— witsandnuts

I feel guilty for not spending more time with the oven lately. Blame it on my work (heehee, that’s a joke, of course) and my other interests. Anyway, we had a potluck last week and I volunteered to bring the dessert. Since it’s the season to be jolly and even jollier, and eat more, here’s this easy fudge brownie recipe for you.

You will need:
1 cup butter
4 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs if you like it fudgy and chewy (or 3 eggs if you want it to be cake-like)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan (or other pan size, in this case, I toyed and opted to use a heartshaped pan. In 3-quart saucepan over very low heat, melt butter or margarine and chocolate, stirring the mixture constantly. Remove from heat, and stir the sugar into the chocolate. Allow the mixture to cool slightly. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour and salt; stir into the chocolate mixture. Fold in the walnuts. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake in oven for 30 minutes. Brownies are done when toothpick inserted into center come out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack.

To add some colors, I put the same kind of sprinkles I used for the Disney princesses cupcakes. On to a geek cum childlike mode, I used Albert Einstein‘s and one of Strawberry Shortcake’s friends’ figures as toppers.

On a happy note, a friend is on her first trimester of pregnancy and was craving for the same brownie. I willingly whipped an extra share for her. I hope the baby’s complexion will not be brownie-like, but that he or she will get the sweetness and cheerful spread a brownie can exude. ? ? ?