the seven dwarves but it's what was inside that had me looking forward to seeing the box every week. Sprinkled generously with cashew nuts, the top of the brownie is perfectly crackly but below the thin crust of sweet chocolate and nuts is a soft crumbly interior. Needless to say, that brownie started this calorifically sinful love affair.

Searching for the perfect brownie recipe is something that I've been obsessing about and while I've outgrown the cakey-type of my childhood Snow White brownies, I've discovered that at this point in my life, I really really like chewy brownies.

I found this recipe online almost a decade ago (thank you to the person who posted this for me to find) and it's been my go-to recipe for simple, quick and absolutely chewy brownies.

Chewy Brownies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

1 cup cocoa powder

2 1/2 cups sugar

5 eggs

1 1/4 cups coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)

3/4 cup bread flour

3/4 cup cake flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsps vanilla extract

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x13x2 rectangular pan with foil. Set aside.

2. Sift flours and salt three times. Set aside.

3. In a small saucepan, melt butter over low fire. Once melted, remove butter from heat and stir in cocoa. Set aside.

4. In a separate bowl, beat eggs and sugar at medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. At low speed, stir in cocoa mixture, walnuts (if using), vanilla and sifted dry ingredients.

5. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes or until done. Cool on wire racks. Cut into bars.

*I used my mini cupcake pan this time to control my portions (otherwise, I'd gobble the whole thing down) and topped each brownie with a sliver of almond. This is best when cold. Enjoy!