Hello friends – how goes the long weekend? Good you say? Let’s make it great by rustling up a pan of these brownies. All it takes is some undecidedly fancy ingredients to get some pretty darn delicious results. Now I have had a go-to brownie recipe for a long time now, it is quick and delicious and I've been making a version of it since I was little. With a few notable exceptions other brownie recipes have left me feeling a little ‘meh’ especially the ones that have involved elaborate procedures and recommended that I wait 24 hours before trying a piece – laughable really.
When I came across this one from Cookie + Kate I had a feeling. For one she takes crackly tops seriously, as do I. For another she seems to really get that a brownie, a perfect brownie, should be mostly fudgy but with a little bit of heft. A rich caramelly back note, a touch of coffee and a little extra cocoa powder doesn’t hurt. Also I think the stirring is kinda magical – the last 50 strokes at the end – don’t skip it.
Speaking of skipping things, I think I may have failed to mention something – the South Asian Bloggers Network. A duo of wonderful women came up with the idea of bringing South Asian bloggers under one banner to help foster the advantages of a community both in terms of blogging support and sponsorship. You can read more about it here.
Well the same duo also came up with a challenge a few weeks ago – a two week blogging challenge, a post on each weekday for two weeks straight making for a total of 10 posts over 14 days. Bring it on I say! Actually moment of truth: I totally panicked and am now faking a cool bring-it-on-its-no-bigs attitude. What I am genuinely excited about is bringing you a slew of yummies over the next two weeks – as my insta followers now I have been cooking and baking away and now it’s time to get blogging!
Hope you enjoy this sweet start to the next two weeks!
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into ½-inch slice
- 1¼ cups sugar
- ¾ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon espresso powder or very finely ground coffee optional
- 2 cold large eggs
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup flour
- 2 ounces dark or semi-sweet chocolate roughly chopped (or ⅓ cup chocolate chips)
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Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit with a rack in the lower third of the oven. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper and grease the paper.
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Now brown some butter by melting it in a heavy bottomed saucepan and cooking, stirring until it turns golden brown with caramelly bits.
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Remove the pan from heat and briskly stir in the sugar to allow it to dissolve
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Now throw in the cocoa powder, sea salt, baking powder and espresso powder. Mix well. Let the mixture cool for 5 minutes.
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Energetically mix in the eggs one at a time with a spatula or wooden spoon
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When the mixture looks thick, shiny and well blended, then pop in the vanilla extract and the flour. Stir until you no longer see streaks of flour.
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Now VERY IMPORTANT: Stir the batter for an energetic 50 Strokes
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Fold in the chocolate chunks or chips. Spread the batter in the lined pan, then use a knife to make light swirls in the top of the batter.
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Bake on the lower rack for about 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean. Cool the brownies in the pan on a baking rack, remove from the pan by lifting the parchment paper once cool and cut into squares.
If you want to skip browning the butter that's fine - they will still be yummy! Just use 1 tbsp less of butter
