The dessert is almost gone!

This afternoon I fixed a pan of brownies. They were intended for dessert following dinner tonight. Not many have survived the hands and stomachs of my husband and children though. I, myself, have gotten only one brownie from the pan of 24, of which fewer than 12 are remaining. Brownies do not have a long shelf-life in my household. Maybe your family would enjoy these as much as mine does. When will I learn to make a double batch? Or maybe they would just disappear at an even more alarming rate if there were more on the plate?

Now to turn this

(Picture: from left to right, top to bottom: sugar, flour, vanilla extract, cinnamon and salt, baking cocoa, melted margarine, beaten eggs, semi-sweet chocolate chips)

into brownies.

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened baking cocoa

1 and 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3 eggs, beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup margarine, melted

Mix-ins: 1/2 cup of any of the following (choose up to any 2 of the mix-ins, but more than 2 tends to result in a gooey mess, I usually use 1 full cup of the semi-sweet chocolate chips for one batch as that is my family's favorite)

1. semi-sweet chocolate chips

2. peanut butter chips

3. chopped walnuts

4. chopped pecans

5. sliced almonds
6. buttersctoch chips
7. toffee chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously spray a 13 x 9 inch baking pan (or casserole dish) with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine the first 5 ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon.

Add the eggs, vanilla and margarine and beat either by hand or with an electric mixer until you have a nice, thick, well-mixed batter.

Add the mix-ins of your choice and stir into the batter with a spoon.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake at 350 degrees on the center rack of the oven for 25 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean).

When finished baking, remove from the oven and allow them to cool, in the pan for at least 30 minutes before cutting and placing on plate (my husband tries to skip this step and ends up with a plateful of steaming, falling apart, brownies).

Recipe makes 24 brownies.
Prep time: about 10 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Impatient waiting time before you can start eating the brownies: about an hour

The cinnamon adds a unique flavor to these brownies, which aren't as sweet as the packaged and boxed brownie mixes from the grocery store. But they are delicious and, around my house at least, they do not last very long!

Enjoy! Now I have to figure out something else for dessert tonight...