Dark is My Soul, and Also My Brownie
May. 31st, 2026 10:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madbakerThis week's Resolution Recipe: Dark Chocolate Brownies.
"In a world full of great brownie recipes, this is the only one you need."
8 oz unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups (226 g) roughly chopped 72% chocolate
3 Tbsp (42 g) roughly chopped unsweetened baking chocolate
2/3 cup packed (142 g) dark brown sugar
1 1/2 c (300 g) sugar
1 1/2 tsp (4 1/2 g) salt
4 eggses
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla (Ha! I used... more.)
1 2/3 cups (208 g) unbleached bread flour
1/2 cup (42 g) cocoa powder
1 1/4 cup (250 g)milk bittersweet chocolate chips
Heat oven to 375°. Lightly grease a 9x13" sheet pan, and line bottom and sides with parchment paper. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir every few minutes and watch to prevent browning. Meanwhile, place 72% and baking chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Pour the melted butter over the chocolate, and stir gently until the chocolate melts into the butter.
In a large mixing bowl, combine sugars, salt, eggses, egg yolk, and vanilla. Whisk vigorously with a hand mixer until the mixture is pale in color and very creamy, 1 minute. (Be sure to beat eggses and sugar well. This is how you get a shiny, flaky top on your brownie.) (see what didn't work) Add chocolate mixture to egg mixture, and whisk until everything is combined. Add flour and cocoa powder, using a spatula to mix just until no dry bits of flour remain.
Transfer batter to prepared pan, and smooth surface. Gently rap pan on counter to burst air pockets in batter. Sprinkle chocolate chips onto surface along with 1 c walnut pieces and gently press them in just a little bit. Bake for 10 minutes, rotate pan, and bake about 15 minutes more until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with very moist crumbs still clinging to it.
Remove brownies from oven and let cool in pan. Eat them immediately (You just said to wait until they are cool!) or, if you enjoy a chewier brownie, transfer pan to freezer and chill for 1/2 hour. Cutting the brownies while they are very cold will produce a densely packed, chewy texture, and clean cuts.
What worked: I don't see the point of milk chocolate chips when bittersweet ones are available. They were quite rich and fudgy. Sticking the pan in the freezer for half an hour did seem to help with cutting crisp edges, though the middle not being completely set worked against that.
What didn't: I took the butter off the heat just after it all melted; it was not hot enough to melt the chocolate. I had to put it in a saucepan of simmering water (to avoid browning the butter) and stir.
The pan wasn't quite cooked in the middle. More importantly, the directions say to "gently press in the chocolate chips just a little bit" - which I did, and they coated the top completely so there is no way to get a shiny/crackly top. Looking again, the picture implies that you push them in flush with the batter, but at that point I would just mix them in thankyouverymuch.
Will I make it again? Eh, maybe. It would have to be for a potluck though; a 9x13 pan is too much for us to go through. Which didn't stop us from doing it (gradually), but that's part of the problem...
"In a world full of great brownie recipes, this is the only one you need."
8 oz unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups (226 g) roughly chopped 72% chocolate
3 Tbsp (42 g) roughly chopped unsweetened baking chocolate
2/3 cup packed (142 g) dark brown sugar
1 1/2 c (300 g) sugar
1 1/2 tsp (4 1/2 g) salt
4 eggses
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla (Ha! I used... more.)
1 2/3 cups (208 g) unbleached bread flour
1/2 cup (42 g) cocoa powder
1 1/4 cup (250 g)
Heat oven to 375°. Lightly grease a 9x13" sheet pan, and line bottom and sides with parchment paper. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir every few minutes and watch to prevent browning. Meanwhile, place 72% and baking chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Pour the melted butter over the chocolate, and stir gently until the chocolate melts into the butter.
In a large mixing bowl, combine sugars, salt, eggses, egg yolk, and vanilla. Whisk vigorously with a hand mixer until the mixture is pale in color and very creamy, 1 minute. (Be sure to beat eggses and sugar well. This is how you get a shiny, flaky top on your brownie.) (see what didn't work) Add chocolate mixture to egg mixture, and whisk until everything is combined. Add flour and cocoa powder, using a spatula to mix just until no dry bits of flour remain.
Transfer batter to prepared pan, and smooth surface. Gently rap pan on counter to burst air pockets in batter. Sprinkle chocolate chips onto surface along with 1 c walnut pieces and gently press them in just a little bit. Bake for 10 minutes, rotate pan, and bake about 15 minutes more until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with very moist crumbs still clinging to it.
Remove brownies from oven and let cool in pan. Eat them immediately (You just said to wait until they are cool!) or, if you enjoy a chewier brownie, transfer pan to freezer and chill for 1/2 hour. Cutting the brownies while they are very cold will produce a densely packed, chewy texture, and clean cuts.
What worked: I don't see the point of milk chocolate chips when bittersweet ones are available. They were quite rich and fudgy. Sticking the pan in the freezer for half an hour did seem to help with cutting crisp edges, though the middle not being completely set worked against that.
What didn't: I took the butter off the heat just after it all melted; it was not hot enough to melt the chocolate. I had to put it in a saucepan of simmering water (to avoid browning the butter) and stir.
The pan wasn't quite cooked in the middle. More importantly, the directions say to "gently press in the chocolate chips just a little bit" - which I did, and they coated the top completely so there is no way to get a shiny/crackly top. Looking again, the picture implies that you push them in flush with the batter, but at that point I would just mix them in thankyouverymuch.
Will I make it again? Eh, maybe. It would have to be for a potluck though; a 9x13 pan is too much for us to go through. Which didn't stop us from doing it (gradually), but that's part of the problem...
