Scratch Brownies - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 cup butter or 1 cup margarine, melted
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
2 eggs
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 cups plain flour

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cream butter (or margarine) and sugar. This works well with a mixer, but you can do it by hand.
After creaming, switch to a spoon for mixing. Brownies tend to get tough if worked too much. Add the vanilla and eggs and mix just until smooth.
Pour in cocoa powder and flour. Again, mix until smooth and lumps are broken up, but don't overmix or work the batter too much.
At this point, if you want to add extras such as nuts, raisins, or chocolate pieces, just fold those in easily.
Bake for 18-20 minutes in 2 pans size 8 inches by 8 inches. You can use a larger pan like the 9 x 9 and cook for a little longer, 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees F. If you use a single pan, then the Scratch Brownies are thicker.