If you are looking for a from scratch recipe for brownies, this one is pretty good.
In college I majored in Anthropology and minored (nearly a double major) in nutrition. One of my nutrition classes was an introductory course with a lab that involved cooking. The first lab was boiling water and, yes, one group screwed it up.
One of the units was a comparison of convenience food cost and from scratch cost. This is where I got the brownie recipe and I like these better than the box brownies.
Ingredients:
¾ cup sifted flour
1 cup sugar
5 tablespoons cocoa
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup shortening
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
Method:
Cream together the sugar and shortening. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cocoa and salt. Add the eggs and the vanilla to the sugar and shortening mixture. Then mix in the dry ingredients. Spread in a greased 9 inch square pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Cool and cut into squares.