Mel’s Brownies

375g soft unsalted butter
375g best-quality dark chocolate
6 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
500g caster sugar
225g plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
300g chopped walnuts (or none, or half, or be imaginative)
1 tin approx 33x23x5.5cm

Preheat oven to 180 degrees centigrade or gas mark 4. Line the tin,
sides and base.
Melt the butter and chocolate together in a large heavy-based pan.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla. Measure
the flour into another bowl and add salt.
When the butter and chocolate are melted leave the mixture to cool
for a bit and then beat in the eggs and sugar, then the nuts and
flour. Beat to combine smoothly and then scrape out of the saucepan into the lined pan.
Bake for about 25 minutes (rem last time they took way longer than
that). When ready the top sould be dried to a paler brown speckle, but the middle still dark and dense and gooey.

She says check in a paranoid fashion every few minutes to avoid
drying them out, and points out they will cook some more while they
are cooling. I’ve never managed to hold out long enough to get them
as dry as I like.