chocolate banana brownies

These are the best brownies ever. Period. And they only have 6 ingredients. In the realm of brownies, they're soft, cake-like, and you can add any flavouring you like. My favourite is banana, which makes these brownies even more moist and delicious. They're originally from the Moosewood cookbook, and here's Heidi's version, over on 101 Cookbooks. I used her suggestion of swirling in the melted chocolate at the last minute, creating a marbled effect - the chocolate swirls are both visually appealing and tasty.

Best Brownies Ever
1 cup butter, softened
1 3/4 cup brown sugar
5 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
5 oz. semi-sweet chocolate

Optional: 1 cup mashed bananas, 2 tsp espresso, 2 tsp orange zest, 1/2 cup chopped nuts, 1/2 cup cocoa nibs, cinnamon and all spice, 1/2 cup peanut butter.

Preheat oven to 350. Cream softened butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. Add vanilla, then the flour, stirring until just combined. Add optional flavouring. Spread into a 9x13 pan, lined with parchment paper. Finally, melt chocolate in the microwave, and pour on top of batter. Swirl the chocolate into the batter with your spoon. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until set.

PS - you can use plain old all purpose flour, or you can use whole wheat pastry flour, you won't taste the difference because of all the chocolate and butter.