When someone (no names shall be mentioned here) comes up to you about 9:00 at night and says, "I really need something delicious!", you could run out to the store and try to hunt up something special, or you could make Late Night Brownies which take all of 12-15 minutes from start to finish!

These brownies are thin, chewy, and ridiculously easy to make. You don't even need a mixer and they're made with ingredients you're likely to have in your pantry and fridge, which helps with the late night theme (no after-hours running out to the store for unusual ingredients necessary). After you've melted the chocolate and butter together, everything gets mixed in one bowl and then spread into a very thin layer in the pan and baked.

Ten minutes later, you are rewarded with fresh hot brownies!! If you're patient enough to let them cool for 2-3 minutes, (some of us are not) you can even remove them from the pan in large squares which you can leave as is or cut into triangles. 

And if you want to make someone really happy, you can even make little ice cream sandwiches

Plus, this makes a small batch, so if you don't want lots of leftovers tempting you all week, this is your go-to recipe! And by the way, these also do the trick in the afternoon, early evening, late morning, after lunch, whenever you're short on time, but craving that chocolate taste, which makes them sort of...timeless!

Late Night Brownies

Makes 12 large squares or 24 triangles

Prep Time: 5 minutes; Bake Time: 8-10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 square unsweetened chocolate

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1 large egg

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

The Recipe

1.  Preheat oven to 400ºF. Spray a 9x13 inch pan well with vegetable cooking spray. Set aside

2.  Either in a microwave safe bowl or in a medium saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate and butter together. Remove from heat and add rest of ingredients. Stir well and pour into the prepared pan. Using a spatula, spread into an even thin layer.

3.  Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool on wire rack 2-3 minutes and using a sharp knife, cut into large squares. With a wide metal spatula, carefully transfer to rack to finish cooling. If brownies seem too soft to move, wait another minute or so. When cool either leave as is or cut squares in half into triangles. 

4.  Brownies keep stored at room temperature in an airtight container for 2-3 days.

Enjoy!