Hello MaryJane, I took your advice and followed the recipe exactly (except I used margarine which PJH said I could use as a substitute) and it turned out perfect! Really the best brownies ever. I kept the chips "whole" by adding them to the cooled batter. Since I assumed the chips had no effect on the texture of the brownie if I were not melting them into the batter, I made another batch and decided not to put any chocolate chips. The brownies came out more cake like and although the top was really shiny had no crumbly crust. Is there suppose to be any direct effect on the texture and crumb of the brownies whether the chips (not melted) are added or not. As far as I could recount, I did everything the same except for the chocolate chips. Thanks. No, there shouldn't be any difference, especially not with the top crust. That could have been the result of not heating your margarine/sugar quite hot enough. Perhaps, because the brownie batter took up less space in the pan without its chips and the brownies were thinner, they over-baked a bit and became a bit dry? Hmmm... PJH

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