Vegetable shortening
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
¾ cup butter (1½ sticks)
2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped walnuts
Put the oven rack in the middle level of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Use vegetable shortening to grease the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.
Put the chocolate and butter into a saucepan and melt over low heat, stirring often and holding onto the handle with your other hand. (Don’t go away! Chocolate can burn quickly if you don’t pay attention.) When the chocolate and butter are melted, remove the pan from the heat.
Add the sugar to the chocolate and butter and stir until well blended; set aside.
Crack the eggs into a small bowl and stir them around with fork to break them up and blend them together. Add them to the chocolate mixture and stir well. Add the vanilla and stir again until the ingredients are completely blended and the mixture has no lumps or streaks.
Add the flour, salt and chopped walnuts; stir until the batter is well mixed.
Pour the batter into the baking pan. With rubber spatula spread it out evenly to the edge of the pan. Put the baking pan on the rack in middle of the oven.
Bake the brownies for 20 minutes. Wearing pot holders, open the oven, pull the pan out a bit and insert a toothpick comes out clean, with no sticky batter clinging to it, the brownies are done.
Using potholders remove the brownies from the oven. Place the baking pan on a rack and let cool for 30 minutes. Cut the brownies into 2-inch squares by making 5 equally spaced cuts a little more than 2 inches apart on the long side of the pan and 4 cuts a little less than 2 inches apart on the short side. Remove the squares from the pan with a small metal spatula.
Per serving:
Calories: 160 (5% from protein,
44% from carbohydrate, 51% from fat)
Protein: 2 grams
Fat: 10 grams
Cholesterol: 34 mg
Carbohydrate: 19 grams
Sodium: 90 mg
Exchanges: 1 starch, 1½ fat.