The other day, my mom had a library board meeting (she’s quite the town activist) and asked me to bake something, since it was their celebratory end-of-year meeting. Since her other friends were making cookies, she wanted some kind of brownies. At first she was thinking of going big and doing something with pecans (this is a lamer definition of going big than I would have hoped) but that was an idea that lasted probably all of 4 minutes. Because lately, making brownies has been a one-way street with a dead end at this recipe.

These have been my go-to recipe for over 3 years, when my older sister first emailed the recipe over to me. Her good friend Kate at Cornell had made these brownies for her and she was obsessed. The recipe was originally from Kate’s mom’s college roommate Jill at Cornell back in the 70’s. So now they’re just known to us as “Jill’s Brownies.” Also apparently, her last name was Baker. Very appropriate. This is practically a one-bowl recipe and is super easy to make- and all you need is a hand mixer. You start off with the white ingredients (so..everything that isn’t the chocolate. Fair.) and then fold in the chocolate, resulting in a super fun bowl of swirled happiness.

When it comes to texture, these brownies go hard in the paint- they are super fudgy, but aren’t overwhelmingly sweet. It’s completely acceptable (and quite encouraged) to put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on a warm, gooey, fresh from the oven brownie. However, they’re still amazing on their own- not the kind of brownie where you’re like “oh I guess this is good but is it only good because I’m drowning it in ice cream oh but it doesn’t matter oh I’ll guess I’ll have 3 more just to make sure I like how it actually tastes.” ..No. This is a “oh I guess I’ll have 3 more just to make sure I’m still living and haven’t died and gone to heaven because this is SO TASTY AH” type of brownie.

…And yes, those last two pictures were Instagram-ed. Sometimes the act of pouring brownie batter is just too fleeting of a moment to waste time to go get a real camera. Alternatively, I was lazy and didn’t want to walk to my room to get it. Let’s go with the first option.

Jill’s Brownies

makes approximately 24 brownies

4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, melted

Preheat the oven to 325 °F. Grease and flour a 9×13 pan.

Microwave the chocolate and butter in the microwave in ~20 second increments on power level 5, stirring after each time, being careful not to burn the butter.

Beat eggs and salt together until eggs are light, and then beat in the sugar. Fold in the vanilla and the chocolate/butter mixture. Fold in the flour until just combined.

Pour into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. Enjoy!

Fancy brownies are…fine. Actually, they can be really tasty. Chances are I’ll post about some in the future. But nothing beats a square of pure chocolatey delight. These brownies will honestly enrich the quality of your life. They are SO good.