Guests and Brownies

Last night Ben and Tami and their cute little girls came over for dinner. Did we think to take pictures of them (or at least the cute little girls)? Well, no. But here is the brownie recipe Ben asked for.

The first time I made these they were yummy and gooey; the second time not so much. But I think the difference was this: The first time I made them was for a big party, and the recipe didn't make enough. So I mixed up a cheap (and I mean probably the cheapest one available) brownie mix and added it to the home-made recipe—but I didn't use a bigger pan. So they were thicker, which probably added to the gooeyness factor. Well, try it out either way—it's a yummy recipe.

BROWNIES

1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 Tbsp. warm water
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. instant espresso powder [I am not about to pay for espresso powder just to make brownies with! Instead, I borrowed some Pero powder from my mom—which I'm sure coffee-people would say is NOT the same at all, but I don't know the difference.]
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter [I never remember to buy unsalted butter, but if I have it I use it.]
3 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped fine [buy baking squares, don't use chocolate chips]
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1 large egg

Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Whisk flour and baking powder together in a small bowl; set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk the cocoa, water, vanilla and espresso powder together; set aside.
MIcrowave the butter and chocolate together at 50% power until melted, about 1 minute; whisk until smooth. Whisk in sugar and salt until completely incorporated. Whisk in the cocoa mixture, then whisk in the egg. [whisk, whisk, whisk!] Stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated (do not overmix).
Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray (like PAM). Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top.
Bake until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 20-25 minutes.
Cool for as long as you can stand to wait. Eat them up!