Best Fudgy Cocoa Brownies

Brownies are a HUGE hit at my house. They are such an easy thing to bake and bring to a friend's house or a party as well.  This tried and true recipe is perfect for holiday season. Healthy? No, but cutting them into mini squares helps keep the portion size in check for kids (and lets be honest, for me too!)

Best Fudgy Cocoa Brownies

Prep Time: 10minutes mins
Cook Time: 20minutes mins
Total Time: 30minutes mins

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and HOT
1 tablespoon cooking oil, (olive oil or coconut oil are fine)
1 1/8 cup superfine sugar, (caster sugar or white granulated sugar)*
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup all purpose (or plain) flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
• Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking oil spray. Line with parchment paper (or baking paper); set aside.
• Combine hot melted butter, oil and sugar together in a medium-sized bowl. Whisk well for about a minute. Add the eggs and vanilla; beat until lighter in color (another minute).
• Sift in flour, cocoa powder and salt. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until JUST combined (do NOT over beat as doing so well affect the texture of your brownies).
• Pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing the top out evenly. (OPTIONAL: Top with chocolate chunks or chocolate chips.)

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the center of the brownies in the pan no longer jiggles and is just set to the touch (the brownies will keep baking in the hot pan out of the oven). If testing with a toothpick, the toothpick should come out dirty for fudge-textured brownies.

Remove and allow to cool to room temperature before slicing.

OPTIONAL ADD INS:
Crushed walnuts, peanuts, almonds, pecans, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, chocolate chunks, dried fruit (cranberries, raisins, etc)
Notes
*Regular white, granulated, sugar can be used if you can't find caster sugar. Ive never found it in store so I just use regular white sugar. For even fudgier brownies, use half white and half light brown sugar!

TIPS AND TRICKS:
1. Whisk your butter and sugar really well.

2. Beat in your eggs for a good minute. This step is crucial for that crackly top

3. Do NOT over beat your batter once the flour and cocoa powder are added. THAT creates air pockets in the batter which will give you cake-like textured brownies.

4. Try NOT over bake them. Check them at around the 15 minutes and add keep your eye on them

5. I bake my brownies on the top shelf in the oven. I find the middle shelf cooks them a lot faster and dries them out. If your oven runs hotter at the top half, move them to the middle shelf.

Recipe Source HERE