Nothing satisfies a craving for chocolate baked sweets faster than a brownie mix, and they taste pretty good.  However, for about 2 minutes more effort you can have these chewy, chocolatey, corner crunchy, mind melting brownies using only one bowl and ingredients that are always on hand.  They are so simple, and so fantastically delicious.  My kitchen master sister in law Kristin dropped this knowledge on me and once I learned about them I never went back to the box.  They are truly so much better tasting and it’s fun to see the people you serve them to expect a “normal” box brownie then get wide eyes and freak out over how much more delicious these are. They are also wonderfully versatile so add all the chopped nuts, chocolate chips, powdered sugar, frosting etc. that you feel like, or just leave them as is because they put on quite a show all on their own.

1 cup butter (melted)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla
optional – 3/4 cup chocolate chips, chopped walnuts or other additions

1. Preheat oven to 350 and spray a 9X13 pan.  Please note you can easily half this recipe in an 8×8 just use 2 eggs and do 1/4 plus 1/8 cocoa – it’s okay to approximate.
2. Mix sugars and butter until very well combined then add eggs one at a time until totally incorporated.  Next add salt then pile the cocoa, flour and baking powder all on top of your mixture and whisk until smooth.  Last add your vanilla and any additions if using until uniform and spread into your pan.
3. Bake for anywhere from 25-30 minutes depending on how done you like your brownies.  If you enjoy a gooeyer texture opt for a shorter bake time, but go all the way if you like your brownies more done.  Enjoy!