Oh My Goo-ness SuperFudge Brownies

Countdown to Gentleman Caller: 4 days.

The batch of test brownies are an extreme success. Just tasted them. Warm and fudgy-gooey. That's the problem with being creative with food. The testing can be problematic for the waistline. Thank goodness for freezers.

In fact, I'm baking up a freezer full of desserts for a friend's wedding next weekend. When desserts are loaded with butter, chocolate, and/or other big flavors, they take well to the freezer because the flavors still pop when thawed. Made and stashed Lemony Glazed Shortbread Bars, a Better Homes and Gardens recipe that uses about 8 lemons. Satisfyingly puckery with that crisp shortbread texture. My go-to favorite when I want to make a big batch of bars to wow a crowd. Lemony Glazed Shortbread Bars Recipe.

And who doesn't love chocolate? So I tripled the chocolate in these brownies. Do not, repeat, do not bake beyond 27 minutes. Insert a toothpick in the center and it will come out covered in melty chocolate. Overbake them and you've got a dryish chocolate brownie that is meh, but not SuperFudgy.

Or try Ruth Reichl's brownies that Mama Mia blogged about recently.

SuperFudge Brownies

(Leave the walnuts out if you're not a fan.)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate (such as Scharffen Berger, my favorite), broken into chunks

3 tablespoons unsweetened dark cocoa powder

4 eggs

2 1/4 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup flour

1 3/4 cups semisweet chocolate chunks (one 11.5-oz. package)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Grease a 9x13-inch pan. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In a small saucepan, melt butter, chocolate, and cocoa over low heat, stirring occasionally.

3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat eggs, sugar, and salt until combined. Add chocolate mixture and vanilla; beat until combined. Beat in flour. Stir in semisweet chocolate chunks and walnuts.

4. Pour into pan. Bake for 25 to 27 minutes or until edges start to pull away from sides of pan. (Skip the toothpick test because it will come out covered in chocolate. It's done. Really.)

5. Cool, cut, eat. Makes 24 to 36 to 48 bars, depending on who's cutting. I'm kinda partial to the 24-version size, about 2 inches by 2 inches.