Happy Holidays to you!

No, I didn't mean Merry Christmas.

Or Happy Hanukkah.

Or Happy Kwanzaa.

Specifically, I meant Happy Brownie Day! Oh come now, don't pretend you didn't know there was such a thing.

When I first discovered it, I was a bit perplexed myself, not because the day existed (Of course brownies deserve their very own day!), but because of where it fell on the calendar. This time of year I'm typically knee deep in garland and wish lists and laying in supplies for Operation Christmas Cookie. And brownies, while they are one of my favorite desserts, didn't exactly say ho, ho, ho to me. In fact, I thought of them as a summer and fall dessert perfect for family reunions and football tailgating. However, after hours of reflection (And now you're going to pretend you don't spend hours thinking about brownies and/or chocolate? Hmmff.), I realized it's brilliant!

Brownies aren't made of pumpkin, which by December I'm OVER.

They aren't a pie, which I had way too much of at Thanksgiving.

And it's too early to start icing snowflake cutouts.

So rather than lapse back into healthy eating habits during this holiday sweet gap, preheat your oven to 350; get ready to lick the spoon; and have a Happy Brownie Day!

Best Ever Brownies

This recipe was adapted from the Hershey's Chocolate Lover's Cookbook. As a brownie aficionado I've tried dozens of recipes and always come back to this one for dense, fudge-like brownies.

1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups granulated sugar
2 tspns. vanilla extract
4 eggs
3/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tspn. baking powder
1/4 tspn. salt
1 12oz bag of chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Butter a 1.7qt. rectangular glass baking dish (11-5/8" x 7" x 2"). These always turn out better when I bake them in a glass dish. And I use one slightly smaller than a 9x13x2 for thicker brownies.
3. Melt butter. Stir in sugar and vanilla.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well with a spoon after each addition.
5. Add cocoa and carefully stir to combine. Caution: if you hurry, you'll have more cocoa on the counter and floor than in the bowl.
6. Add flour, baking powder and salt; beat well.
7. Add chocolate chips.
8. Pour batter into prepared dish.
9. Bake 40-45 minutes (30 to 35 minutes for 9x13) or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Testing for doneness can be challenging. The toothpick test doesn't work because of the chocolate chips. When in doubt, I prefer mine under cooked rather than burned.
10. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

variations: consider white chocolate chips, bittersweet chips, or mint chocolate chips.