Over the past three decades or so, I've tried and tweaked more brownie recipes than I can count. They never turn out the way I want. Too dry. Too mushy. Too hard around the edges. Too much trouble. Then along came a recipe that was close and after a few tweaks resulted in just what I hoped for: the best basic brownies. This is my tweaked recipe. It's basic. Which is how I like my brownies. But it goes from basic to BAM! with stir-ins or toppings for non-basic brownie lovers.