Just Putzing Around the Kitchen

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Dan in the Kitchen — Chocolate Chip Cocoa Brownies

April 3, 2012 36 Comments

OK, so two things about this post should blow your mind: (1) this is the only brownie recipe on my blog so far (how is this possible when I love chocolate as much as I do?!) and (2) Dan is back in the kitchen…baking…from scratch. Actually, if you know Dan at all, that second thing probably blows your mind three times over.

It’s not that Dan doesn’t bake — he has, on occasion, been known to bake things. For example, there was the chocolate chip cookie cake he made me for my birthday when we started dating. (It was heart shaped and frosted, and super delicious.) And he sometimes made brownies for himself when he was living alone. But this is his first time baking without the help of his friend Betty Crocker and her oh-so-convenient box mixes.

I’ve been bullying Dan for weeks to do another “Dan in the Kitchen” post for me, and when I told him it had to be a dessert made from scratch he was less than pleased. See him eyeing the ingredients very skeptically in the second picture? That’s him thinking “Man, what a pain! Why are you doing this to me, Tina?” 

I’ve always thought that baking would come naturally to Dan since he’s an engineer and follows strict step-by-step procedures for a living. Whereas I tend to just throw ingredients willy nilly into the bowl and hope for the best, he obsesses over measurements and temperatures and what all the ingredients do.  It’s actually really embarassing when he asks me a question about ingredient substitution or something technical like that, and I don’t know how to answer. I mainly tweak things by feel, so it’s hard to explain the process sometimes. “Well…you just kinda do this…and use that…and then it just works!” probably isn’t the most satisfying response for someone who’s trying to learn, but hey, look how well everything turned out this time!

These brownies are seriously yummy, guys. Intensely chocolate-y, rich, moist, and wonderfully chewy. Dan did good…real good.

Chocolate Chip Cocoa Brownies (Barely adapted from the Comfort of Cooking)
** Original recipe makes about 12-16 brownies. We doubled the recipe.

Ingredients:
– 1 cup vegetable oil
– 2-1/2 cups white sugar
– 4 eggs
– 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
– 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
– 1 cup all-purpose flour
– 1 teaspoon salt
– 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
– 1 cup chocolate chips

Steps:
(1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9×13 baking pan.
(2) In a large bowl, whisk together oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla.
(3) Gently stir in dry ingredients. Mix until smooth.
** Note from Dan: Don’t stir too hard here, or your dry ingredients will go flying everywhere. Ease the dry stuff into the wet ingredients first, stir like crazy later if you must.
(4) Stir in chocolate chips.
(5) Pour batter into prepared pan. Lightly tap the pan on the countertop to knock out some of the air bubbles.
(6) Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
** If you’re only making 1/2 of this recipe, use a 9×9 square pan and bake for 25-30 min.
(7) Cool for 15 minutes before cutting.
(8) Enjoy!

You may also like:

  • Dan in the Kitchen — Ranch Burgers
  • Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies
  • Orange-o’-Lanterns

Filed Under: Chocolate, Dan in the Kitchen, Dessert, Kid-Friendly

Comments

  1. Sarah says

    April 3, 2012 at 4:52 pm

    So proud of you, Dan! 🙂

    Reply
    • justputzing says

      April 3, 2012 at 9:13 pm

      Dan’s response: I’m proud of me too! *grumblegrumble*

      Reply
  2. megan says

    April 3, 2012 at 6:07 pm

    Are there supposed to be chocolate chips in the chips in the recipe?

    Reply
    • justputzing says

      April 3, 2012 at 7:06 pm

      Oops! Good catch. Yes, there should be 1 cup chocolate chips.

      Reply
  3. Meki says

    April 4, 2012 at 2:02 am

    I wonder if white chocolate would work on this..

    Reply
    • justputzing says

      April 4, 2012 at 9:17 am

      For the chips? I think they could work. I’m personally not a huge fan of white chocolate, but I could definitely see myself adding butterscotch or peanut butter chips to these brownies.

      Reply
  4. Hannah says

    April 4, 2012 at 3:05 am

    These look sumptuous! I love a proper batch of fudgey brownies! Xx

    Reply
    • justputzing says

      April 4, 2012 at 9:16 am

      Me too! That’s probably why I never make them…I always just want to eat the whole pan… 😉

      Reply
  5. Kim in MD says

    April 4, 2012 at 10:38 am

    I just stumbled upon your blog through Foodgawder, and it’s awesome! I’m excited to explore it and read your older posts!

    These brownies look amazing, and so easy! Can I ask what brand of cocoa powder you used? They are the darkest, fudgiest brownies I have ever seen and I can’t wait to make a batch!

