Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8-inch square pan.

In a medium bowl combine melted butter and cocoa and stir until cocoa is dissolved.

Add sugar and mix well.

Add eggs one at a time and stir until well combined.

Stir in vanilla, flour and salt until you no longer see any flour (do not overmix).

Fold in "whatever floats your boat." Some examples are nuts, chocolate chips, cherries, marshmellows, M&Ms or Reese's Pieces, or any combination to make 1 cup total.

Spread in pan and bake for approximately 25 minutes.

Do Not Overbake - your brownies will come out dry. Adjust time/temp accordingly for your oven. If you do the knife/toothpick test, it should come out with moist crumbs, not clean.

Cool completely before cutting into squares.

For double recipe, bake in 9x12 pan and add 5 minutes to baking time.

To make Killer Brownies:

Mix brownies as above, using chopped walnuts or pecans as your add-in. Put half the brownie batter in the pan and bake at 350 for about 8 minutes, or until firm.

Meanwhile, melt caramels in top of double boiler and stir in evaporated milk. Take brownie pan out of oven. Spread caramel mixture on top and sprinkle with chocolate chips.

Cover with rest of brownie batter and place back in oven. Check at about 20 minutes. May take closer to 25 minutes to be done on top, but remember, you want moist crumbs, not clean. Sift a thick layer of confectioner's sugar on top while still warm.

Refrigerate to firm up caramel before cutting.