Simmering Saturdays: Chocolate Brownies
Easy Chocolate Brownies
The secret to a really great brownie is using both melted chocolate AND cocoa powder, plus butter instead of oil (because butter has way better flavor than oil). The combination of these plus minimal flour, just enough to make a barely-set batter, and brown sugar rather than white (for extra moisture and chewiness) is what will deliver that perfect rich, fudgy brownie you’ve been dreaming about.
Ingredients
- 14 tbsp unsalted butter (1 3/4 US sticks)
- 1 1/4 cups dark chocolate chips
- 1 cup brown sugar, loosely packed
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup plain flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- Pinch of salt
- 6 oz dark chocolate block/bar (optional), chopped into chunks rather than shards, (bittersweet or semi-sweet, cooking chocolate)
ALTERNATIVE STIR IN
- 1 1/2 cups roughly chopped walnuts (or other nuts)
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350°F .
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Spray a 8″ square tin with oil and line with baking/parchment paper with overhang.
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Place butter and chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl, microwave in 30 second bursts (app. 1m 30 sec) until melted. Stir until smooth.
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Add sugar and vanilla, mix, then add eggs and mix well until smooth and molten.
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Add flour, cocoa and salt and stir until smooth. Stir in chopped chocolate, pour into pan.
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Bake 24 minutes for really gooey in the center, 28 minutes for fudgey, but still very moist, 32 minutes for moist fudge-cake-like.
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If you didn’t use the extra chocolate for stirring in, reduce cook time by 2 minutes.
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Rest for 10 minutes before lifting out of the pan. Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before cutting. Store in an airtight container for 4 days (bet they don’t last that long!) or freeze for 3 months.