I mentioned Brownies in my Mother's Day post and wanted to share the most recent recipe I've tried.
The only thing I love more than brownies are chocolate chip cookies, which I unabashedly make with more chocolate than cookie. I grew up on Duncan Hines brownies and they are good. I have tried a lot of brownie recipes. Ones using milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, bittersweet, unsweetened and cocoa powder and nearly every combination therein. 1-4 eggs recipes. With nuts, without nuts, with chocolate chips, without chips, with cream cheese, with Reese's cups, with icing, with powdered sugar, chocolate ganache, and Mississippi Mud Cake which is basically a big brownie covered in marshmallows and chocolate icing. I've made turtle brownies. I've also made the abomination that is the layered brownie-a layer of Oreos, a layer of chocolate chip cookie dough and a layer of brownie. Oh, and I've made a couple of varieties of black bean and vegan brownies. I found my latest favorite because I needed a recipe that used a bar of bittersweet chocolate. I had one left over from the holidays that was about to expire.
My current favorite is the New York Times Brownie Recipe and I say current because I am a fickle brownie maker and eater:
3 ounces unsweetened or bittersweet chocolate
8 Tablespoons (1 stick) of unsalted butter
1 Cup of sugar
2 eggs
1/2 Cup all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt, unless you use salted butter
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Heat oven to 350F. Combine chocolate and butter in a medium saucepan over very low heat, stirring occasionally. To quote HRH Mary Berry "chocolate will melt in a child's pocket", basically, don't scorch the chocolate. :) Remove from heat when chocolate is just about melted and continue to stir until smooth.
Grease an 8 X 8 inch cake pan. I just used a spray cooking oil product. You can also line the pan and make a sling with foil or parchment paper. I had no problem removing these brownies from the pan, but if you are doing this as a presentation the sling would make them easier to cut and remove.
The NYT recipe says to transfer chocolate to a bowl. It's not necessary to dirty more dishes. Instead stir sugar into the cool, not cold chocolate mixture in the pot. Beat eggs in a small bowl and add gradually, stirring to incorporate. Add flour, salt, and vanilla stirring until just incorporated. Like cornbread, it's important to not overbeat the mixture or the brownies will not rise as well and will be tough. Stop when no traces of flour remain. Pour into pan and bake around 20 minutes, or until set and barely firm in the middle. If you smell chocolate it's time to check these beauties. Cool before eating if you have the self-restraint to do so. :)
If you have a brownie recipe you would like to share I would love to hear it. For me, no mint. I know it's a classic combination but I don't like my brownies to remind me of toothpaste. And I personally, I don't like fruit in my brownies. But don't let me stop you from sharing your favorite whether it has mint, fruit or coconut. :)
The Butterfly:
