Kitchen3N

Recipes and food fun from Apt 3N

Double Chocolate Brownies

IMG_2802 Apologies for the month of silence from Kitchen3n. The dog ate my computer. More like the Apple store took my malfunctioning iMac for a week and couldn’t reproduce the problem we are CONSISTENTLY having at home. Does anyone else’s mac do this thing where it just randomly starts producing a lot of noise (like the fans are in hyperdrive) even though there are NO CPU intensive programs running? Then just goes berserk and shuts off? Any ideas would be much appreciated. I just barely got to edit these photos before the issue started up again and am finishing up this post from my laptop.

I realize there is pretty much no more room in the food blogosphere for another brownie recipe. I don’t care. I’m sharing my favorite. Also, because, everyone loves looking at pictures of chocolate desserts.

This is the classic Ghirardelli brownie recipe remixed to my liking. The original recipe (rightly so) had chocolate chips. NECESSARY in any brownie recipe. I added a teaspoon of instant coffee to the melted butter/chocolate mixture. A key ingredient in any luscious chocolate dessert. I also use bittersweet chocolate instead of semi-sweet, for a richer, less sweet brownie. IMG_2808I baked these three different ways:

  1. In a parchment paper lined glass baking dish (square). Baked at 350 for 30 minutes. PERFECTLY FUDGEY CENTERS, SLIGHTLY CAKEY OUTSIDES.
  2. In a parchment paper lined glass baking dish (square). Baked at 350 for 25 minutes. TOO FUDGEY.
  3. In a greased glass baking dish (square). Baked at 350 for 30 minutes. TOO DRY.

There is one more option: unlined baking dish for 25 minutes. I’ll save that for the next rainy day experiment. Serve these babies with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and live your life with no regrets.

Adapted from Ghirardelli.

Ingredients

  • 4 oz. bittersweet baking chocolate (you can use semi sweet if you prefer)
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1 tsp instant coffee granules
  • 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp all purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 3/8 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions

  1. Heat water in a medium saucepan over low heat. Keep to a simmer. Place a large bowl over the simmering water and melt the chocolate and butter. When it’s just about fully melted, take off the heat and stir until completely melted. Add the coffee granules. Let cool for 10 minutes.
  2. While the chocolate mixture cools, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line an 8×8 glass baking dish with parchment paper.
  3. Next, add the brown sugar to the chocolate mixture and stir with a wooden spoon. Add vanilla extract and eggs, one at a time. Next, add the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir to combine. Finally, add the chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared baking dish.
  4. Bake for 25-30 minutes (the top should look dry). I know I said 30 minutes was good for me, but every oven is calibrated differently, so definitely check at 25 min. The toothpick shouldn’t come out clean, but there should be some crumbs (but not too wet).

Deb’s Favorite Brownies

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Yes, I’m referring to her by her first name because she’s a household name around here, joining the ranks of Giada and Ina. Smitten Kitchen’s Deb Perelman is who I aspire to be. Mother, blogger, and now, cookbook author. She is a meticulous cook whose love of food and attention to detail are the biggest attributes to her success. I am a novice in many of those respects and though parenting takes up the largest percent of my time, effort and mental faculties, my hope is that in time my recipes and food photography will start to measure up to hers.

Onto the brownies. And yes, there are 1,000,001 brownie recipes out there.  Why blog about it when everyone knows that Ghirardelli’s brownies in a box is the no-fail go-to brownies to make when you’re craving some chewy, fudgy squares of chocolatey goodness? We do it because, what IF, among that pile of recipes, there exists one that is so perfect that it hits ALL THE RIGHT NOTES and you believe that you have, in that bite, found cocoa bliss? That is why we keep making these iterations. That is why Deb has 11 different brownie recipes and no doubt she will continue her brownie exploits (as we all will) until we are finally happy (which I doubt will ever happen). It’s kind of like our white whale (brown in this case)

My conclusion: excellent brownies if you happen to have unsweetened chocolate on hand. It was a rare occasion, but I did. Next time though, I might try decreasing the sugar and seeing how I like the sweetness and texture.

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Recipe from Smitten Kitchen.

Ingredients:

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
1 stick unsalted butter, plus extra for pan
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt or 1/4 teaspoon table salt
2/3 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

Heat oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8-inch square baking pan with parchment, extending it up two sides, or foil. Butter the parchment or foil or spray it with a nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium heatproof bowl over gently simmering water, melt chocolate and butter together until only a couple unmelted bits remain. Off the heat, stir until smooth and fully melted. You can also do this in the microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring between each. Whisk in sugar, then eggs, one at a time, then vanilla and salt. Stir in flour with a spoon or flexible spatula and scrape batter into prepared pan, spread until even. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes (I baked mine for 35 min), or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out batter-free.

Let cool and cut into desired size.