Chocolate Chip Brownies

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chocolate chip brownies 2

2 c. (12 oz) Semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. Butter or margarine
4 Eggs, beaten
3/4 c. Sugar
2 tbsp Vanilla extract
1-1/4 c. Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1 c. Walnut (optional)

Melt 1 cup of chocolate chips with the butter.  It is best to use a double-boiler but you can also use low heat but make sure you stir constantly to prevent scorching.  Cool the chocolate sauce to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 325˚F.

Whisk together the sugar and the eggs.  Stir in vanilla and salt.

Gradually add flour into the egg mixture.  (I put in 1/8 cup of flour at a time and whisk until blended.)

Stir in the chocolate sauce.  Fold in the remaining chocolate chips (and nuts, if using).

Bake for 25-30 min, or until the toothpick comes out almost clean.

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My comments:

I was craving brownies two nights ago but I didn't have any cocoa powder which is what I needed for my own brownie recipe. So I found this one on RecipeZaar; it had good reviews and it will use up the chocolate chips I have lying around at home. I procrastinated on making it because I was too lazy to make the chocolate sauce and then wait for it to cool before using it. It would've been easier to just pop out to the grocery store to pick up that can of cocoa powder but unfortunately, I was even too lazy to do that!! Anyhow, the recipe was easy to do but I made a few minor adjustments based on some reviewers' suggestions.

First of all, I reduced the sugar from the original 1.5 cups to 1 cup. I still found it way to sweet; thus I further reduced it to 3/4 cups in the ingredient list above. Also, when you buy the chocolate chips, make sure you buy the semi-sweet or the dark chocolate; otherwise, you'll have a sugar overload when you bite into that delicious looking brownie. It'd be a shame if you can only eat one piece of brownie because it is too sweet to inhale a second piece. :)

Secondly, I substituted 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce for 1 egg because I only had 3 eggs. My brownies came out nice and moist but not too gooey. If you don't have enough eggs, I'd go as far as substituting 1/2 cup of applesauce for 2 eggs but no more than that. I'd also suggest that if you plan on using applesauce, perhaps start with mixing in 1/2 cup of sugar, then do a taste-test before adding more sugar to adjust the sweetness. Even unsweetened applesauce is sweet. :)

[Note: For fellow preggers, don't do the taste-test because the batter contains raw egg. It's not worth getting sick over the perfect tasting brownies. :) This is partly why my brownie was so sweet tonight because I didn't want to do that taste-test.]

Thirdly, the original recipe asked you to sift the flour into the egg mixture. I find adding 1/8 cup at a time worked just as well. It's hard to mess up a brownie recipe and I don't think you need fancy equipment like the sift, which I don't own anyway. :P

I think this recipe will be even better if toasted walnuts (see original recipe for toasting instructions) are used instead of the extra chocolate chips. The chocolate chips made the brownie too sweet but the walnut will add a nice aroma to the brownie without increasing the sugar content. A walnut chocolate brownie will go well with a bit of icing sugar on top or serve warm with vanilla ice-cream.

Will I make this again? Definitely!! But I think if I have cocoa powder at home, I'd rather use that recipe since I don't have to spend an extra hour preparing the chocolate sauce. I haven't posted my old brownie recipe but it is certainly on my To-Post list. :)

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