Sweets for my Sweet!

Yesterday was Valentine's Day, and I kept up the tradition of baking something ridiculously chocolatey for myself and the boy. We don't take Valentine's Day very seriously around these here parts, but baked goods and little treats are always appreciated!

I got the boy a really cool travel guide for our upcoming trip to Chicago:

He got me a pretty bouquet of white roses:

And I baked us this sinfully delicious batch of Double Chocolate Chocolate Chip Brownies to share:

If you love brownies that are the perfect combination of just-a-little-bit-crunchy on the outside, and melt-in-your-mouth on the inside, you must bake these. Oh, and they go really well with chocolate brownie ice cream. Just sayin'.

Double Chocolate Chocolate Chip Brownies (from Martha Stewart's 2010 Holiday Magic Magazine)

1/2 cup unsweetened butter, softened & cut into pieces; more for pan

3/4 cup AP flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 oz bittersweet chocolate (the recipes says you can use semisweet too, but that's for chumps)

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 large eggs

Extra chocolate chips for later

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter 8 inch pan (it says square, but I used round) and line with parchment paper, leaving overhang on two sides. Butter parchment (the parchment paper really helped to get the brownies out of the pan, and saved on clean up!).
Whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a bowl 'til combined.

2. Melt butter & chocolate in large saucepan over lowest heat (the magazine suggests doing this in a pan over simmering water, which you can do if you want, but this works well too. Just don't turn the heat up high and stir often!). 

Once melted, remove from stove and add sugar; stir to combine. Add eggs; stir! Stir in the flour mixture, and add in those extra chocolate chips I mentioned. Stir in flour mixture until just moistened. Now, transfer the mixture into your prepared pan!

3. Bake for about 25-35 minutes (until a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs attached). Cool in pan on wire rack about 30 minutes, then lift brownies out of pan w/parchment and cool longer on the rack. 

After they are nice and cool, cut them into whatever shape and size you would like, and eat them! They will be amazing and you won't be able to stop.