    Reply
    • justputzing says

      April 4, 2012 at 10:42 am

      Thank you! I used Hershey Special Dark Dutch & Natural Cocoa, but I’m sure Ghiradelli or any other kind of cocoa powder would be fine too. Hope your batch turns out well!

      Reply
      • Kim in MD says

        April 4, 2012 at 2:52 pm

        Thank you so much for the info! I suspected you used a dark cocoa in order to get that deep, gorgeous color! I will let you know how they turn out! 🙂

        Reply
  6. vinee says

    April 5, 2012 at 5:20 am

    Those look absolutely heavenly! I’m just beginning to bake,and I really wanna try to make some brownies,but thought I’d start out with a smaller batch first. I guess I could try this with half of everything. 🙂

    Reply
    • justputzing says

      April 5, 2012 at 6:44 am

      Good luck!

      Reply
  7. Leigh says

    April 5, 2012 at 5:36 pm

    Wow, I’m making these ASAP. I actually almost drooled.

    Reply
    • justputzing says

      April 5, 2012 at 5:37 pm

      That’s what I like to hear! Let me know how they turn out for you.

      Reply
  8. katie says

    April 18, 2012 at 8:17 pm

    These are awesome!!!!! I love boxed brownies and never found a homemade recipe that tasted like them…until now…yowza I ate way to many when they were done. Thank you thank you for sharing this, it will be my new go to recipe for brownies. 🙂

    Reply
    • justputzing says

      April 18, 2012 at 9:04 pm

      I’m so glad you liked the recipe! I actually secretly love boxed mix brownies too. What do they put in those mixes???

      Reply
  9. Pn Cuisine says

    July 25, 2012 at 1:53 am

    I am so making this today. Thanks for sharing.My son sure iz gonna freak out :).

    Reply
    • justputzing says

      July 25, 2012 at 7:39 pm

      I hope he likes them!

      Reply
  10. jennifer says

    October 19, 2012 at 5:20 pm

    I have this exact recipe…..minus the oil use butter. Been making them for years.

    Reply
    • justputzing says

      October 19, 2012 at 5:26 pm

      It’s a fabulous recipe!

      Reply
  11. Zaynab says

    October 22, 2012 at 10:34 am

    Hey how much exactly is a cup? Like a glass or what? 🙂

    Reply
    • justputzing says

      October 22, 2012 at 10:37 am

      If you are using measuring cups, there should be one that is marked “1 cup.” 1 cup is 8 fl oz, so that’s maybe about enough to fill one regular-sized coffee cup? Hope that helps!

      Reply
  12. Aryanna says

    October 25, 2012 at 9:20 pm

    These brownies are amazing! They are so delicious 🙂

    Reply
    • justputzing says

      January 21, 2013 at 11:45 am

      Thank you!

      Reply
  13. Cecilia says

    November 8, 2012 at 5:27 am

    Hi, I tried this recipe yesterday…. great! thank you for sharing 🙂
    Cecilia
    http://crearescout.wordpress.com

    Reply
    • justputzing says

      November 8, 2012 at 8:04 am

      Glad you liked the brownies! Thanks for reading.

      Reply
  14. aria says

    May 14, 2013 at 5:46 pm

    can i use 3 extra large eggs?

    Reply
    • justputzing says

      May 15, 2013 at 9:51 am

      You can, but I think extra large eggs have a little more liquid than large eggs, so you’ll have to account for the difference.

      Reply
  15. Lisa O says

    June 22, 2013 at 1:39 pm

    These brownies are AMAZING!!! I only made one substitution…I used coconut oil (melted) instead of vegetable oil and oh my goodness were they delicious! If you like “Mounds” candy bars mmm mmm mmmm on flavor with the Coconut oil. YUM!

    Reply
    • justputzing says

      June 22, 2013 at 7:23 pm

      Yum, great idea! I love that hint of flavor coconut oil gives to baked goods.

      Reply
  16. Frances says

    December 1, 2013 at 1:45 am

    Please add a button for sending receipe as an email. I really want this receipe. Please email it to me. thx

    Reply
    • Frances says

      December 1, 2013 at 1:47 am

      I meant to say to add button for yahoo mail.

      Reply
    • justputzing says

      December 2, 2013 at 10:25 am

      Emailed!

      Reply
  17. Georgina says

    January 23, 2015 at 9:02 am

    Hi,i am now in the middle of making one of these for my fiancee as he has been away 5 days and comes home tomoro,i used sunflower oil instead and havent any baking powder,it smells divine as its cooking in the oven and looks lovely,i just hope it taste as good :))

    Reply

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Hi! I'm Tina - D.C. based attorney, lover of reality and food-related television, stress-eater, and unabashed fantasy/sci-fi dork. Read More…

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