A few days ago we had a quick afternoon visit with family from out of town so Ella and I decided to bake at the last minute. It’s pretty easy to make these brownies and you can improvise a bit with the mix-ins. This is the recipe that Paul’s mother, Marcia, always made with the kids when they were little. We would visit on a weekend afternoon and she would have all the ingredients ready. We usually bake it in an 8” pyrex dish but this time we baked it in a 9” by 12” metal pan. The brownies were very thin and compact. We added walnuts and pecans but have made them with chocolate chips or chunks in lieu of nuts many times. We forgot to add the salt before mixing in the nuts so we sprinkled it on top of the batter before putting it into the oven.

Makes 16 brownies. ready in 50 minutes

¼ lb sweet butter cut into pieces
2 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 cup of sugar
½ tsp vanilla
2 eggs
½ cup sifted all purpose flour
½ cup of chopped walnuts and pecans
butter or non stick cooking spray for pan
sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter and chocolate in a saucepan or double boiler at a very low heat. Stir until smooth. Cool for 5 minutes. Place in mediium size bowl and stir in sugar and vanilla and then add the eggs. Stir until smooth after the additions. Add flour, and stir until blended, and then add the nuts. Pour batter into buttered 8” cake pan. Evenly sprinkle sea salt on top of batter. Bake 20-25 minutes, until a poked toothpick comes out clean! Cool to room temperature, and then cut into brownie squares.