Fudge brownies

I was thinking the other day, as I was getting ready to bake all my homemade, pre-made cookie dough, that I've baked a lot of cookies lately.  I mean, A LOT of cookies.  There were the 30+ GIANT cookies for the baby shower, and the 200+ regular-sized (mini, compared to the giant ones) ones for baby J's bris.  And somewhere in the middle of it all I thought to myself "I haven't made brownies in a really long time.  I could really go for a brownie."  Not that I should be eating brownies on my diet, but a nice fudgy brownie just sounded perfect.

So in the midst of the cookie baking party I had with myself the day before the bris, I was talking to a friend of mine, and she told me that she had just made a brownie recipe that I had pinned (someone other than me looks at that?!) and that they came out awesome.  So it was apparent to me that when I made brownies, I should probably start with these.  And from the sounds of it, I might not need another brownie recipe ever again!

Fast-forward a few more days, and I decided to bake those brownies.  B and I still aren't sure what we're doing for Valentine's Day (we have a reservation, we may stay in), so I figured if we stayed in I should have a sweet treat.  So (being the huge dork that I am) I made one heart-shaped brownie, just in case.

Now one thing about these brownies.  They're called "The Best Fudge Brownies."  I do not use the word "best" lightly.  I've never posted a recipe that I myself called "the best."  Just because I may think they're the best, doesn't mean you will think they are.  I'll call things "my favorite" - and I even called my peppermint bark "awesome" - but never "the best."  There's one thing, though.  These brownies are pretty freakin' awesome!  And easy.  Oh, are they easy.  I made them in one bowl, with a whisk, and I didn't even have to leave the butter out for a few hours to come to room temperature.  AWESOME.  These are definitely going to become a go-to brownie (along with my mom's favorite, these cappuccino brownies).

"The Best Fudge Brownies" 
From Yammie's Noshery

Ingredients:

2 sticks of butter
2 1/4 cups of sugar
4 large eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups of cocoa powder (I used Dutch press)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups of flour
2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:

Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.  I lined mine with parchment paper and then sprayed it with Pam.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together the butter and sugar in a microwave safe bowl.
Heat in the microwave, stirring about every 30 seconds, until the mixture is bubbly and smooth (mine was smooth, but not so bubbly).  You can also do this on the stove.

Add in the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.
Mix together the cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and flour.  I just sifted it into the butter mixture, in about 3 additions.
Add to the butter mixture, mixing until smooth.
Stir in the chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for about 28 minutes.  I baked mine for 25 minutes.  They were delicious, but very gooey when they came out of the oven.  They did set up nicely when the cooled.