Simply Elegant Brownies

They Look So Good Your Guests

Will Think a Pastry Chef Made Them!

 By Nissa Simon 

henever I need an uncomplicated dessert in short order, I make these brownies and pair them with frozen yogurt, ice cream, fruit salad, applesauce…anything I happen to have on hand. I don’t remember where I came across the recipe, but it was many years ago. I know that, because I copied it using my trusty manual typewriter.

            Don’t let the simplicity fool you.  This is an amazingly good treat. It’s simple to put together, and it looks and tastes as if you spent far more time and money on it than you did.

Ingredients

Brownies

6 tablespoons cocoa

1/2 cup (one stick) butter

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

            Melt butter with cocoa.  Beat eggs, add sugar, and mix well.  Stir in the chocolate mixture.  Mix flour with salt and add.  Add vanilla.  Spread in a 7” x 11” pan.  Bake at 350° for 20 to 25 minutes.

Frosting

4 tablespoons cocoa

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons evaporated milk (I substitute regular milk, if I don’t have an open can of evaporated milk on hand.)

            About 10 minutes before the brownies are done, make the frosting.  Mix cocoa and sugar.  Cream butter and part of sugar mixture (it’s easy if you use a handheld electric mixer).  Mix in vanilla and half the milk.  Mix in remaining sugar.  Mix in remaining milk.

            Cool the brownies for about five minutes when they come out of the oven, then spread the frosting on top.  It will melt, glisten and become smooth.  Don’t panic.  As the brownies cool completely, the frosting will stiffen and look as if a professional pastry chef had applied it.

            Before you’re ready to serve them, run a butter knife or dinner knife around the sides of the pan to loosen the brownie edges.  Then cut into rectangles.  I generally cut 18 pieces, but there’s no hard-and-fast rule. Cut them as large or as small as you like.

            Enjoy!

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Nissa Simon writes frequently on health-related topics for various magazines. She was the Health Editor for Reader’s Digest’s New Choices for more than 10 years and now serves on the

Editorial Board of MAKING BREAD.