Fudgy, thick, not too sweet brownies

Photo courtesy www.kingarthurflour.com

One of my students requested brownies for his birthday treat. He had two requirements, however. The first was fudgy brownies, and the second was that he didn’t want them to be too sweet. 

I have made at least a dozen different brownie recipes and there always seems to be something wrong. Even Ina Garten, who I love, has a brownie recipe that has come out slightly dry and not the right texture for me. I searched all over the internet, and finally came across a brownie recipe from King Arthur Flour. It received reviews raving about the texture, flavor, and shiny top. I knew it was the one. It uses a combination of cocoa powder and chocolate chips. I rarely use chocolate chips because I think the flavor in a chocolate bar is usually much better and chocolate bars don’t have as many stabilizers. This recipe does something different than any I had seen before. You actually cook the eggs and sugar together until the sugar dissolves. This is what makes the top shiny. I also wonder whether this affects the egginess (is that a word?) of the brownies, because they didn’t come out too cakey or tough. Another benefit of this recipe is the quantity of the batter. Usually the brownies I have made are just not thick enough if you use a 13 x 9 inch pan, but these were just the right thickness. And, wow, was the texture just perfect! This recipe is definitely a keeper.

Fudge Brownies (from King Arthur Flour)

 Makes 24  2-inch brownies.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter (I used salted and decreased the salt to 1/2 teaspoon)
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cups Double-Dutch Dark Cocoa or Dutch-process cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon espresso powder (optional - I left it out)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups chopped dark chocolate (or semi-sweet chocolate chips)

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan

2) In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, or in a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Or simply combine the butter and sugar, and heat, stirring, until the butter is melted. Continue to heat (or microwave) briefly, just until the mixture is hot (about 110°F to 120°F), but not bubbling; it'll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating the mixture to this point will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.

3) While the sugar heats a second time, crack the 4 eggs into a bowl, and beat them with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla till smooth.

4) Add the hot butter/sugar mixture, stirring until smooth.

5) Add the flour and chips, again stirring until smooth. Note: If you want the chips to remain intact in the baked brownies, rather than melting in, let the batter cool in the bowl for about 20 minutes before stirring in the chips.

6) Spoon the batter into a lightly greased 9" x 13" pan.

7) Bake the brownies for about 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and the center should look very moist, but not uncooked. Remove them from the oven and cool on a rack before cutting and serving.