5-Minute Fudgy Brownies

My mom is notorious for always having a Tupperware full of some sort of yummy baked good. In fact, one my bestestestestestest friends, Kalene, would spend the night at my house when we were kids so she could sample all the treats. She'd say things like, "I'm going to go rummage for some baked goods" at two or three in the morning when we should have been asleep. This recipe is especially important to me for a couple reasons. One, I had tried a bunch of brownie recipes in college only to find that they were all for those boring cake-like brownies; I was searching for the brownies that crackle on the top and are really dense and gooey. Two, these brownies are just about the ONLY dessert I make that my husband actually enjoys. He was obviously raised on a different planet: he thinks that plain fruit (no sugar, no whip cream, no nothing) is dessert and that cookies, cakes, and ice creams are too sweet. TOO SWEET? IS THAT EVEN A POSSIBILITY? So when he actually takes two of these brownies I am in heaven; I love it. We had some friends from our Sunday School class over one night and I served these up as a nice finisher to our tri-tip and baked potato dinner. I actually whipped them up while everyone was still sitting around the table just talking and taking the last swigs of their drinks. One of the husbands actually asked me if the brownies were homemade--he had no clue that I was making brownies because these are so quick and easy to "throw together." Enjoy!

5-Minute Fudgy Brownies
Source: Me and Mom
Yields: 1 9x13 pan...so 4 brownies? Ha!

3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2/3 cup veg. oil
1/2 cup boiling water (exact)
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350. Stir cocoa and baking soda together in the bottom of a mixing bowl on your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add in 1/3 cup of the oil and the boiling water and stir until the mixture thickens. Add in the sugar, eggs, and remaining 1/3 cup of oil. Stir until smooth. Add flour, vanilla, and salt, and blend completely. Pour into a thoroughly greased 9x13 metal baking pan. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the sides of the brownies pull away from the edge of the pan. Don't over bake. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla bean, chocolate, mint chip, or neapolitan ice cream.


I didn't cut the brownies to show you the inside, but I did poke a hole so you can see how nicely they crack on the top!