Hershey's Best Brownies

I grew up loving these simple, yet tasty brownies. They are my husband's favorite, so naturally I make them often. I especially love them with frosting. We also usually half the recipe and use a 9x9 pan.

Hershey's Best Brownies

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup Hershey's Cocoa or Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
  

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

Melt butter. Stir in sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well with spoon after each addition. Add cocoa; beat until well blended. Add flour, baking powder and salt; beat well. Stir in nuts, if desired. Pour batter into pan.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Frost if desired. Cut into bars. About 36 brownies.

Creamy Brownie Frosting

3 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
3 tablespoons HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1 tablespoon light corn syrup or honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract1 cup powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Beat butter, cocoa, corn syrup and vanilla in small bowl until blended. Add powdered sugar and milk; beat to spreading consistency. About 1 cup frosting.

Onion-Beef Muffin Cups

I found this recipe in a Simple and Delicious magazine. It won grand prize in that particular issue, but I will admit it didn't look very good. I decided to try it anyway and wow it was good! The steak I buy is twice the size I need, so it's good to freeze or double the recipe. Enjoy!

• 3 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 boneless beef top sirloin steak (1-inch thick and 6 ounces), cut into 1/8-inch slices
• 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup beef broth
• 1 tube (16.3 ounces) large refrigerated flaky biscuits
• 3/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

In a large skillet, cook onions in butter over medium heat for 10-12 minutes or until very tender. Remove and keep warm. In the same skillet, cook steak for 2-3 minutes or until no longer pink.
Return onions to pan. Stir in the flour, brown sugar and salt until blended; gradually add broth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 4-6 minutes or until thickened.
Separate biscuits; split each horizontally into three portions. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of eight ungreased muffin cups, overlapping the sides and tops. Fill each with about 2 tablespoons beef mixture.
Combine mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese; sprinkle over filling. Fold dough over completely to enclose filling. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.
Bake at 375° for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand for 2 minutes before removing from pan. Serve warm. Yield: 4 servings.