Best Brownies Ever

My oldest child started kindergarten this week, and every day I look forward to hearing about his day. I want to know as much as he is willing to tell me. But I know that talking to his mom about what he did that day won’t be all that fun some days.

So I decided to do a little baking and have some brownies at home for him after school. Every day, when he gets home, we sit at the counter and he has a snack and I ask him if he’ll tell me some of his favorite parts about his day.

So far, it has been great! He tells me some of the bigger things that happened and then he tells me about how he couldn’t find a yellow crayon when he was doing his self-portrait. I just love the opportunity to get him talking and to find out a little bit about what happened that day.

This week I made brownies, and I’m thinking that brownies may just be our after school tradition. Because these brownies are absolutely delicious! They’re made from scratch and they are ooey gooey and amazing.

But one of the secrets to amazing brownies in our house is my brownie pan. We got these as a wedding gift. I don’t know what it is, but every single brownie is perfect. The edge pieces, the middle pieces, the bottom, the top. They’re all perfect, and if I use a different pan they aren’t nearly as amazing. Add this Nordic Ware Covered Aluminum brownie pan from Williams Sonoma to your Christmas list now!

• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 5 tablespoons baking cocoa
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups sugar
• 1½ cups sifted self-rising flour
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups chocolate chips

1. Combine the oil and cocoa in a bowl and mix well.
2. Stir in the beaten eggs.
3. Do not use an electric mixer.
4. Add the sugar, self-rising flour and vanilla and mix well.
5. Fold in the chocolate chips.
6. Spoon the batter into a greased 9×13-inch baking dish.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until done.