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The Baked Brownie


A few weeks ago I had lunch with my friend Jenn [1] who was kind enough to bring me some of the Baked brownies she had just made. Of course, as soon as I got home I ate one and stuck the rest in the freezer where they proceeded to stay for oh, two days. These brownies are so good, even straight out of the freezer!

This meant I needed to dust off my copy of the Baked cookbook that has been sitting on a shelf collecting dust. What better time to try a new recipe than when it’s 80 degrees outside? Yeah, that’s how good these brownies are. Mine were slightly underbaked so they were chewy and fudgy, but I’m not complaining!

Ingredients
1-1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons dark cocoa powder (I used Hershey, shh don’t tell the Baked guys)
11 ounces quality dark chocolate (60-72%), chopped coarsely (I used semi-sweet chips, again, this is between you and me)
8 ounces butter (2 sticks), cut into 1 inch cubes
1 tsp instant espresso powder (I omitted this)
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
5 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Butter the sides and bottom of a glass or light colored metal pan 9x13x2 pan. (I lined it with foil and sprayed with Pam.)
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, the salt, and cocoa powder.
  4. Configure a large sized double boiler. Place the chocolate, the butter, and the instant espresso powder in the bowl of the double boiler and stir occasionally until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and combined. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water of the double boiler and add both sugars. Whisk the sugars until completely combined and remove the bowl from the pan. Mixture should be room temperature.
  5. Add three eggs to the chocolate/butter mixture and whisk until just combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk until just combined. Add the vanilla and stir until combined. Do not over beat the batter at this stage or your brownies will be cakey.
  6. Sprinkle the flour/cocoa/salt mix over the chocolate. Using a spatula (DO NOT USE A WHISK) fold the dry into the wet until there is just a trace amount of the flour/cocoa mix visible.
  7. Pour the mixture into the pan and smooth the top with your spatula. Bake the brownies for 30 minutes (rotate the pan half-way through baking) and check to make sure the brownies are completely done by sticking a toothpick into the center of the pan. The brownies are done when the toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.
  8. Cool the brownies completely before cutting and serving.

Yields 24 brownies.

Recipe from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking [2].