Quick and easy chewy brownies

My SO and I prefer soft, chewy brownies, but were frustrated with many of our initial attempts at making them - they typically ended up too hard and crunchy, too cakey, or underbaked. Then we found this recipe on King Arthur Flour's site a few years ago, and with a few modifications it's consistently made (what we consider to be) great rich, chewy, chocolatey brownies. Not only are the brownies delicious, but they're also incredibly easy to make: they require one bowl, the only chocolate added is cocoa powder, and the entire process should take about half an hour from start to nibbling on hot-out-of-the-oven brownies. We agree with King Arthur Flour that these are "perfect for that potluck you forgot about till the last minute." Since we just made these last night, they're this week's end-of-the-week recipe blogging post.

2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cups coarsely chopped pecans

0. Preheat the oven to 375F, and lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9x13" glass baking dish.
1. Mix the sugar and cocoa powder in a large bowl until there are no large lumps of cocoa powder.
2. Add the flour, salt, and baking powder to the bowl and mix.
3. Add the eggs, melted butter, vegetable oil, and vanilla; mix until well combined.
4. Mix in the pecans (we typically use whole pecans and break them between our fingers as we add them), and then pour the batter into the greased pan. Spread the batter with a spatula so it's level, and bake for 20 minutes.

Notes:

We prefer pecans in the brownies, but they also taste fine with a mix of pecans and walnuts, just walnuts, or no nuts at all. We always use a glass baking dish; if you use a metal pan, the cooking time might vary.

Reference:

King Arthur Flour, "Wicked Easy Fudge Brownies." (link)

Categories:

• recipe
• cooking
• dessert