Saturday, March 8, 2008

The best Brownies

Brownies. I have tried many brownies in my life time, and these are definitely the best. My friend Liz first used this recipe,from cooks illustrated. She would bring them to lunch for us to enjoy. I finally decided to make the recipe myself and they are what I think it , the perfect brownie! They are chocolaty and decadent. They have a really nice cocoa flavor, and they are not gooey, or cakey. They may not look like anything special,but they are just perfect. Another great thing about making these, is that they are fairly quick and easy to make! You take the butter and chocolate, and melt it together.Then you mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.Then you mix everything up. First with additions of flour.I thought that this picture was kinda funny because it reminds me of my shirt after I splotch flour all over myself. Hehe Then you put them on a bake pan, and bake them up. Cut them into squares, and they will look like this ->I cant even describe these in a way that serves them justice. They are just heavenly.
Today I also made something pretty cool for lunch, but I will leave you in suspense, and post about it later ; )

Classic Brownies
Cookies illustrated
Smitten Kitchen

Be sure to test for doneness before removing the brownies from the oven. If underbaked (the toothpick has batter clinging to it) the texture of the brownies will be dense and gummy. If overbaked (the toothpick comes out completely clean), the brownies will be dry and cakey.

1 cup (4 ounces) pecans or walnuts, chopped medium (optional)
1¼ cups (5 ounces) cake flour
½ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon baking powder
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine
12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, cut into six 1-inch pieces
2¼ cups (15¾ ounces) sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 325 degrees. Cut 18-inch length foil and fold lengthwise to 8-inch width. Fit foil into length of 13 by 9-inch baking dish, pushing it into corners and up sides of pan; allow excess to overhand pan edges. Cut 14-inch length foil and, if using extra-wide foil, fold lengthwise to 12-inch width; fit into width of baking pan in same manner, perpendicular to first sheet. Spray foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2. If using nuts, spread nuts evenly on rimmed baking sheet and toast in oven until fragrant, 5 to 8 minutes. Set aside to cool.

3. Whisk to combine flour, salt, and baking powder in medium bowl; set aside.

4. Melt chocolate and butter in large heatproof bowl set over saucepan of almost-simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth. (Alternatively, in microwave, heat butter and chocolate in large microwave-safe bowl on high for 45 seconds, then stir and heat for 30 seconds more. Stir again, and, if necessary, repeat in 15-second increments; do not let chocolate burn.) When chocolate mixture is completely smooth, remove bowl from saucepan and gradually whisk in sugar. Add eggs on at a time, whisking after each addition until thoroughly combined. Whisk in vanilla. Add flour mixture in three additions, folding with rubber spatula until batter is completely smooth and homogeneous.

5. Transfer batter to prepared pan; using spatula, spread batter into corners of pan and smooth surface. Sprinkle toasted nuts (if using) evenly over batter and bake until toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into center of brownies comes out with few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours, then remove brownies from pan by lifting foil overhang. Cut brownies into 2-inch squares and serve. (Store leftovers in airtight container at room temperature, for up to 3 days, or, ahem, in the freezer until your resistance gets the better of you.)

23 comments:

Hello, I'm Sally. said...

I've been trying to find the perfect brownie recipe, but I've only been testing the ones that use cocoa powder. I think I'm going to have to try these though. You make it look easy! And delicious.

So far, I've only got one recipe on my site. But I'm about to put up two more, soon.

priscilla joy said...

Ooh Jessy...looks good! Brownies are delicious!

Anonymous said...

i have made the cooks illustrated brownies too, and i agree. they are the best!!!

giz said...

It must be the forever winter syndrome - everybody is into chocolate :). Okay, twist my arm -I'll have one please.

Anonymous said...

Hey Jess-

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I can't believe you are only 15!! You must be an old soul. Your site and writing is very put together. Thanks for leading me to you, I will visit often. I am going to be updating my Blogroll soon and I will add you to it if that's all right with you? Also that challah is a masterpiece, really.

Jessy and her dog Winnie said...

Yeah that would be great! I will add you to mine too.

Mary Coleman said...

those brownies look great, jessy!
your hearth bread looks wonderful as well!
keep on cooking, honey!!
mary coleman

RecipeGirl said...

You can always trust a Cooks Illustrated recipe. I'm gonna have to try these!!

Pixie said...

well done on your brownies...i have a fav and it's so hard for me to now try other ones!

you should try making bagels again, i'm sure they will come out great second time around

Anonymous said...

They look absolutely divine! I've found it can be quite tricky to get the perfect brownie. They are often too gooey or too hard. These look perfect.

Anna said...

Ohhh I love brownies, but I fail at baking them (I blame the Aga!) The first thing I'm going to make when I move out will be brownies, and I'll finally find out if it's the oven or me that's the problem, lol. These look great!

MissGinsu said...

Nice. I'm going to give these a whirl. It'd be good to have a never-fail brownie recipe on hand. They're always the first thing to go at a bake sale. ;)

Anonymous said...

The shot of the butter and chocolate made me really hungry... am I weird? :-) Definitely going to try these.

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

I think I know what your career will be when the time comes...food stylist, famous cookbook author...the sky is the limit!!

Anonymous said...

I can't believe i'm going to say this, but I should've know it was coming. Your brownies look 1000000 times better than mine! Yet again, I'm amazed.
p.s. chocolate in the solarium
p.p.s. I have a tiny suprise for u. Remind me in english.

Emily said...

The brownies look delish. I like mine really, really, dark chocolatey.

Hey your dog reminds me of Winnie Cooper from the Wonder Years.

Anonymous said...

Okay deary I added you to my blogroll; keep up the good work.

The Peanut Butter Boy said...

I'm about to make a blogroll on my site and you're sure to be added =). Amazing looking brownies. Using unsweetened chocolate is the best way to do it because you control the exact sweetness. Delicious!

- The Peanut Butter Boy

Veron said...

brownies are the best thing to do with chocolate! They look delicious!

pinknest said...

save me a corner piece!!

daphne said...

yum! i love brownies! are these fudge like?

Jessy and her dog Winnie said...

Yeah! They have the perfect balance of fudgey-ness and cocoa flavor!

Anonymous said...

These brownies do look heavenly! I tried once and failed. No courage to try again. And I love eating brownies with a scoop vanilla ice cream.

Thanks for dropping by my blog. You bake very interesting things. =)