Not sure if any text is necessary to accompany these photos. We could just drop the mic here and let you scroll through this unholy array of photos of these brownies in various stages of preparation, ‘nuf said. We were looking for a good sheet pan bar dessert recipe that would easily make a large batch when we came across this recipe on the Smitten Kitchen blog. We knew that we wanted a simple recipe because, as far as we’re concerned, when it comes to chocolatey desserts, the more basic and less adulterated the ingredients list and method, the more we tend to enjoy the result. These brownies are the product of 7 simple ingredients and 10 minutes of prep time. They are chewy and intensely chocolatey. Who can ask for more in a good brownie?

Although they don’t need it, we had half a jar of salted caramel sauce leftover in the fridge. Naturally, we heated it slightly and used it as a dunking tank for a few of these bittersweet (in the best way) squares. We also felt the need to make a giant brownie & salted caramel ice cream sandwich:

Tips (unsponsored): We use Ghirardelli unsweetened chocolate bars because they are widely available.

This recipe calls for flake salt. We found a box of Maldon salt at our local Kroger store (Ralph’s for us here, in SoCal). Flake salt is a sea salt which has much larger grains than kosher and is usually used as a finishing salt. We enjoy the tiny bursts of saltiness that you get when eating these brownies. If you prefer a really sweet brownie similar to boxed brownie mixes, you probably won’t love this version.

Measures should be taken to ensure that at least some of the batter makes it to the pan.

Beautiful, glossy batter:

We would describe these brownies as chewy rather than fudgy or cakey:

*Drools

We are going to refer you to Smitten Kitchen for this recipe. Thanks, Deb!