Brownies fit the bill whether you want to make a scrumptious after-school snack for your children - when they've been especially good - or you want an addition to the holiday sweet table. They are perfectly at home in both simple and festive surroundings. When it comes to easy-to-make desserts that provide plenty of taste for little effort, brownies are at the top of my list. For sheer pleasure, few desserts can compete with a dark chocolate brownie topped with vanilla ice cream. Some brownies are dense and fudgy, almost like chocolate candy; others are softer and more cakelike. Both kinds are simple to make. Even when time is short, it's easy to fit brownie baking into your schedule. Their baking time is brief, so they come out moist and luscious. There are no eggs to separate, no egg whites to whip; the batter ingredients are stirred together in a single bowl. When you want to turn plain brownies into elegant sweets, frost them with a buttery icing spiked with brandy or other spirits, or glaze them with shiny chocolate ganache. If you're serving them for Rosh Hashana, they'll most likely disappear long before the honey cake. You can make brownies intensely sweet like in many old-fashioned recipes, or use less sugar and plenty of dark, bittersweet chocolate for a deeper chocolate flavor. Make the brownies from pure chocolate alone or enhance them with any nuts you like: walnuts, pecans, almonds, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts or macadamia nuts. Taste the nuts before you add them, to be sure they are fresh. For extra accent, you can flavor the batter with coffee, grated orange or chopped candied ginger. BRANDIED BROWNIES These "adult" brownies make delicious petits fours. They are dark and cakelike and are topped with white brandy butter frosting and pecan halves. After you have frosted the brownies, you can keep them in a covered container for three days in the refrigerator; the frosting's brandy flavor is most prominent on the day it was made. To make these for children, substitute orange juice for the brandy in the brownies and the frosting. Makes 20 brownies Brandied Chocolate-Pecan Brownies: 4 140 gr. fine-quality semisweet chocolate, chopped 4 110 gr. unsalted butter, cut in 8 pieces, room temperature 4 3â„4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour 4 1â„2 tsp. baking soda 4 1â„4 tsp. salt 4 3 large eggs 4 1â„2 cup packed brown sugar 4 6 Tbsp. granulated sugar 4 2 Tbsp. brandy or Cognac 4 11â„3 cups pecans, coarsely chopped Brandy Butter Frosting: 4 110 gr. unsalted butter, slightly softened but still cool 4 11â„2 cups powdered sugar, sifted 4 2 Tbsp. brandy or Cognac 4 20 pecan halves (for garnish) Brownies: Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 175ÂºC. Line base and sides of a 23- to 24-cm. square baking pan with a single piece of waxed paper or aluminum foil; butter paper or foil. Melt chocolate in a medium bowl over nearly simmering water. Stir until smooth. Add butter in 2 batches, stirring until blended after each addition. Remove from pan of water; let cool. Sift flour, baking soda and salt into a small bowl. Beat eggs lightly. Add sugars; beat at low speed until blended. Whip mixture at high speed about 7 minutes or until thick and light. Gradually fold in chocolate mixture just until blended. Stir in brandy. Fold in flour mixture, then chopped pecans. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake about 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into center of mixture comes out nearly clean. Cool in pan on a rack to room temperature. Turn out onto a tray; remove paper or foil. Frosting: Cream butter in a large bowl. Add powdered sugar; beat at low speed until blended. Gradually beat in brandy. Spread frosting over top of brownies. Mark 5-cm. squares with a knife. Set a pecan half in center of each square. Refrigerate about 1 hour or until frosting sets. Follow marks to cut in 5-cm. squares using sharp knife. HAZELNUT FUDGE BROWNIES A generous quantity of toasted hazelnuts adds an interesting twist to these moist brownies. Unsalted macadamia nuts, pecans or walnuts would be good alternatives. Makes 16 brownies 4 1 cup hazelnuts 4 130 gr. semisweet chocolate, chopped 4 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter 4 1â„2 cup plus 1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour 4 Pinch of salt 4 2 large eggs 4 3â„4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar 4 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 175ÂºC. Toast hazelnuts, shaking baking sheet once or twice, about 8 minutes or until their skins begin to split. Transfer to a strainer. While nuts are hot, remove most of skins by rubbing nuts energetically with a towel against strainer. Cool nuts completely. Chop nuts coarsely. Line base and sides of a 19- to 20-cm. square baking pan with a single piece of waxed paper or aluminum foil; butter paper or foil. Melt chocolate with butter in a medium bowl over nearly simmering water. Stir until smooth. Remove from water; cool 5 minutes. Sift flour and salt into a small bowl. Beat eggs lightly in a medium bowl at medium speed. Add sugar; beat just until blended. Beat in vanilla. Add chocolate mixture in 3 batches, beating until blended after each addition. Stir in flour mixture, then nuts. Transfer batter to prepared pan; carefully spread to corners of pan in an even layer. Bake about 24 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted 1 cm. from center of mixture comes out nearly clean. Cool in pan on a rack to room temperature. Turn out onto a board; remove paper or foil. Carefully cut in 16 squares, using the point of a sharp knife. Turn each brownie back over to serve. GANACHE GLAZE FOR BROWNIES To make it parve, use soy milk or rice milk instead of cream. Makes enough glaze for 16 to 20 brownies 4 185 gr. semisweet chocolate, very finely chopped 4 1â„2 cup whipping cream Put chocolate in a small bowl. Bring cream to a full boil in a small heavy saucepan. Pour all at once over chocolate, then stir with a whisk until smooth. Refrigerate 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until glaze is cold and thick enough to spread, but not set. Spread glaze over top of brownies. Refrigerate about 1 hour or until set, then cut the brownie "cake" carefully in 16 to 20 squares, using a sharp knife. Faye Levy is the author of Chocolate Sensations, also published in Hebrew as Shokolad! by R. Sirkis.

Earn a few brownie points

They're easy to make, they're dense, they're fudgy - and they're delicious.