I'm a Brownie Snob

When I made the brownies, I had no idea they would be such a hit. I bake, it is what I like to do, so I made brownies (something relatively easy to make and transport) and brought them. But now everyone is going crazy over them, so I will post the recipe. I think I probably stole it from my friend Anna at Cookie Madness because that is usually where I get my amazing recipes if I don't make them up myself. She is an incredible baker and comes up with the best recipes ever. I may have already posted the recipe back when I made 3 different kinds of brownies and had a taste off in my house with the kids. These were the winners with 4 out of 6 people in my house I think, while one of the other recipes was the favorite of 2 people. I don't remember what the recipes were, but if you want to search my archives and see, go for it. I could be wrong about the 4 out of 6 thing, but I know a majority of the people in my house liked these the best or I wouldn't keep making them.

Anna won the Pillsbury Bake off last year (or the year before?) but I have been reading her forever and almost always come away with a new favorite recipe. I'll post the recipe as I wrote it for everyone at Davecago, and then as I actually made it because it is slightly different. My way is easier because I am sort of lazy about following steps and exact measurements sometimes.



Here is what I think was her recipe:


1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 ounces butter
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, cut up
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tablespoon Kahlua (optional)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9×5 inch baking pan with parchment paper.

Stir together the flour and salt and set aside.In a heavy saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. When butter starts to melt and coats pan bottom, add unsweetened chocolate and reduce heat to low. Stir constantly until chocolate is melted. Add 1/2 cup of the sugar to melted chocolate and stir over low heat for about 40 seconds. Remove chocolate mixture from heat and let cool for about 5 minutes. Stir in Kahlua and vanilla.Meanwhile, in bowl of a standing mixer, beat eggs for 2 minute or until foamy and light. Add remaining ½ cup of sugar to eggs and continue beating for another minute.Using a rubber spatula, fold a small amount (about 1/3 cup) of the egg mixture into the warm chocolate mixture to lighten chocolate. Next, fold the lightened chocolate into the bowl with the egg mixture. Stir in the flour/salt mixture, being careful not to over-mix. Over -mixing toughens up brownies. Pour into pan and bake for 28 minutes or until top is set. Let cool completely. Transfer to refrigerator and chill for a few hours or overnight. Lift from pan and cut.



For the way I made them, you first put the chocolate and butter in a microwave safe bowl. Then microwave them for 1 minute, take them out and stir, put them back in for about 30 seconds, stir and keep doing it at 30 seconds at a time until it is all slightly close to being melted. Do NOT melt them completely or you will burn the chocolate. Let it all sit in the warm bowl and they will finish melting while you put away laundry or help your kids with homework or something for a few minutes.

I did follow the steps with the eggs and sugar because I made it one time with just dumping everything in, and found that sometimes there is a reason people make complicated steps in baking. The other thing I usually do differently than the recipe above is instead of adding 1/2 tablespoon of the Kahlua, I just sort of dump in a big glug (I have used amaretto sometimes instead of Kahlua, and it is also good). I also add twice as much vanilla as it calls for (or really I add two big glugs of vanilla in...I go through vanilla like crazy because I always add more than called for because I think it makes things taste better). I also don't add salt. I even think I made it low iodine once when I was on the LID (thyroid cancer radiation diet thing) and if you need that conversion, let me know. I think if you make it the LID way, it would be vegan as well? Except I guess I still used egg whites. But I'm sure there is a replacement egg thing that I just don't know much about.

I always double the recipe and bake it in a 13X9 pan because it makes them a little thicker and also because they are so good that who wants to do all that work for hardly any brownies. I also have 6 people living in my house, so it is really your call whether to double it or not depending on the size of your family. Neighbors usually like leftovers if you have any...just saying. Or they do refrigerate for quite a while so you can have one or two (or 4) every morning for breakfast and also snack on one each time you open the refrigerator. If you do that, they will be gone in no time at all.

If you really can't bake and you want some, you can always email me. I won't bake for the entire world, but chances are if I know who you are and you ask me to send you some, I will.

The only warning I have on this is that you will never look at boxed brownies the same way again. I never thought I liked brownies because boxed mixes were all I ever had. After an embarrassing trip to a friend's house where she whipped out some brownies (from a box) and my kids had no idea what they even were and almost licked their plates because they liked this new chocolaty treat so much, I finally started making them for my kids. I still never ate any because I thought brownies were gross. Then I tried these and discovered I actually do like brownies, I just don't like cake type brownies and I only like home made. I'm a snob like that I guess. I am actually the same way with chocolate chip cookies. I only like home made with the exception of Matt's Cookies which taste exactly like home made, especially if you warm them up for a second or two. But chocolate chip cookies are a whole other story with very specific things I like and dislike, so I will save that for another day.