Like anyone with even a modicum of good sense, I like brownies. I like them a lot. Until I moved to Sweden, however, I rarely (never?) baked them from scratch, because brownie mixes–like oh, so many things–are cheap and plentiful in the States, and besides, I’d take a Little Debbie brownie over homemade any day of the week. Since the big move I’ve made brownies a number of times, using at least a half-dozen different recipes, but none of the batches has been quite to my liking.

Until today.

I’m not sure what put me in the brownie-eating mood (it could have been any number of things, really — I’m quite suggestible, and thus, an advertiser’s dream), but a couple of hours ago I suddenly felt that I could not rest easy until I had made and eaten brownies. At first I reached for my tried-and-true Betty Crocker cookbook, since it has the recipe for cocoa brownies that I had settled upon after I got tired of looking for new recipes a couple of years ago. Then, whimsically, I decided to give the ol’ internet one more try, and I happened upon this recipe.

I modified it slightly, leaving out the nuts and foregoing the powdered sugar, and the brownies came out moist and delicious, as promised. I swear I heard the Hallelujah chorus when I took the first bite.

I think the secret lies as much in using a full-size cake pan as it does in the combination of ingredients. I’ve always used square pans for similar recipes, and the brownies have generally been too thick and a bit on the dry side. But no more, I say, no more. I have seen the future and from here on out the brownies are divine.