This recipe makes 16 good-sized brownies, but you might find yourself cutting them into more bite-sized portions. They're rich enough that just a little bit does the trick.

Perfect Brownies

Makes 16 brownies

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking powder

4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate

10 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter

1 ¼ cups sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3 large eggs

¾ cup chopped walnuts, pecans, macadamia nuts or peanuts, toasted (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and set a rack in the lower-middle level. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Fit an 8-by-16-inch sheet of aluminum foil into the pan and up and over two sides, so you can use the foil overhang as handles to pull the cooked brownie out of the pan. Spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder in a small bowl. Set aside.

Melt the chocolates and the butter in a medium bowl over a pan of simmering water (or in a double boiler). Remove from the heat and whisk in the sugar and vanilla. Whisk in the eggs one at a time, fully incorporating each one before adding the next. Continue to whisk until the mixture is completely smooth and glossy. Add the dry ingredients and whisk until just incorporated. Stir in the nuts, if using.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with wet crumbs, 35 to 45 minutes. (Make sure you don’t overcook these; if the toothpick comes out clean, the brownies are overcooked.)

Cool the brownies in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Use the foil handles to pull the one big brownie out of the pan and turn it out on the rack upside down to cool completely, at least 3 hours. (OK, we broke this rule. Pretty much anybody with a hungry child will, and the brownies were still extremely delicious. They’ll seem underdone, but yummily so.)

Cut into squares and serve.

--From “The 150 Best American Recipes,” by Fran McCullough and Molly Stevens

Per brownie: 209 calories, 3 grams protein, 12 grams fat, 7 grams saturated fat, 24 grams carbohydrate, 1 gram fiber, 59 milligrams cholesterol, 99 milligrams sodium. Analysis by registered dietitian Jodie Shield.