Never too old to learn something new--Glazed Chocolate Chip Brownies

Glazed Chocolate Chip Brownies
Taste of Home Contest-Winning Desserts Copyright 2008

2/3 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup baking cocoa
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup water
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Glaze:
¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
¼ cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 ¼ cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl, combine the butter, eggs, and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients; add to butter mixture. Stir in water and chocolate chips until blended.

Pour into a greased 13-in x 9-in x 2-in baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until brownies pull away from the sides of the pan. Cool on a wire rack.

In a small saucepan, combine the chips, milk and butter. Cook until melted; stir until smooth. Remove from the heat; whisk in the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla until smooth. Cover and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes or until chilled; frost brownies. (I just poured the mixture on the brownies right after I mixed it together. ) Cut into bars.

Yield: 4 dozen
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I made these brownies the day I got home from the hospital, in order to take them to my in-law's house on the 4th. They were super easy to mix up since the butter is melted (no creaming, no mixer needed).

When I told my husband's grandmother that I made brownies, the notoriously sweet-loving woman told me that she didn't like brownies! I said, how could you not like brownies since there are so many different kinds of brownies, some very fudge-like and this woman could eat fudge (and has!) for breakfast, lunch and dinner. She insisted she tried brownies once and didn't like them.

Then she saw my brownies and saw that they had frosting. She quickly changed her tune. She asked for two (and I cut them rather large) so I thought she was taking them home as she usually does. No, she started eating them so I figured one was for now and one for later. No, she immediately cut both into pieces and ate both of them. Then, before the others at the party could get to them, she packed up FIVE more to take home. I said but Baba, you don't like brownies, remember? LOL

So even at 80 years old, you can learn something new about yourself.

I kept about a quarter of the pan for home and they disappeared very quickly. My son loved these (the older one of course!)

I bought this sturdy pamphlet cookbook to alleviate some stress before having the baby. I usually resist these checkout line books since they aren't cheap ($4.99) but this one looked so good. It's loaded with fantastic recipes and mouth-watering photos. It's on display until August 5th so I suggest checking it out if you want to have an excellent collection of desserts handy and especially if you don't have a lot of space to store cookbooks.

I think I'm going to retire the Blast From the Past for a while.

Question of the Day: Is there any food you thought you didn't like that you learned to like later on in life? I think I like lamb now but it doesn't matter much since it's so expensive I can't really afford it!