Million Dollar Brownies

I am not sure if it is possible for me to write a blog without posting a recipe or two or three along the way.  Those that know me well know I love to cook (most of the time), and I especially love to bake.  The following is the brownie recipe that I have made for years, but one night I decided to try to put a cream cheese topping on it.  The creation became known in our house as Million Dollar Brownies.  We had just watched a cooking contest on TV where the winner got one million dollars.  The kids said that the brownies were so good that I could have entered them into the contest, and I would have won the million dollars.  It was not true, but flattering.  The name stuck.

Million Dollar Brownies

Million Dollar Brownies
1 2/3 c. sugar
3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, melted
2 TB water
2 eggs
2 t. vanilla extract
1 1/3 c. all purpose flour
3/4 c. baking cocoa
1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt

Cream cheese topping
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla extract
1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (I prefer the mini, but the regular are fine.)

Stir together sugar, butter, and water in a large bowl.  Stir in eggs and vanilla.  Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.  Stir into sugar mixture.  Spread into a greased 13 x 9 inch baking pan.  In another bowl beat together cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract.   Spread cream cheese mixture over brownie mixture.  Sprinkle chocolate chips on top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until the topping has puffed up and is a light, golden brown.

Variations
*Plain Brownies-cook brownies without the topping at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out slightly sticky.
*Brownies with nuts-Stir in 3/4 c. nuts into the brownie mix or sprinkle the nuts on the top of the brownies.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.
*Brownies with chocolate chips-Stir in 3/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, milk chocolate chips, or white chocolate chips into the brownie mix or sprinkle the chips on top.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

These brownies are ooey-gooey, chocolatey goodness.  I think the girls in our family like the chocolate more than the boys, but no one likes chocolate more than my youngest, Lauren.  I feel a need to tell a funny story about her.  Several weeks ago we promised Lauren she could have a Hershey’s kiss for dessert, but she could not have it until after we had a little family meeting.  Several times throughout the meeting, she was interrupting and misbehaving so I told her she would lose her chocolate if she continued to misbehave.  Well, you can guess what happened.  She lost her chocolate.  She cried through the rest of the meeting.  She cried through bath time.  She cried through brushing teeth.  It is a good thing that she is our third, because I could not help but see the humor in the situation.  I had never seen someone be so upset over not getting some chocolate.  After I tucked her in, I went to get her some fresh water to put by her bed like we do every night.  When I came back (it had been less than a minute), she said through catches in her breath from all the crying she had done, “Mom, I just had the best dream.”  I asked her what she had dreamed.  She said, “I dreamed of chocolate.”  I said, “Oh, like those commercials where the chocolate is flowing like a river and the chunks of chocolate look like a mountain.”  She said, “No, I dreamed of chocolate bars that made steps up to heaven, and you could hear the angels singing, ‘Ahhh’, and a light was shining down.”  Chocolate to her is apparently akin to a heavenly experience.  I hope you enjoy the chocolate brownies and maybe you will even have a little “Ahhh” moment of your own.