Brownies

Anyone who's worked in an office knows how people who come together love to eat.  And they invent reasons to bring in food and order out.  Since many of our representatives are grouped by teams, and the Supervisors of those teams comprise my team I get invited to participate to in gatherings for each of those five teams!

I'm certainly in the habit of baking often for them - and they eat anything!  Cupcakes, cookies, brownies, and of course cherry pie!  Many times I arrive at their desks just in time for their shift to start at 3 or 4pm with a container to take and pass.  It's bonded me with them, that's for sure!

We've also had several pot luck-type gatherings for the department as a whole lately too.  One was a going away lunch for one of the administrative assistants, Hilda.  And another was a multi-area recognition for Administrative Assistants Day.

Truth be told I believe that the baking must get old for folks to anticipate.  So for the first gathering I made crockpot queso - smooth white cheese with ro-tel tomatoes and beef to smother over tortilla chips.  Yes, I only learned to make that AFTER moving to Texas!  I have one team that will ask for it special - "and Miss Jude will you make it with sausage this time?"

And during the festivities several people said, "where's Jude's brownies?"  Well I'll be darned - I couldn't imagine that they'd go looking for baked goods!  And now they are asking for the recipe .. so when I was sharing it with them, I thought it best to post it here as well!

Annie's Eats Triple Chocolate Brownies

photo courtesy of Annie's Eats

Chewy, Fudgy Triple Chocolate Brownies

Yield: about 12-16 servings

INGREDIENTS

5 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
8 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into quarters
3 tbsp. cocoa powder
3 large eggs
1¼ cups (8¾ oz.) sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. salt
1 cup (5 oz.) all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS

• Place an oven rack in lower-middle position and preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line an 8-inch square baking dish with foil and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
• In a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally until smooth.  Whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth.  Set aside to cool.
• In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt; whisk until combined, about 15 seconds.  Whisk in the warm chocolate mixture until incorporated.  Then stir in the flour with a wooden spoon until just combined.  (It took me a while to get the flour evenly incorporated and I was worried it would affect the texture of the brownies, but they turned out fabulously – no need to worry.)  Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread with a spatula to make an even layer.  Bake until slightly puffed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a small amount of sticky crumbs clinging to it, 35-40 minutes.  Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.
• Remove the brownies from the pan using the foil and transfer to a cutting board.  Cut into squares as desired.  Store in an air-tight container.