Fudgy Brownies

Sometimes the best recipes are the oldest and most reliable, rather than the newest and flashiest. That’s certainly true for this brownie recipe, which is adapted from Alice Medrich’s book Cookies and Brownies, published back in 1999. It gives you rich, fudgy brownies with a deep flavor and slightly crackly tops. They’re fantastic on their own, and they’re also the perfect brownies for making sundaes with vanilla ice cream, hot fudge sauce, some whipped cream (or marshmallow whip, if you prefer), and a sprinkling of pecans.

These chocolate brownies get their chewy texture from a number of baker’s tricks: First, instead of the cocoa powder used in Medrich's brownies, these are made with an unsweetened chocolate bar (or chocolate chips) mixed with melted butter, which also gives them rich dark chocolate flavor. The most surefire way to melt chocolate is to invest in a double boiler, but you can also zap it in the microwave for 30 second intervals, or place in a large bowl that's set over a pot of simmering water. Once you’ve melted the butter and chocolate, all you have to do is mix in the eggs and dry ingredients. Second trick? These brownies are made without a leavener, like baking powder, which is what often gives cakey brownies their lighter texture. Finally, they’re baked at a relatively high temperature, which helps the outside edges cook faster than the center, leaving the middle moist. The result is so good, we’re sure you’ll be coming back to this recipe for decades to come.

Read more: What Is It About Chewy Brownies?