Fudgey Brownies

     I’d venture to say that this recipe is just about as fast to make as a boxed mix; the brownies come out consistently good each time – dense, fudgey, and chocolately!
     It heralds back to my early days of teaching Home Economics (now called Family & Consumer Sciences) at Abilene High School . . . during a time when companies provided all sorts of “free” recipes, lesson plans and teaching ideas for classroom use.  This brownie recipe was one of a set provide by the Hershey Chocolate Company, labeled: Hershey’s Easy-Does-It Recipe #3. A notation reads, “Mixes in 5 minutes!”                                                       
     Mixing up a batch of brownies taught freshman how to read a recipe, the basics of measuring, sifting and blending, and the principles of oven usage. And, everyone loved the results – it has been my go-to brownie recipe ever since. (I often stir in chopped nuts in step #5.)

Fudgey Brownie     Yield: One 13x9x2” pan or two 8” pans /  24 servings
Note: Recipe can also be cut in half to make just one 8" pan

3/4 cup Hershey’s® cocoa (unsweetened cocoa powder)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2/3 cup vegetable oil, divided use

1/2 cup boiling water (measure accurately)

2 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 1/3 cups unsifted all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4  teaspoon salt

1)    Sift cocoa and baking soda in mixing bowl.

2)    Blend in 1/3 cup vegetable oil.

3)    Add boiling water, stir until mixture thickens.

4)    Stir in sugar, eggs and remaining 1/3 cup vegetable oil; stir until smooth.

5)    Add flour, vanilla and salt, blend completely.

6)    Pour into lightly greased 13x9x2” baking pan or two 8” square pans.  Bake at 350° for 35 to 40 minutes for 13x9x2” pan, 30 to 32 minutes for 8” square pans. Cool; frost, if desired.

Cooking Tips:

Unless a recipe specifies Dutch-processed cocoa, you should always use a natural variety.

Natural cocoas (such as Hershey’s® or Ghirardelli®) are acidic enough to activate the baking soda in cakes and cookies. Dutch-processed cocoas are chemically treated to remove that acid so they are no longer able to activate the chemical reaction that normally takes place between an acid (natural cocoa) and a base (baking soda).