Death by Chocolate Brownies

This is the reason I make food.  Look at these things.  They are pure evil, but oh, they are a magical and irresistible treat.  MAGICAL I SAY.

Also, I'm already almost completely out of that cocoa powder.  But it has been put towards noble efforts.

Anyhow, Hannah and I made these for dessert yesterday.  Hannah likes a nutty brownie, while I prefer mine plain.  So we made two small batches.  I should mention that I've made this recipe from Buns in My Oven several times, and that I've somehow only managed to make it "right" (i.e. actually following the recipe) twice, and even the mess-ups are unbelievably good.

That said, a recipe:
1 c. (2 sticks) butter
2 1/4 c. sugar
1 1/4 c. [dark chocolate] cocoa powder
4 eggs
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. espresso powder
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. flour
2 c. chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9x13 baking dish (since we wanted some with nuts and some without, we used two smaller pans, but we noticed the baking time didn't change much).

Melt putter over low heat in a saucepan.  Once the butter is melted, add the sugar and stir for about 1 minute.

Pour the butter mixture into a mixer (or, if you're ghetto like me at college, a bowl with a wooden spoon).  Beat in the cocoa powder, eggs, salt, baking powder, espresso powder and vanilla.  Mix until well combined.  It will look all sexy and rich and dark, like my ideal man.  Wait, what?

OOooooh.  Hannah goes "Can I touch it?"  Why yes, you can.

Mix in the flour and chocolate chips.  If you're making a batch with nuts, add those now too.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for about 30 minutes, until the outside looks set but the inside is still slightly gooey.

Hannah made a little happy pecan man.

Hannah swears these tasted magical as well, but I hate pecans so I didn't even bother.