Dark and Milk Chocolate Brownies

This blog post is killing me. I really wanted to get a nice Valentine's Day recipe posted before the day, but writing about brownies while I'm fasting for Ash Wednesday is agonizing.

Fasting is not my cup of tea. I spend my whole day thinking about food, especially when I'm home by myself. I keep flicking my eyes up to the clock, wondering when it would be appropriate to have another snack. I snack a lot. Confining myself to three meals is really hard. Confining myself to two small meals and one regular-sized meal is even harder. Especially when that "regular-sized meal" is a bowl of butternut squash soup that probably doesn't top 250 calories.

I'd like my delicious brownies back, please.

Fortunately, I don't have to fast tomorrow. Tomorrow will be about chocolate hearts, Triumph Brewing Company and the secret treat I made for Jeff. I just have to get through tonight . . .

Maybe I'll stay up until midnight and have a snack then!

Dark and Milk Chocolate Brownies
From Baking Bites.

1/2 c butter, cut into chunks
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 c sugar (I ran out  of granulated sugar so I substituted light brown - I didn't notice a big difference)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 c flour
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c milk chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 350° F.

In a double boiler (aka a heatproof bowl set over boiling water), combine the butter and the unsweetened chocolate.

Melt the butter and chocolate together, stirring with a rubber spatula until they form a smooth mixture. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, prepare an 8 x 8" baking pan. (I lined mine with parchment paper, later using the overhangs to lift the brownies out, but I'm not sure they needed that treatment - cooking spray might work fine on its own.)

In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs and vanilla. Slowly pour in the chocolate mixture, whisking constantly, until smooth. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir until moistened. Stir in milk chocolate pieces.

Pour into prepared pan and bake 35-40 minutes, until set. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Slice when completely cooled.