Your Next Potluck Offering

Julia Hernandez

Do you have an upcoming potluck, but no idea what to bring? Well, here’s a recipe you need to try: Fudgy, crunchy-top brownies. Pulling up with these fellas? The pan will be empty by the first hour of the function.

Before anything else, preheat your oven to 300°F. PLEASE make sure there aren’t any extra pans in your oven.

Melt five tablespoons of butter in the microwave and mix it with 1 ¼ cup of sugar. You can use margarine instead, but note that the brownies will come out with a cake-like texture rather than a fudgy one due to the lack of fat from the butter.

Once mixed, add three eggs, one teaspoon of vanilla extract and ⅓ cup of vegetable oil. Mix with a whisk.

In a separate bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients: ¾ cup of cocoa powder, ½ cup of flour, ⅛ teaspoon of baking soda and ¼ teaspoon of salt.

Little by little, add your dry mix to the main bowl, mixing it with a spatula as you pour it in. By folding it with a spatula rather than a whisk, you’re ensuring that the mixture doesn’t get over-mixed and runny.

After evenly combining the wet and dry ingredients (don’t forget to scrape the sides), add in your semi-sweet chocolate chips. When it comes to chocolate chips in this recipe, I typically measure with my heart. But for specificity’s sake, I’ll say one cup of chocolate chips.

Now it’s time to bake!!

Begin by lining a 9x9-inch square pan (or a 9x2 round pan) with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Spray or spread oil over the surface and pour the mixture in. If the recipe went according to plan, the batter should pour slowly and need a little extra scraping with your spatula. Pop it into the oven and set a timer for around 20 minutes. After these 20 minutes, you can check on the brownies with the toothpick test — if it comes out covered in batter, it’s not ready; if it comes out with a little tiny bit of batter and crumbs, it’s perfect; if it comes out completely dry, it’s overbaked.

Once you feel it’s ready, take it out of the oven and let it cool on the counter before serving. Now, you’ve got something to take to any function ever! People will love it, cause everyone loves brownies.