ONE - BOWL DOUBLE CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

Last Thursday was a stressful day for me. I never get stressed that easily but when I do, I go crazy! I had to get out that stupid feeling and what else can bring my mood back other than Baking! I decided I shall bake something chocolate-y, something soft, something sweet and something yum. Didn't that sound like I should be baking a brownie? :-)
So Chocolate Brownies, it was!



I've had this recipe with me for a while now and every time I looked at it , I postponed the idea. That day seemed to be perfect to make them because I wanted something really good and at the same time I didn't want my sink to be filled with vessels. So I set out to make a batch of one bowl brownies.
While I put a saucepan half filled with water to a simmer,I pulled out my digital weighing scale and measured out the chocolate and butter into a stainless steel bowl.Then I let them melt over the simmering water.I usually go for the fast track option of melting them in the microwave oven but this time I wanted things to go slow, so that I can calm down. It did the magic. There's something so magical in seeing the chocolate and butter melt together and become one.

The rest of the process was just a breeze. I added  the ingredients one by one making sure I don't overdo the beating because I don't like my brownies to be cake-like. I never cared for all that maybe 4-5 years back but now, I prefer my brownies to be soft bellied, almost fudgy in the centre. I also cannot imagine eating an overbaked brownie which ends up being nothing but a dried piece of chocolate something.

While the oven was preheating, I poured the luscious brownie batter into the lined baking tin and using an offset spatula, I smoothed out the top. I thought twice of sprinkling some nuts over it but then chose not to. I placed them gently into the oven and set the timer for 25 mins. While the brownies were baking, I set to clean up the kicthen and by the time I was done,they were done too! The next step is the worst part of baking brownies...letting them cool completely before cutting into them. If you don't do that, you will be ruining the texture of these good heavenly little things.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE BROWNIES
Recipe source: Joy of Baking
Makes 16 pieces

Ingredients:
150g semi sweet chocolate
1 stick butter
1 c sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
3 eggs
3/4 c flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Method: Preheat the oven to 350 F/ 180C and line an 8 inch square baking tin.
In a large stainless steel bowl, melt chocolate and butter together. Add sugar + cocoa powder and whisk together. Add in the eggs one by one and whisk till they are just mixed. Fold in flour + salt . Add the vanilla and give it one final whisk. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 25 -30 mins or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out with a few moist crumbs.Remove from the oven & let it cool in the pan completely. Cut into 16 squares and enjoy!

As soon as the brownies were cooled and cut into pieces, I packed half of it for the freezer so that I could use them up when Jobin's cousins would visit us in Summer. The other half was used up by the two of us and our friends. But the fate for those frozen brownies was something else...we had a friend over for dinner last night and before we wore our jackets to head out for the musical Mamma Mia!, we munched on those yummy goodness! And before I knew it, I was packing up the remaining for him to take home :-)

Now that our freezer is empty, my brains are working on what to bake next!