The Ghirardelli chocolate makers have worked mightily to make the perfect brownie mix and I have to give them credit. With their box brownies selling for less than $2 at Costco, it’s hard to justify making them from scratch.
But are the prefabs as good as the ones you measure and mix yourself? Some cooks on the Internet say that adding a bit of vanilla to the batter makes the packaged brownie nearly as good as homemade. I agree and in a pinch I go for the package. Having said that . . .
. . . I must admit that my first choice is the recipe on the back of the Ghirardelli Ground Chocolate and Cocoa can. I don’t always have a brownie mix on hand, but I nearly always have the ingredients for making the Ghirardelli recipe. Besides, baking a batch from scratch messes up just one more bowl than the brownie mix and takes about 5 minutes longer to assemble.
Stir eggs, sugar and vanilla together and add melted butter.
Sift cocoa, flour, baking powder and salt.
Stir flour mixture into egg mixture and add nuts.
The recipe on the can is pitched as an award-winning brownie, though it doesn’t say who gave the award. I suspect the thousands of hoorahs on line would make the brownie recipe a hands down winner in any competition.
Spread into greased 8″ or 9″ dish and bake for 20 to 30 minutes.
Ghirardelli optionally suggests the addition of their 60% Bittersweet Chocolate Chips, but I think the texture is better without them.
If no one’s around, you get to scrape the bowl.
Cool before cutting. The wait is always hard to endure, but makes for smoother slicing.
Viola! You now have 14 to 16 brownies, depending on the size you cut them.
Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy
I never make brownies without thinking of the story I once heard about movie star Katharine Hepburn, who had a fondness for the chocolaty concoction.
When she was hospitalized following an auto accident a friend brought her a plate of brownies. The highly opinionated and outspoken actress tasted the brownies and exclaimed: “Too much flour! Brownies should be moist, not cakey” and promptly recited her own recipe for what ingredients should be included in a proper brownie.
