Running to Bake: THE BEST BROWNIES EVER (Seriously)

So, as you may well know, I've recently started a Clean Eating, 4 month challenge (you can read all about it here) Part of this challenge requires that if I'm going to eat "Junk Food" I have to make it myself. I had a particularly frustrating drive home (hello, 2 hours in traffic) and all I wanted was something chocolaty. So, I went to the trusty Google and found this recipe for brownies.BEST. BROWNIES. EVER. No joke.

Since I'm trying to remove certain things like refined white sugar from my diet, I used brown sugar instead. Now they aren't technically "clean" but they are technically "holyeffsofriggingood" soooo, it balances it out. Plus, I made them from scratch, so close enough.

These brownies are fudgy, yet cakey, sweet, yet not too much so, and so so so so so so easy to put together. I'm probably going to make these all the time! For this batch I added in 2 kinds of chocolate chips (not sure the exact measurements) so I'll include the basic recipe here, but feel free to add in your own mixes.

THE BEST BROWNIES EVER

adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

Frosting:

3 tbsp butter, softened

3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup cream (10% is fine)

1 cup icing sugar

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8x8 pan with cooking spray or grease with butter

In a medium sized pot, on low heat, melt the butter until JUST melted (don't want the butter to get too hot, you just want it to be liquified). Remove from heat. Next, whisk in the sugar, eggs and vanilla until evenly combined. Next, whisk in the cocoa powder, flour, salt and baking powder until everything is JUST combined. If you want to add in mixings, stir in with a wooden spoon (I added about 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips and 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips).

Pour into your prepared pan and bake for about 25-30 mins. Check the browines at 25 minutes with a tooth pick. I found mine weren't done until about 28 minutes, but every oven is different! Just keep checking because you don't want to burn them.

While the brownies are baking, place softened butter in a medium bowl and beat with a hand mixer on medium speed until nice and fluffy. Add in the cocoa powder, 1/3 of the cream and 1/3 of the icing sugar and beat until evenly combined. Do this again with the remaining ingredients until your frosting becomes smooth and stiff. If it is too liquid, add in a touch more icing sugar. If too stiff, add in a touch more milk. I find I make icing a little differently each time, so just add a wee bit of whatever you need until it is just right!

Remove brownies from oven when done and let cool for about 30-45 mins. While the brownies are still warm (but not hot) frost them using a spatula. Allow to cool for another hour or so (if you can!)