#30: Fudgy Chocolate Brownies

Get excited. This MAY be the best brownie recipe I have ever encountered. Martha, you are a genius... and that's really all I have to say about it. Seriously, these brownies will knock you silent, TRY THEM!

#30: Fudgy Chocolate Brownies (as found in Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan or heatproof glass dish. Line the pan with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang on two sides. Set aside.
     - You all know my beef with parchment paper, but here I believed it was absolutely necessary. After having had too many projects get stuck in the pan (Magic Bars, Oh Henry Bars, etc.), I finally decided enough was enough. After spraying my pan with PAM, I used the only sheets I could find to line it: wax paper. And it helped!

2. Place butter and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl set over (but not touching) simmering water; stir frequently until chocolate and butter are melted, about 7 minutes. Remove bowl from heat; let cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.
     - HEY! Look at my impromptu broiler!

3. Stir sugar into cooled chocolate mixture until combined. Whisk in eggs one at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Whisk in vanilla. Gently fold in flour and salt.
     - And this is where I put a word of caution: however delicious this batter is at this point, because it IS!, DO NOT sit there with a spoon and eat directly from the bowl because you will get salmonella from brownie batter and you will rather choose death than what I had to endure for three days back in October. It had to be said.

4. Pour batter into prepared pan, and smooth top with a spatula. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
     - This brownie is so stinkin' moist that I actually had it in for about an hour, no joke. When I popped the pan out of the oven at 60 minutes, the very middle was still raw, and as much as I would've loved to have eaten it at that point, I couldn't in good conscience serve that to loved ones.

Make this brownie. It was so good, I was unable to take a picture of it before the pan was obliterated and only crumbs remained... so here is a shot I found from Martha's book:

Oh yeah! And everyone check out my adorably painted finger nails- raspberry red for Bear Lake. Nice.