Black Cocoa Brownies

I was honored to be given Joell’s (A CITR member) recipe for her awesome Black Cocoa Brownies. She gave me permission to share this wonderful brownie recipe with all of you. These are without a doubt the best from scratch or from box mix brownies my family has ever tasted. Thank you Jo, for sharing.

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 16 2 x 2 squares

Prep Time: 10 minutes   Cook Time: varies: 20 to 25 minutes  

Ingredients

1 cup dark brown sugar (light brown is OK in a pinch)
1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup Black Cocoa Powder (available through King Arthur Flour mail order or you can use Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa with pretty good results)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8 X 8 baking pan. (I used cooking spray).

Beat sugar, eggs, vanilla and butter on medium speed until well mixed.

Add in remaining ingredients, mix until all ingredients are well mixed in, but do not over mix. I mixed them with a wood spoon at this point to avoid over mixing.

Spread into prepared pan and bake until tooth pick comes out almost clean, about 22 minutes in my oven. Use middle rack.

Cool completely, and cut into 16 squares.

Categories: Brownies, Desserts, Entertaining, Gift Basket Goodies, Potluck

Submitted by: squeegee1 on April 1, 2013