Marc's Brownies

from Marc:

Ingredients:
1¼ c. flour
1 c. sugar
¼ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 stick (or ½ c.) butter
3 eggs
2 c. (or 12 oz.) chocolate chips
1 c. crushed nuts (optional)
Preparation and Baking Instructions (total time: ~1 hr.):
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Grease a 13"×9" baking pan (but see tip #4 below).
3. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking
powder, and salt).
4. Melt 1 c. chocolate chips and butter together, stirring until smooth. (See tip #6 below.)
5. Beat together the eggs and vanilla, and stir them into the chips/butter mixture until the
consistency is smooth.
6. Pour the liquid mixture into the flour mixture, stirring until they are well blended.
7. Stir in the rest of the chocolate chips, and the nuts (if desired).
8. Pour the batter into the baking pan, and bake for 18−22 min. or until a wooden toothpick
comes out clean.
9. After baking, let cool, and cut into squares of the desired size. I usually make 24
brownies.
10. Sample the brownies, for quality control purposes of course…
Tips and tricks:
1. Nestlé mini chips work well, but one can use regular-size chips too.
2. I use a 13"×9" pan, and I wouldn’t go bigger than this (otherwise the brownies will be too
thin). One can use smaller pans too, but this will likely require a longer baking time.
3. If using nuts, walnuts are probably most popular, but I don’t see why you can’t use other
kinds of nuts.
4. For faster cleanup, instead of greasing the baking pan, line it with aluminum foil and
bake the brownies in the foil-lined pan.
5. If tip #4 is used, after the brownies are done baking and the pan is cool, simply turn the
pan upside-down onto a cutting board to release the brownies. After the foil is removed,
they can easily be cut into squares (I use a pizza cutter to do this.).
6. The fastest way to melt the chips and butter together is in the microwave. Once the chips
are shiny (which usually happens after about 60 sec. on high) they need no more
microwaving. Do not overdo it, because the chips can scorch. The butter will melt faster
than the chips, so if the butter is at room temperature or came out of the refrigerator, I
give the chips a head start and put in the butter after about 30 sec. Otherwise, if the
butter is frozen, I melt the chips and butter together from the beginning. If you are
somehow sans microwave, a double boiler can be used.