The easiest brownie recipe (to make with your kids!)

This recipe from the Williams-Sonoma Dessert cookbook is the best brownie recipe I’ve yet tried. We make it often (too often, perhaps?), and they don’t last long. I love that it’s all ingredients I usually have on hand, that it only dirties one saucepan, and that my three-year-old can bake alongside me. A family favorite – these brownies most definitely work for us. Recipe below.

Photo by ciao-chow

BROWNIES

• 1/2 c butter
• 3 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped
• 1 c sugar
• pinch of salt
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature*
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I usually add 2 teaspoons)
• 3/4 c flour
• 3/4 c chocolate, peanut butter, or white chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C). Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking dish, preferably glass.

In a saucepan over low heat, combine the butter and chopped chocolate. Heat, stirring often, until melted, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar and salt. Add the eggs and vanilla and stir until blended. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir until just blended. Stir in the chips, if using (and I recommend using them! My favorite is Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips).

Pour the batter into the dish and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick comes out almost completely clean, about 30 minutes (don’t overbake). Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

*If you forget to take two eggs out of the fridge ahead of time, simply set them in a bowl and pour very warm (but not hot) water over them. Let them sit in the water bath for a few minutes while you mix everything else, then when you’re ready for them, they should be almost at room temperature.