Birthday Brownies

(above) Brownies

Easter Sunday just happened to fall on my brother's birthday this year - and what better way to celebrate it than with birthday brownies! You can tell that they are birthday brownies because of the birthday-esque sprinkles on them. But actually, they look so darn cheerful that I might just use them every time I make brownies from now on. There's a little story to how a came across this recipe, by the way. A while ago, I wanted to bake brownies, but the supermarkets all ran out of stock of unsweetened baking chocolate (an essential ingredient in my old recipe, the Brownies Cockaigne from the Joy of Cooking) and was forced to find a new brownie recipe. So, I found a recipe on allrecipes.com with surprisingly high ratings and that happened to cocoa powder in place of chocolate. Now comes the verdict - which recipe was better?

To be honest, I'm not really sure. Both recipes are amazing, and the brownies taste virtually identical. I had used the Joy of Cooking recipe for five years before reluctantly giving it up. But, I think that this recipe will be my "holy-grail" brownie recipe from now on. It's quicker to make since it doesn't involve melting chocolate and its cheaper since it doesn't use actual chocolate. Practicalities aside, this actually did make amazing brownies. They are so chocolaty and moist - the perfect brownie. I did halve the recipe and used an 8x8 square pan. I put simple icing (icing sugar and water) into a plastic baggie and snipped off the edge to pipe out the lettering.

(above) Brownie batter with sprinkles

(above) Brownies with lettering

Chocolate Brownies

Makes one 9x13 inch pan
Ingredients
1 cup butter, melted
2 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish.
   Combine the melted butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each, until thoroughly blended.
2. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Gradually stir the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture until blended. Stir in the chocolate morsels. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish.
3. Bake in preheated oven until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove, and cool pan on wire rack before cutting.
   
   

Adapted from allrecipes.com "Brooke's Best Bombshell Brownies". The link can be found here.