Moist, cakey, fudgy… forget the description, just give me some of that!

Sometimes the lines get blurred between teaching elementary students and baking. *Warning* Do not read the following blog on an empty stomach. In writing, young students often find it difficult to add appropriately intriguing details to their writing. In order to teach these skills, I often model an example by writing in front of them. I will write something very simple like “My favorite dessert is a brownie sundae.” I will explain that interesting writing about food should make the reader hungry. They usually agree that my initial example didn’t accomplish this goal. Then I will write something like the following –

Imagine a brownie. Not just any brownie. This one is cooling from the oven. Its texture is somewhere between a rich chocolate cake and gooey chocolate fudge. The warm brownie has been saturated with melted chocolate chips that have been baked into this brownie. Atop this brownie mountain is a scoop of custardy French vanilla ice cream speckled with seeds from real vanilla beans. Homemade whipped cream with a faint aroma of vanilla is on top of the ice cream. Hot, thick fudge is dripped over the top of the dessert. It is warm enough to slightly melt the ice cream, but not hot enough to hurt your tongue. Of course, the whole sundae is topped with salty peanuts and a sweet, red maraschino cherry.

By the time I get to the description of the fudge, the students are usually squirming in misery. And my point is made.

The centerpiece and foundation of this favorite dessert is the brownie. Many people are staunch cakey brownie lovers. In the other camp are those who demand the gooey fudgy brownie. This brownie recipe results in a balance of moist cake texture with enough gooeyness to satisfy those who need that intense dense brownie. Enjoy this brownie in your favorite sundae – or straight from the oven. Do let it cool a bit before you dig in!

Super Rich Chocolate Chip Brownie

Ingredients

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 1 cup canola oil (or other light vegetable oil)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• ½ cup Dutch processed cocoa powder
• generous pinch salt
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Grease a 9 x 13 inch glass baking dish. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. In a large bowl, stir together sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla extract.
4. Sift flour, cocoa powder and salt into egg mixture.
5. Mix until moistened, do not overmix.
6. Evenly spread batter into prepared baking dish.
7. Sprinkle chocolate chips over batter.
8. Bake for 30 minutes. Brownies will start to pull away from edge of dish when finished.
9. Be patient. Allow to cool a bit before cutting.