Picture me, writing this post while I try to be patient and wait for these fudgy brownies to come out of the oven. The whole room smells of heavenly chocolate fudge in cake form and they are so close yet so far away. Ten more minutes until I pull them out of the oven and wonder at their perfection. Then, I am supposed to wait for them to cool slightly, but will I? Probably not... okay enough of that... point is, it could be you! You could be the one taking a bite out of one of these fudgy brownies in less than an hour if you get to it!
I found this recipe in a baking book called Fearless Baker that I got for Christmas from my very thoughtful cousins. One of the first recipes that I found in that book was for chocolate elephant ears and I was ready to make them until I realized how little time I had the next day and how involved that recipe is. I am still going to make them, don't worry, but for now, these fudgy brownies do the trick.
I posted another homemade brownie recipe for the fourth of July last year, Red White and Blue Brownies, and those are yummy as well, but this batch topped them and lifted my expectations for brownies. If I am being 100% honest, I think the chocolate chip chunks are part of the reason I love these brownies so much. They can be hard to find though, so use them if you can, but if not, it isn't a dealbreaker.
My favorite part of the recipe was melting the chocolate over the stove because the recipe called for a technique I had never done before, but that worked really well. The chocolate is placed in a heat safe bowl on top of a saucepan with simmering water. This technique perfectly melted the chocolate into a smooth liquid, without the bottom burning (which has happened to me before). Now it is your turn - go try it out!
Yields: 1 9-inch square pan Active Time: 15 mins Total Time: 40 mins
Ingredients ~
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
50g / 1/4 cup neutral oil (vegetable oil, canola or peanut)
8 oz bittersweet chocolate (preferably 70 to 80% cacao), chopped
106 g/ 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
99 g / 1/2 cup granulated sugar
170 g / 3 large eggs, lightly whisked
10 g / 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
60 g / 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 g / 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions ~
Preheat the oven to 350 F /175 C. Lightly grease a 9-inch square pan and line it with parchment paper, leaving at least 1 to 2 inches of overhand on two opposite sides. Lightly grease the parchment.
In a medium heatproof bowl, combine the butter, oil, and chocolate. Set the bowl over a medium saucepan of simmering water (with the bowl not touching the water) and heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is fully melted and combined. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.
Add both sugars to the chocolate mixture and beat well with a silicone spatula to combine. Gradually add the eggs, mixing until fully incorporated. Beat in the vanilla.
Add the flour and salt and mix well with the spatula to combine, about 1 minute; the batter should be evenly smooth and think. Make sure that there are no flour pockets, but do not over-mix.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist, clumpy crumbs attached, 20 to 23 minutes, turning the pan around halfway through the baking time.
These super-fudgy brownies don't cut well unless they are completely cool. Cool the brownies in the pan, then use the parchment overhand as handles to lift the slab out of the pan and cut it into 16 equal pieces. But if you don't care about them being pretty, don't wait - just go to town!
Recipe From: Fearless Baker by Erin Jeanne McDowell
LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.