Killer Fudgy Brownies

or, "Sump'un's gonna kill us all, we might as well enjoy it."

I made some slight modifications on a recipe I found on the internet (mostly to make it easier) but when I first read it, I fell in love! I'd been experimenting, looking for the Perfect Brownie recipe, and this is as close as I've come so far:

Cake

Ingredients

• 1 cup margarine, melted
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup baking cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Topping

• 1 (12 oz) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan. (Note: you may grease the bottom of the pan, but I'm experimenting with lining it with parchment and it shows a lot of promise.)

In a large bowl, stir margarine, sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, eggs, milk, and 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla. beat well.

Stir in chopped nuts. Pour batter into pan, spreading evenly.

Bake about 40 minutes, or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of the pan.

About 10 minutes before the brownies are due to be done, dump chocolate chips, 1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla, and sweetened condensed milk into a microwave-safe bowl (I use a 1-quart Pyrex measuring cup). Microwave this on medium for about five minutes, stirring well every 1 1/2 minutes or so.

Remove brownies from the oven and immediately pour topping on hot brownies, spreading as you go as best you can. Once all the topping is down, spread with a spatula to cover as uniformly as possible.

Place pan on a wire rack to cool. When cool enough, put in the fridge for a few hours, or overnight. Brownies should be quite cold when you cut them.

Notes: I love this recipe but every time I made it, there was a very thin layer of 'brownie' that stuck to the bottom of the pan. The only way I could get the brownies out was to turn the pan upside down and place a very hot, wet cloth on the pan's bottom and bump it a few times on my (waxed paper lined) cutting board. I tried baker's parchment last night, and it seems to have overcome that problem. Anyway, after they cool enough put the pan in the fridge for a few hours before removing and cutting them.

Easy tips for cutting: I use my pizza wheel-cutter and it works like a champ. Also, using the parchment I was able to just lift the brownies out of the pan and sit them on the cutting board.