After a mediocre (if that) attempt at tackling baguettes from scratch (not to be attempted by the faint of heart) and a frustrating day of work, I was reminded of a scene from the movie Julie and Julia where Julie remarks, “You know what I love about cooking? I love that after a day when nothing is sure and when I say nothing, I mean nothing. You can come home and absolutely know that if you add egg yolks to chocolate and sugar and milk, it will get thick. That’s such a comfort.” What better way to make yourself feel better than with chocolate brownies? By adding chocolate chips!
If you don’t have a double boiler, find a sauce pot, fill with water and place a heat-proof bowl on top. Fill the bowl with semi-sweet chocolate chips and what else? Butter. Continuously stir until the chocolate and butter start to melt into each other. If your bowl doesn’t fit snugly (as mine didn’t), use a pot holder to keep your bowl in place. I did this, but managed to put the pot holder on fire. If this happens to you, stay calm and throw the pot holder in the sink!
Fire aside, the recipe is pretty simple (thanks to Southern Food on About.com ):
Ingredients:
8 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 to 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Preparation:
Heat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 9-inch baking pan.
Melt chocolate with butter in a double boiler over simmering water until smooth, stirring frequently.
In a mixing bowl with an electric mixer, beat the sugar with eggs and salt until thick. Stir in vanilla and flour.
Stir in the chocolate and butter mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.
Spread in prepared pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
