Aug 04 2009
The Baked Brownie
I had intentions last week to make a flourless brownie using almond flour. And though I figured it would taste good enough, and though I’ve waxed on about trying to keep my flour consumption down, sometimes the love of good food just wins out. Okay, very often, it wins out.
I blame Top Chef Masters. My good intentions went south while watching some of the most talented chefs in the US compete, showcasing both their cuisines and favorite dishes. I started to dream of winning the lottery, simply so that I could take a culinary tour across the country, sampling the best this talent had to offer.
Dreams of winning the lottery morphed into a hamburger with the bun, homemade pizza, and even brownies. And then I came across a recipe for brownies smothered in a peanut butter icing, and topped with a ganache. Once I cleaned up the drool from my keyboard, I asked a friend if he would like to have some.
He said no. N-O. He preferred a regular brownie.
So I started to think. I mentally flipped through the pages of my cookbooks, thought about what I’d seen on some of my favorite cooking blogs. Oh! What about Ina’s Brownie Pudding? I immediately called said friend and asked what he thought about gooey brownies.
He didn’t want a brownie he had to eat with a fork/spoon. Sigh.
And that’s when I remembered The Baked Brownie, voted the best brownie in the whole, entire country, by America’s Test Kitchen. Hmm. So I pulled out my cookbook and read over the recipe. I weighed my chocolate stash, and sure enough, I had enough, as long as I was willing to add some really dark chocolate to the party. Ah well, the more variety, the merrier, right?
This recipe delivers everything you expect from a perfect brownie: a rich, fudgy bar and a paper-thin top. I can see why it was voted number one – this is indeed the perfect brownie.
The Baked Brownie
adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
Ingredients
1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 T dark unsweetened cocoa powder*
3 oz 60% cacao chocolate, chopped coarsely
6 oz 70 % cacao chocolate, chopped coarsely
2 oz 85% cacao chocolate, chopped coarsely
1 c unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 tsp instant espresso powder
1 1/2 c granulated sugar
1/2 c packed light brown sugar
5 large room temperature eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350*F. Butter or spray a 9X13 inch glass baking dish or light-colored metal baking pan, set aside.
Fill a medium-sized saucepan halfway and bring to a simmer over moderate heat. In a large, heatproof bowl, combine chocolate, espresso powder, and butter, stirring occasionally.
Whisk flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a small mixing bowl. Set aside.
When chocolate mixture is melted and smooth, turn off the burner but leave the bowl over the water. Add sugars to the chocolate, and whisk to combine. Remove bowl from water. Add 3 of the eggs, whisk until just combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk, just until combined. Add the vanilla and whisk gently, being very careful not to overmix.
Sprinkle flour mixture over the batter and use a spatula (not the whisk) to fold the flour into the mixture, stopping when you see a few remaining bits of flour mixture.
Bake for 25-30 minutes total, rotating pan after 15 minutes. Be careful not to overbake.
*Baked cautions against using a light-colored cocoa powder, it won’t have enough depth of flavor.
Great brownies!!!! I do love using almond meal in flourless brownies as well but sometimes the cakey type are perfect too!!
Jen, I’m not a huge fan of chocolate cake, which is probably why I pass on “cakey” brownies, but I can certainly see the appeal.
WOW! I love chewy fudgy brownies and your look fabulous!
These look lovely. I have the Baked book and love everything I’ve made out of it but I haven’t gotten to the brownies yet.
DANG! These look so good! We here at Endangered Species Chocolate have an intern, Ashlee, that loves to bake. I’m going to give her this recipe and see what these bad boys taste like with our 72% coca bar and our 88% cocoa bar, I’m guessing amazing! If they are as good as I think they will be, I’ll let you know. And by using ESC chocolate you will be giving back to species, habitat and humanity all while enjoying these bad A brownies. To see how we give back check out our website at http://www.chocolatebar.com or email us at community@chocolatebar.com. Sorry for the shameless promotion, just had to throw it in there. Thanks for the recipe.
Kyle
Endangered Species Chocolate
OMG!! These do indeed look incredibly perfect.
What I wouldn’t do for one (or a whole pan) of those right now. Instead, I’ll go wipe the drool and tears off my keyboard.
Ms Meanie – thanks so much!
Sara – It’s a great book, isn’t it? I can’t wait to try more of the recipes.
Kyle – I hope you all enjoy the recipe.
Donna – Let me know if you try these sometime. I always get hungry when I look at your blog, so perhaps I’ve returned the favor with these brownies…
Chocolate and Whine – I packed several up tonight to give to a friend, but I still have brownies left…I’d send them to you if I could!
[…] What to do with it? Use it as an ice cream topping, slather some on a banana, marble some into a brownie…or simply eat it straight […]
[…] Baked, in Red Hook, Brooklyn, produces amazing, well-crafted baked goods. I’m more than a little obsessed with their apricot-rosemary bars – they’re really good streusel-topped fruit bars, and Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito had the excellent idea of baking rosemary into the shortbread crust to really make the fruit pop. They also came up with a recipe for black hole-like brownie – dense and dark, with irresistible pull. In 2008, they were kind enough to publish this recipe in their first cookbook. Of course, the recipe is now all over the internet. […]
[…] Baked, in Red Hook, Brooklyn, produces amazing, well-crafted baked goods. I’m more than a little obsessed with their apricot-rosemary bars – they’re really good streusel-topped fruit bars, and Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito had the excellent idea of baking rosemary into the shortbread crust to really make the fruit pop. They also came up with a recipe for black hole-like brownie – dense and dark, with irresistible pull. In 2008, they were kind enough to publish this recipe in their first cookbook. Of course, the recipe is now all over the internet. […]
[…] I posted about making The Baked Brownie, it immediately became one of my most popular posts. Clearly, many of us are brownie lovers, and […]