The Baked Brownie
This intensely chocolate brownie recipe comes from the Baked cookbook. This recipe yields a brownie that’s rich and fudgy.
Since moving into our house in December, we have had a few visits from neighbors. Seeing as how this is our first house, this has been a welcome surprise. One neighbor brought us a plate of amazing snickerdoodles and another invited us to dinner. Sadly, we’ve been so busy that we haven’t had much time to introduce ourselves, and we had to turn down that dinner invitation because we were painting that day. I thought it would be nice to bake something as a way to say thanks to the people we’ve met and as a way to introduce ourselves to the people we haven’t. I wasn’t sure what to bake, but I feel like brownies were the right call.
Brownies are one of those desserts that people have pretty strong opinions about. Cakey or fudgy? With nuts or without? Before trying these, I was firmly in the cakey with nuts crowd. However, you can now consider me a convert. Hands down, these are the best brownies I’ve ever had. I guess I just had to find the right brownie to convince me that fudgy brownies are actually good. These brownies are intensely chocolatey and so delicious. The espresso helps intensify the flavor of the chocolate, and you can taste a slight hint of it while eating the brownie. This will be my go-to standard brownie recipe for the foreseeable future.
- YIELD: 24 brownies
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder
11 ounces dark chocolate (60 to 72%), coarsely chopped
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
5 eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1
Heat oven to 350º and butter the sides and bottom of a 9-by-13-inch glass baking pan. Whisk together the flour, salt and cocoa powder in a medium bowl and set aside.
Place the chocolate, butter and espresso powder in a large bowl and set over a pot of simmering water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is completely melted and smooth. Turn off heat, but keep the bowl over the water. Whisk in the sugars until completely combined, then remove bowl from the pot. If the mixture isn’t room temperature at this point, allow it to cool slightly until it reaches room temperature.
- 2
Whisk 3 eggs into the chocolate mixture, taking care not to overbeat them. Whisk in the remaining 2 eggs, then stir in the vanilla. Using a rubber spatula, gradually fold in the flour until just incorporated.
Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, rotating halfway through, until a toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached. Allow to cool, then cut into squares and serve. Brownies can be kept, tightly wrapped, at room temperature for up to 3 days (like they’ll last that long).
Fudgy brownie goodness! I totally love this recipe and love even more how your photos turned out. I’m jealous we’re not neighbors…for more than just this reason, of course. 🙂
Your photos are to die for. I made these last weekend, and and I know I messed them up because they were not what I thought they’d be. You aren’t the first person I’ve seen rave about this recipe, so clearly it was just me who had issues. They were a little too cakey, so all I can think of is that I overmixed it. I didn’t got too crazy with mixing though, so I’m not sure. What do you think?
Thanks, Colleen! I know the recipe says to be very careful about whisking in the eggs because overbeating will cause the brownies to be cakey. I just barely whisked mine. This may sound weird, but sometimes I find holding the whisk similar to a pen or pencil prevents me from whisking too vigorously.
I am usually in the same category as you: cakey with nuts. So if you thought these were good, maybe I’ll think the same too! Do you mind sharing what brands of chocolate you used? I’d like to try making these exactly the way you did, if possible. 🙂
Kimiko, I used 8 ounces of 72% Valrhona and 4 ounces of 63% Cluizel. I got them both from La Cuisine, a specialty kitchen store in Alexandria. You can order their chocolates online, too. I think using any high quality chocolate would be fine, though, as long as you’re not using standard chocolate chips or something. Hope that helps!
These look incredibly delicious! Yum! Looking forward to trying the recipe.
I am definitely in the fudgy brownie camp, so these are right up my alley. I already have a go-to recipe, but now I want to try these so I can compare. Too many brownie recipes is never a bad thing, right?
Sounds like you’ve moved into an awesome, welcoming neighborhood! I love it! And I love these brownies… I’m dying over how fudgy and delicious they look. Awesome new neighbor thank yous!
I was just at Baked this past summer! So cool visiting and the desserts are fantastic. Your brownies look incredible!
I have been looking for a good baked brownie recipe. I will have to try these soon. Although I better wait until I have somewhere to bring them. I do not have much self-restraint around brownies!
Yum! Is that the packaging you used for your neighbors? Where did you find it?
Whitney, the packaging is from Michael’s, but I’m not sure if they still carry it.
Thanks! I like how it lets you package just a few nicely vs. giving a whole plate. That way you can get more out of the recipe.