AndyW wanted to know the difference between brownies and cookies. I made a batch of brownies so he could see.
Step 0: Take four eggs out of the fridge and let them come to room temperature. This can take a while. Think about how delicious the brownies will be.
Step 1: Melt 4 oz. unsweetened chocolate and 1/2 cup butter in the microwave until just melted. Stir with plastic, metal or rubber implements. (Wood absorbs water, and water can make chocolate seize.)
Important: Let this cool.(You don’t want to make scrambled eggs in a later step.)
Step 2: Sift 1 cup flour and set aside.
Step 3: Once chocolate is fairly cool preheat oven to 350 F and begin really making the brownies!
Step 4: In a large bowl, beat the 4 eggs with 1/4 tsp. salt until frothy. Add 2 cups sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla. Mix well.
Step 5: Make sure the melted chocolate and butter mixture is fairly cool. Add that to the egg mixture. Mix well.
Step 6: Set the beaters aside. The remaining steps are best done using a spoon or rubber spatula. Stir in sifted flour until just blended. Then stir in 1 cup of walnuts or pecans. Some people use other types of nuts.
Step 7: Pour into a greased 9″ x 13″ pan. Smooth the surface.
(You can use a 9 x 9 inch pan if you can’t find a 9″ x 13″ pan. I did that for the JAS brownie winners, but I think it was unwise since it’s hard to get the center cooked without drying the edges. It’s fine if you are eating the brownies at home though. In fact, when I was a kid, we preferred this because some of us liked the more “gooey” bits and some liked the more cooked edge brownies. )
Step 8: Place in preheated oven and bake 25 minutes. The top will be a bit crusty; the centers still a bit gooey.
Step 9: Place on rack to cool. When cool, slice. I recommend slicing into at least 12 slices, though 16 may be wiser. Eat. These are rich, very chocolatey and taste great dipped in milk.
Options: Some people frost their brownies; I don’t. Some recipes are more cake-y; some are more fudgey. Some use cocoa powder instead of the baker’s chocolate. I surfed the web and even found recipes for low fat tofu brownies. (I am not going to cook those. What’s the point? )
Wow, those look delicious! If you’ve never tried it, I highly recommend Scharffen Berger chocolate. It’s one of the few chocolates made in the US from scratch.
http://www.scharffenberger.com/
And if you’re ever in Berkeley, make sure you take the free tour (with lots of free samples of course!).
Yummy. I am looking forward to winning it now. Better go down the gym for a couple of days first though looking at some of those ingredients!
Regards
Andy
I’m not a cookie fan. But, I always find room for Brownies.
Given the popularity in my region, its interesting that in other regions they remain relatively anonymous (maybe they’re hiding — I would if I were on the menu).
I wonder if there will be a rebuttal to your recipe over at Tamino’s?Somehow, I think most folks there would prefer the tofu brownies.
Duane,
Who knows? Maybe Tamino will turn out to fallen under the sway of “Betty Crocker” or “Duncan Hines” boxed brownie mixes. Those are more cakey.
I am having a problem with step 6. When I stir in the sifted flour and nuts by hand, a lot of the batter just sticks to me. Its hard to get back into the bowl, plus everything else I touch gets sticky batter all over it. The bowl , the light switch, the oven top, you name it.
I’m not good enough at statistical analysis to ever hope to win brownies, so I really want to replicate your recipe. I’m making a huge mess.
How do you deal with this? Are you sure I can’t use a spoon?
Bigbub…. I use a spoon.. Many cookbooks call using a spoon “by hand”! Just don’t use the electric beaters. I’ll edit for clarity.
Tamino might complain that you don’t give confidence intervals on your quantities. Neither did you list the “standard errors” that people make. You should also have mentioned the latest “trends” in brownies. And then you want the eggs to warm and the chocolate to cool… All in all, this doesn’t seem scientific at all…
Francois– To be precise, the chocolate must first warm, then melt, then cool but not enough to solidify. Got that?
When I bake these at home, I am 99.98% confident those browines not concealed in the freezer will be eaten within 2 days. I did not use the method of Nychka, as documented in Lee and Lund, and recommended by Tamino to determine my level of confidence.