*I don’t know why I had to call this post Chocolate Brownies, because really, is there any other kind?

I am going to be completely honest with you – this is the first time I have ever made brownies from scratch!
I KNOW! You would think that I have dabbled with a variety of scratch brownies over the years, but nope, this is my first attempt. I have always fallen victim to the pre-boxed mix. Don’t get me wrong, the mixes taste pretty good, and they are incredibly easy, but they don’t compare to scratch baking.

I found this recipe on-line – the reviews were positive and it had 4 ½ stars, so I figured this would be worth a try.

When I was making up the brownie batter, I, of course, took a sample of the uncooked brownie. WOW, it was amazing! If I was home by myself, there is a very real possibility that I would have just taken my bowl of brownie batter and sat myself in front of the TV with a spoon. But, Jamie was home, so I had to act mature about it and only sample what was left in the bowl after pouring the batter into the pan. (I wasn’t as diligent with my spatula as I could have been when I scraped out the batter)

I now understand why the Brownie Batter Blizzard is my favourite treat from Dairy Queen.

When I poured the batter into the pan I thought it looked like a decadent sea of chocolaty goodness. I really just wanted to dive in, but I contained myself.

The original recipe called for a chocolate icing, but I normally don’t ice my brownies, so instead, I sprinkled mini M&M’s on-top of the raw batter. It really brought back memories of making brownies from a box. (OK, I may have sampled a few of the M&M’s too, I guess I was just in the mood for chocolate)

While they were in the oven, the apartment smelled like a chocolate factory – Yum! These took about 27 minutes to bake to brownie perfection.

*Note – To test brownies for doneness, stick a toothpick into the centre of the pan. There should be moist crumbs clinging to the toothpick when you pull it out. You don’t want to see raw batter on the toothpick, but you don’t want it to come out clean either. Brownies should be a bit gooey in the middle.

This brownie recipe is amazing! These were absolutely delicious. They had the perfect brownie consistency of being rich and fudgy, not cake-like, but dense, the way a brownie should be.

These were delicious and were the perfect treat to satisfy my chocolate craving. Serve them warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some caramel sauce for a truly self-indulgent treat!

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Adapted from:
Best Brownies – allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2/3 cup mini M&M’s

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease and flour a 12×12 baking pan.
2. In a large saucepan, melt butter.  Remove from heat and stir in sugar, eggs and vanilla extract.  Beat in cocoa powder, flour, salt and baking powder.
3. Pour batter into prepared pan and sprinkle brownie batter with mini M&M’s.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes.  Do not overcook.
5. Let cool (if you can) before slicing, sampling and sharing 🙂