deliciousness

belgian brownies

via the wednesday chef
makes 14 brownies

9 ounces bittersweet chocolate (60 - 64% cacao)
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
5 eggs, beaten lightly with a fork
1 1/3 cups superfine sugar
3 tablespoons pastry flour

Roughly chop the chocolate into pieces. Transfer to a medium-sized bowl and add the butter. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, until the two ingredients have melted. Mix well and transfer to a large bowl; set aside.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Sift the sugar and flour together, then stir into the chocolate. Add the eggs and mix well. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. The batter will thicken as it stands.

Line a muffin tin with cupcake papers. Spoon one-fourth cup batter into each paper-lined cup. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. The brownies will still be moist when done; they will puff up and fall slightly as they cool.

s’mores brownies

via joy the baker
makes 9x13 pan of brownies

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
5 large eggs
1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup graham cracker, roughly crushed with your hands
12 big marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9×13-inch baking pan with 2-inch-high sides. Combine first 3 ingredients in small bowl. Stir butter and chocolate in a medium sized bowl over a  heavy  saucepan of simmering water.  Stir chocolate and butter in this double boiler until melted and smooth.

Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla in large bowl to blend. Stir in warm chocolate mixture, then dry ingredients. Fold in graham crackers.  Pour batter into prepared pan. Dot with 12 large marshmallows.  Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 30- 40 minutes minutes.

Marshmallows will be browned and puffy but will deflate as the brownies cool.  Cool for at least 20 minutes than slice with a sharp knife, cleaning the knife with hot water if it gets too messy and sticky.  Serve or wrap individually in wax paper for storing.

dave and kate’s remarkable brownies

adapted from David Lebovitz’s The Great Book of Chocolate
makes 12 brownies (although really just depends on cutting preference)

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup walnuts or pecans, toasted and chopped
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips

Butter 8in. square pan and lightly dust with cocoa powder, tapping out excess. Preheat oven to 325.

Melt butter in a double boiler, then add unsweetened chocolate and melt over low heat. Remove from heat and mix in sugar, then eggs and vanilla.

Stir in flour and salt, then nuts and chocolate chips. Scrape batter into pan and bake in center of oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.

Wait for brownies to come all the way to room temperature to cut and remove from pan. They can last for up to 3 days at room temperature in an airtight container.

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ina’s outrageous brownies

via sugarplummusings
makes 20 large or about 40 smaller brownies, depending on cutting preference

1 pound unsalted butter, softened
1 pound plus 12 oz semisweet chocolate chips (divided into 1 pound for melting and 12 oz chips)
6 oz unsweetended chocolate
6 extra-large eggs
3 Tbsp instant coffee powder
2 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (1 cup for batter, 1/4 cup mixed with nuts and chocolate chip)
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
3 cups diced hazelnuts (I roasted whole hazelnuts for about 8 min before cooling and dicing)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 13 x 18 x 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.

Melt together the butter, 1 pound of semisweet chocolate chips, and unsweetened chocolate on top of a double boiler. Cool slightly. In a large bowl, stir together the eggs, instant coffee, vanilla, and sugar. Stir in the warm chocolate mixture and cool to room temperature.

Stir together 1 cup of the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips with 1/4 cup flour to coat. Then add to the chocolate batter. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until tester just comes out clean. Halfway through the baking, rap the pan against the oven shelf to allow air to escape from between the pan and the brownie batter. Do not over-bake. Cool thoroughly, refrigerate well and cut into squares.

belated birthday brownies

via Nigella’s How to be a Domestic Goddess
yield: 48 maximum

1 2/3 c. soft unsalted butter
13 oz bittersweet chocolate
6 large eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 2/3 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 1/3 c. chopped hazelnuts

13x9x2.5 inch pan

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line your brownie pan with foil or parchment.

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a large heavy-based pan. In a bowl or large wide-mouthed measuring cup, beat the eggs with the vanilla and sugar. Measure the flour into another bowl and add the salt.

When the chocolate mixture has melted, let it cool a bit before beating in the eggs and sugar, and then the nuts and flour. Beat to combine smoothly and then scrape out of the saucepan into the lined pan.

Bake for about 25 minutes. When it’s ready, the top should be dried to a paler brown speckle, but the middle still dark and dense and gooey. And even with such a big batch you do need to keep alert, keep checking: the difference between gungy brownies and dry brownies is only a few minutes; remember that they will continue to cook as they cool.

Notes:
- have baked without lining, definitely worth the miniscule effort in both removal and cleaning.
- butter should either be softened or cut into small cubes if taken straight from the refrigerator. otherwise chocolate completely melts before butter and there’s a good chance of seizing. or just ues a double boiler.
- batter is pretty thick already, but to make sure that the nuts don’t just sink to the bottom, add the nuts to the flour and coat before combining with the chocolate and eggs.
- next time will add a little espresso and toast the hazelnuts.

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