What makes a brownie delicious?

1. Good butter. We are not eating salad or diet food, but luxuriously decadent sweets. Every bite should fill the mouth with the taste of delicious butter. Plugra unsalted butter is my favorite. (Kitchen Conservatory sells Plugra at our store in Clayton.)

2. Good chocolate. If you bake brownies with Baker’s or Hershey’s chocolate, they will taste like supermarket brownies. If you bake with better chocolate, your brownies will taste significantly better. The best chocolate to use for baking is Valrhona, which is made in France. The second-best chocolate is Scharffenberger. We have done the experiment and baked the same recipe with different chocolates. The result is unmistakable: Valrhona chocolate makes the best-tasting desserts.

3. Do not overbake. Brownies should be gooey inside, not dry. If the cake tester comes out clean, the brownies are overbaked. I like to press the center of the brownie with my finger to see if the cake springs back. If you really like gooey brownies, use less flour. I have made this recipe with only 1/4 cup flour and call them fudgy brownies.

4. Use our favorite removable bottom cake pan, which allows the brownies to be easily removed from the pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and cut the brownies (after they have cooled) with a bench knife.

This classic brownie recipe is courtesy of kitchen assistant Barb Bressler, which was her mother’s favorite recipe.

Shirley’s Brownies

• 4 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup flour

Whisk together the eggs, sugar, and vanilla until light and frothy. In a saucepan on low heat, melt the chocolate and butter. Remove from heat and stir into the egg mixture. Fold in the flour until just combined. Pour into 2 removable bottom 8-inch cake pans (or one 9×13-inch cake pan). Bake at 325 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Barb notes that chopped pecans, mini M&Ms, or chopped toffee bits could be folded into the batter before baking. After the brownies have cooled, sprinkle with powdered sugar.