I love the pitter patter of little feet.  As my boys have gotten older (they are now nine and eight), the tiny pitter patter has become louder stomps, but I still love hearing it.  We live in a neighborhood with lots of kids.  There are times when I will have 6-10 little boys running around and I just love it.  Given that there are so many of them, they are not always at my home, but it makes me appreciate them so much when they are here.  They are sweet, endearing, thoughtful, smart and say the funniest things I have ever heard.

Sometimes I have nothing yummy to feed them and these brownies have become my fool-proof recipe for simple, delicious, decadent and fudgy brownies.  My favorite thing about these brownies is that I don’t have to whip out my mixer and I always have all the ingredients on hand.

Easiest Brownies Ever
adapted from Ghiradelli

Ingredients
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 stick butter, cut into pieces
1 c. firmly packed lighted brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 large eggs
3/4 c. + 2 T all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour an 8-inch square baking pan. In the top of a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl over barely simmering water, melt the chocolate chips and butter, stirring occasionally until smooth. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Stir the brown sugar and vanilla into the chocolate mixture. Add the eggs and mix well. In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly fold the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture, mixing well until blended. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a tester comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting into 2-inch squares. Makes approximately 16 squares – depending on how much batter you eat. 🙂