Easy brownies made with melted butter and cocoa, all in one bowl! These brownies are fudgy, moist, and so good!

Easy brownies made with melted butter and cocoa, all in one bowl! These brownies are fudgy, moist, and so good!

Dear Brownie,

When my friends in the Let’s Lunch club selected Grief Bacon: Your Comfort Food in Times of Great Stress/Grief as the theme for January’s post, I have to admit I didn’t immediately decide on you. I briefly considered mac and cheese, pondered mashed potatoes, and even debated with myself the merits of chocolate cake.

But my thoughts kept returning to you and I realized that there has never been anything else for me…it has always been you.

Easy brownies made with melted butter and cocoa, all in one bowl! These brownies are fudgy, moist, and so good!

In those childhood days when others were running next door to play with friends, all I had were the dogs, the woods, and on lucky days…you. You were my friend out in the country when everyone else was in town having fun.

You made coming home from school something to look forward to.

As childhood morphed into adolescence, I changed. Everyone changed. But not you. You remained just the same. As my family scattered to the winds and as adolescent angst grew, so too grew your ability to offer comfort.

My friend and I would sit around her kitchen table every Saturday morning and offer up our sorrows to each other while you filled our voracious need for acceptance and love.

Brownies on a cutting board.

When my high school first love turned out not to be my Forever Love, you were there. As tears fell, you promised things would get better. And they did. My next love did turn out to be forever…or so I thought. I married that one, and you were there with us at the reception, letting me know that no matter what, I could count on you.

When that Forever Love decided the barmaid down the street was better suited to him than the woman who had borne him two children, I wanted to curl up in a bottle of wine and scream. But I knew if I fell into that abyss I would never stop falling. So instead, I turned to you and you were just what I needed. You listened. You comforted. You offered hope.

You might have made me fatter, but you weren’t going to send me to rehab.

Easy brownies made with melted butter and cocoa, all in one bowl! These brownies are fudgy, moist, and so good!

As the years went by, I shared you with my boys. You were so quick and easy for a young single mom. You were always in a box gracing my pantry shelf, just hanging out and waiting for the next bad day. Or a great day. It didn’t matter to you. You were up for any extreme, be it a celebration or heartache.

When my little daughter-of-my-heart came along, you jumped in and helped convince her that I might not be the Wicked Stepmother after all. She now has your legacy to pass on to her someday children. And you helped cement my real Forever Love’s notion that I might be amazing…you just have a way of doing that.

You impress quietly whether you are frosted in your Sunday best or just plain Jane.

At every funeral, every tailgate, every party, every bake sale, every child’s special day at school, you are the ubiquitous guest who reigns supreme. You’re the first to be snatched and the first clean plate left behind. You are universally loved and, quite possibly, the secret missing ingredient to establishing world peace.

Who could argue and talk about war or nuclear weapons if you’re taking up space in their mouths?

Easy brownies made with melted butter and cocoa, all in one bowl! These brownies are fudgy, moist, and so good!

These days I rarely pull out the box from the pantry, preferring instead to craft you slowly, with love and time. After all you’ve done for me, the least I can do now is give you my best effort. After all, in a few years I’ll be sharing you with my grandchildren and they need to know how magical you are.

And so, old friend, I salute you. I thank you. We’ve had quite a journey together. The best is yet to come.

Love,

Lucy

Easy Brownies

This recipe was adapted from Alice Medrich’s Cocoa Brownies recipe and is one of my favorite recipes for easy brownies. Just cocoa, butter, sugar, flour, and eggs. Nothing fancy in these easy brownies, but it seems the technique of slowly melting the butter, cocoa, and sugar together causes some magical chemical thing to happen that makes these some of the best brownies ever!

I like to add my homemade caramel sauce with a little sea salt to make Salted Caramel Brownies—to die for!

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5 from 14 votes

Easy Brownies

Easy Brownies made with cocoa, butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. Simple but classic, these may be the best brownies ever!
Prep: 30 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes
Total: 55 minutes
Servings: 16 squares

Ingredients 

  • 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and cut into small pieces
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla or seeds from vanilla bean
  • 2 cold large eggs
  • ½ cup all-purpose flour
  • cup chopped pecans or walnuts, (optional)

Instructions 

  • Position oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 325. Line bottom and sides of 8×8 inch square baking pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.
  • Place butter, oil, cocoa, sugar, and salt in a large heatproof bowl and place bowl in a skillet of simmering water. (Remove skillet from the stove first.)
  • Stir occasionally, until butter is completely melted and mixture is smooth and warm. Remove bowl from skillet.
  • Stir in vanilla and eggs, one at a time. Stir vigorously after each egg. When batter is well mixed and shiny, add flour and mix well.
  • Stir for 50-60 strokes with a wooden spoon, scraping down sides of bowl and incorporating all the flour and cocoa. Stir in nuts if using. Spread batter in prepared pan and place on lower oven rack.
  • Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out with just a little batter. Remove pan and cool completely on a rack, then lift foil out of pan and transfer to cutting board.

Notes

Adapted from Alice Medrich’s Cocoa Brownies. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Best-Cocoa-Brownies-108346

Nutrition

Serving: 16squares, Calories: 186kcal, Carbohydrates: 21g, Protein: 2g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 39mg, Sodium: 10mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 15g
Course: Desserts
Cuisine: American
Calories: 186
Keyword: alice medrich brownies, cocoa brownies, easy brownies
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Lucy standing behind a counter with a cheese board and glass of wine.

About the author

Hi, I’m Lucy! I’m a home cook, writer, food and wine fanatic, and recipe developer. I’ve created and tested hundreds of recipes so that I can bring you the best tried and true favorites.

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Recipe Rating




17 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I so so so love this story — and the looks of those brownies! Thanks for sharing…very comforting!

  2. 5 stars
    I can understand your yearning for these brownies. They look incredibly delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe and round up. It was fun doing Let’s Lunch with you 🙂

  3. 5 stars
    I so so so love this story — and the looks of those brownies! Thanks for sharing…very comforting!

  4. 5 stars
    I can understand your yearning for these brownies. They look incredibly delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe and round up. It was fun doing Let’s Lunch with you 🙂

    1. Tammi,

      Slap your Mama is an old Southern expression used when something is unbelievably good…not sure of the origination but I can tell you that I’m pretty sure most self-respecting Southerners would never consider ACTUALLY slapping their Mama as she would most likely knock them into the middle of next week while at the same time slapping them bald-headed.

  5. I turn to the same friend in tough times! Using an actual vanilla bean sounds sublime; I’ll have to try that one of these days.

    1. Annabelle,

      I ran out of vanilla so all I had was a vanilla bean and figured I would give it a try! It turned out fine but I just use vanilla if I had some. 🙂

  6. 5 stars
    Oh! What a beautiful love letter, and to one so worthy of your love. I so enjoyed reading this post, and now have the most terrific craving for your brownies…

  7. 5 stars
    Oh! What a beautiful love letter, and to one so worthy of your love. I so enjoyed reading this post, and now have the most terrific craving for your brownies…