Let’s be honest with ourselves, shall we? Who doesn’t like chocolate? Honestly, who doesn’t? Chocolate is one of my many culinary loves. Anything with chocolate on or in it, and I’ll be all over it, believe you me. It’s one of those foods that absolutely screams comfort. it’s just one of those foods that is so versatile and so delicious that it almost defies explanation. So here’s one of my all time favorite chocolate concoctions: Chocolate Brownies. This is a mixture of two recipes and techniques. Half the credit goes to my cousin. The rest goes to Mr. Alton Brown of Good Eats fame.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/4 cups of Cocoa Powder
- 1 cup each of Brown Sugar and Regular Sugar
- 1/2 cup of Flour (All-Purpose is best)
- 1/2 teaspoon of Salt
- 8 ounces of Melted or Room-Temperature Butter
- 2 teaspoons of Vanilla Extract
- 4 Large Eggs
Hardware:
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Electric Mixer (hand or stand is good)
- Spatula or a Bowl Scraper
- Sifter (or mesh bowl)
- Toothpick (this should be obvious why this is here if you’ve ever made brownies before)
- Pan for the brownies
- Small length of parchment paper
- No-Stick spray
- Pizza Cutter (you’ll see why)
- Preheat your over to 300-degrees
- Spray the inside of the pan with the no-stick spray
- Tear/Cut a length of parchment paper so it will act like a makeshift basket when you pull the brownies out later on. This will prevent the brownies from breaking up when you pull them out of the pan.
- Beat the eggs first. The batter will come together better this way. Beat until they go from dark yellow to light yellow
- Sift all the dry goods together and add them to the eggs
- Once they’re all integrated, add the rest of the ingredients
- Mix for about another minute and then get everything into the pan
- Park them in the oven for 45 – 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out nice and clean when inserted into the middle
- Here’s the trick, you need to get them out of the pan and cut while they’re still warm. Here’s where the parchment sling comes into play. Using the sling, pick up the brownies and get them to a cutting board. Then, using the pizza cutter (easiest tool for the job, thank you Mr. Brown) cut the brownies into as many pieces as you need.
- Let cool before serving
I guarantee that these will be the best brownies you will ever have. If you’re REALLY adventurous, you can follow a tip my cousin told me. To the dry team of the brownies, add about 1/2 Teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper. Apparently it really enhances the chocolate flavor. I’ve never mustered up the courage to try it yet, but maybe one day I will.
