And the search continues

Yesterday started off as what I thought would be another half-assed attempt at finding a brownie recipe that's everything I've dreamed of and more. Well, it didn't turn out to be so half-assed, but I'm still continuing my search. I tried a recipe that, according to the notes I've written previously, came from Ghirardelli in the Downtown Disney Marketplace. Unfortunately these brownies didn't seem to be very photogenic, so you'll have to excuse the one horrible photo. But I did want to give you a visual aid, albeit a lousy one. Double Chocolate Brownies 2 eggs 3/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted 1/2 cup Ghirardelli Sweet Ground Chocolate and Cocoa 2/3 cup unsifted flour 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 1 cup Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Chips Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Using a spoon, stir eggs with sugar and vanilla, add butter. Sift ground chocolate with flour, baking powder and salt. Stir into egg mixture; add nuts. Stir in chips. Spread into greased 8 or 9 inch squaure pan. Bake 20-30 minutes. For extra chewy brownies, use 8 inch pan and less baking time. For cake-like brownies, use 9 inch pan and longer baking time. Cut into squares. I made a few substitutions that I feel certain did not compromise the quality or the outcome of the recipe at all. I doubled the vanilla, and I used pecans in place of the walnuts, as we have an allergic eater in our home. I used those new Toll House Swirl caramel/chocolate chips. Also I didn't have the sweet ground chocolate so I used a blend of half dutch process and half regular cocoa along with about 2 tablespoons of confectioners sugar. After I cut them up a wrapped a few of the brownies in plastic wrap and popped them in the fridge to chill, and I actually found them a bit more to my liking straight from the fridge. Next time I will toast the nuts a bit before adding them, toasting lightly just seems to bring out the nutty flavor so much more. And I think I would prefer semi-sweet chocolate chips, just something about the less sweet more chocolate taste contrast the semi-sweet chips give to brownies. My final change is that next time I will reduce the baking time. I didn't overbake the brownies in the sense that they're not burned or dry. However, I like my brownies very very fudgy & gooey, so for me, they are overbaked. The recipe said to bake for 20-30 minutes. In my oven they were completely done within 25 minutes. Next time I will start checking them around the 15 minute mark. I was at first pretty disappointed in this recipe. I didn't feel the brownies were bad, I just didn't feel they were good either. Well, surprisingly my toughest critic touted them "the best" I've ever made. Eh, maybe this is my best brownie recipe yet, but it's definitely far from the best ever. I'll keep searching, I've got my eye on a promising recipe, so keep your eyes on the blog for more updates on my search for the "richest, fudgiest brownie ever".