Fabulous Kahlua Brownies

Unfortunately for some, I'm not speechless very often. Being speechless is a very odd sensation, like your brain just suddenly went on vacation. You open your mouth meaning to say something, what, you have no idea. You close it again...open, nothing. If you've never experienced it yourself then you probably think I'm crazy but that's OK. I can take it. Last night, I was speechless. This weekend I'm having some friends over and I decided to make a cookie tray. I know brownies aren't exactly cookies but bear with me. So, of course, I had to make sure that what I was serving wasn't going to be poison or anything, hence the missing squares. Now, I have at least 3 very good brownie recipes. I make brownies EVERY year for the stupid Christmas party at work. Cut into little fingers, drizzled with melted chocolate and topped with candy, these never fail to astound my coworkers. Yes, people, brownies can be cut into fingers. They don't have to be squares. It's not rocket science here, not even advanced chemistry. This brownie though...my mouth just worked like a fish out of water, speechless. When my voice came back I turned to my husband and said, "pretty good, huh?". All he could do was nod.

This recipe is a variation from King Arthur Flour. It's fudgy and at the same time cakey. A contradiction in terms, maybe, but trust me, they are really, really good. You can double this if you like. Not a fan of Kahlua? Then just leave it out.

Makes 1 dozen 2" brownies

1/2 c. butter, melted
1 c. + 2 tbsp sugar
1/2 c. + 2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 tbsp Kahlua
2 eggs
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. walnuts, chopped or broken
1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (toss with 1 tbsp flour to help prevent sinking)

1. Preheat oven 350 F (325 F, glass)
2. Grease a 8x8" baking dish, set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, heat the butter and sugar on HIGH at 30 sec intervals in the microwave until hot but not boiling.
4. Stir well to help dissolve the sugar.
5. It won't all dissolve.
6. Stir in the cocoa, salt, baking powder, vanilla and Kahlua.
7. Add the eggs and continue stirring. The batter will start to become shiny and uniform.
8. Stir in the flour, just until combined well.
9. Add the nuts and chocolate chips.
10. Stir only until you no longer see any flour. Over-stirring will defeat the purpose of flouring the chips.
11. Bake 25-30 min or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean and the center is set.
12. Cool in pan and then cut into desired squares...or fingers!