Just so you know,  I ran 12 miles yesterday. Yes 12 miles! I felt like I earned and deserved a brownie so I made some. I also earned and deserved the ice cream cone I scarfed down before 11:00 am but that is a different story. See, this is the plus side to training for a 1/2 marathon. I can be a little more naughty when it comes to my eating routine. I don't let myself get too carried away though because the training will be over soon and I can't let bad habits creep in. In my muffin post the other day I was trying to decide between making these brownies or making the healthier alternative muffin recipe. I went with the muffins but was still dreaming about these so I just went for it with the excuse that it could be our Family Home Evening treat. I'm glad I did. They are so fudgey but not in gooey under baked way. I think the trick to these was melting the butter and sugar together on the stove top. This gives the brownie the signature shiny/crackly upper crust. You will get some serious brownie points when you make these. Just a side note: I didn't want a huge 9x13 so I just halved all the ingredients and baked it in a 8 inch baking dish. I reduced the time to about 25 minutes.

1 cup (2 Sticks) unsalted butter

2 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups dutch process cocoa

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. espresso powder (I left this out and they were awesome)

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan.

In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, or in a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat (or microwave) briefly, just until it's hot (about 110°F to 120°F), but not bubbling; it'll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.

While the sugar heats a second time, crack the 4 eggs into a bowl, and beat them with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla till smooth.

Add the hot butter/sugar mixture, stirring until smooth.

Add the flour and chips, again stirring until smooth. Note: If you want the chips to remain intact in the baked brownies, rather than melting in, let the batter cool in the bowl for about 20 minutes before stirring in the chips.

Spoon the batter into a lightly greased 9" x 13" pan.

Bake the brownies for about 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and the center should look very moist, but not uncooked. Remove them from the oven and cool on a rack before cutting and serving.