Lunchbox Brownies

This is my mom's "Fudge Brownies" recipe. She'd whip it up on movie nights or anytime we needed a quick and tasty treat. She does not make brownies from a box, and thankfully this recipe is easy enough, that I  don't either!

Lately, I've been making them to pack in the kids' lunches for dessert (and doing my darnedest not to snack on them all day long). They are addictive... You can halve the recipe and bake it in an 8 or 9" pan if you must -- just lower your cooking time by 10 minutes or so.

It also helps if, after they've cooled, I go ahead and cut them up and wrap the kids' lunchbox portions up individually in plastic wrap. Then I keep them in the fridge, ready to grab. Makes the morning routine just a bit easier when I'm not scrounging around for lunch items, and makes my day a bit less fattening when there's not an entire pan of brownies lying about.

A note about cooking time: If you're making the full batch (9x13), then set your oven timer for 30 minutes. At that point, give them a little jiggle... You want the edges to appear fully cooked and pulling away from the pan a bit; you want the middle to be cooked just past a jiggle. Does that make sense? Mine go for 35 minutes in an oven that runs a bit cool.

Ingredients

2 c. sugar

8 TB (good, need I say it?) cocoa

2 c. flour

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

2 sticks butter

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 c. chocolate chips

1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Pay no mind to the fact that these brownies have exactly the same amount of sugar as they do flour. Disregard the butter content, too, for that matter. Treat yourself!

Melt your butter in a large pyrex mixing bowl, in the microwave (something I love about this recipe is it's quick and it uses one bowl). Add in the dry ingredients and stir well (it's thick). Add the eggs -- unbeaten, and vanilla. Mix well. No need to get out the electric mixer -- just stir it up w/ a spatula and discount the calories from the brownies you're about to enjoy.

Pour/spread into a lightly greased 9x13" pan (I use glass, fwiw). Sprinkle the top w/ chocolate chips and nuts (if using). Bake for 30-35+ minutes, until edges appear cooked and pulling away from the edges and the center is just past a jiggle.

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