Re: My Favorite Yao Torrent
Achmat Das
While listening to folks waiting for a lift complain about how much their goggles were fogging on a recent powder day, I was happy that my mask hid my smile while I popped open the lenses and let my favorite goggles breathe.
Updated to note: If you only have semi- or bittersweet chocolate (60 to 72 percent), I created a version of these brownies with that last year, the darker half of this duo. But, the chocolate intensity is definitely dialed down. However, the sugar level is also adjusted to accommodate for the sweeter chocolate.
In a medium heatproof bowl over gently simmering water, melt chocolate and butter together until only a couple unmelted bits remain. Off the heat, stir until smooth and fully melted. You can also do this in the microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring between each. Whisk in sugar, then eggs, one at a time, then vanilla and salt. Stir in flour with a spoon or flexible spatula and scrape batter into prepared pan, spread until even. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out batter-free.
Awesome. Two weeks ago, I spent an hour examining all of your brownie recipes to pick one for a potluck (because your recipes are so reliably delicious!!!). I read the comments, scanned for ingredients that I actually had and then finally settled on the One-Bowl Brownies from the Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake recipe. It was a fabulous choice. But reading all of those recipes, I wondered what your absolute favourite brownie was!? Now I know. And I guess that means that I have to make these too. Bummer. ;) Thanks, Deb. You sure know how to keep us chocoholics happy!
This is so close to my own recipe! The biggest difference is that I have nearly twice as much of everything (apart from flour, which I only have 50% more of) but I also use an 88 pan so mine are just taller, I guess. :-)
Never enough brownie recipes1 I love to make them, with browned butter, and I sometimes sprinkle the top with flay fleur de sal and a bit of olive oil. Of course, you can never go wrong with a simple scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of a warm brownie. :)
Another surprisingly effective technique is to use a plastic knife. I always keep a set of plastic cutlery around just for that. Nothing special, just a regular fork/knife/spoon set you might get for a picnic or that comes with takeout.
How can I make this travel- friendly? Prep the batter and freeze, then bake for a few extra minutes once I get there?
Or bake, then freeze the finished brownies and thaw when ready to devour? How long will they keep?
I am seriously so grateful for this recipe. I totally love the simplicity, and unsweetened chocolate. Sometimes, like you said, you just want a brownie now. Sometimes I just want one too, now, and I am a simple ingredients kinda gal at times. So this is going in my arsenal for that day, like yours, when I need a brownie fix. I fell it happening soon though, so I will let you know how amazing they are:)
Hi deb, because of my pregnancy i crave anything chocolate almost every day and i really want to make the brownies, but i dont have a square pan, so when i go buy it should i get a glass or metal pan? i dont know if there is a diference,and i also have a gas oven, i dont know if this does make a difference on the baking times
Annie, I recently went gluten-free myself, and the best advice I ever read about it is that if you want to make recipes you already have, you just have to substitute weight-for-weight on the flour. You can either buy an all purpose mix or make your own (about a 1 to 1 ratio of starch flours vs whole grain flours). Almond flour tastes great in baked goods, but can get expensive. Sorghum flour is a whole grain and tastes the most like wheat, etc.
Just made brownies last week using your Brownie with spices recipe and was happy to finally find what was to be my brownie recipe for life and now I saw this and you have me in a brownie quandary here. Is there room for two perfect brownie recipes?
Ok, am I the only one who cuts an 8 inch pan of brownies into EIGHT pieces??? I freeze them and eat one every Friday. I recently started baking brownies in silicon muffin pans so each one has more *edge* (and they come out so easily). I freeze them and they last 12 weeks.
These are in the oven now and will be the perfect surprise for my boys when they come home after their first day of school. My oldest son loves peanut butter, do you think I could add some to this recipe for a little pb kick or would it change the consistency too much? Thanks for sharing.
Deb, I totally agree about frosted brownies- great brownies should stand alone! My partner does not share my opinion, which leads us to much brownie related pre-marital strife! Maybe you can come to Denver (very far away, I know) on your book tour and speak to her about the error of her ways when we come to get our book signed?? ;)
I made these last night. My husband and children loved them! I found them slightly bitter (my husband insists I have a sensitivity to bitterness, I hate coffee and dark chocolate!). If I wanted to sweeten them up some, would you recommend going with more sugar or a sweeter chocolate? Last night, I just covered them in whip cream.
A must-try, as a similar recipe from, oh, a 1964 or so magazine has been my fave for years. Only one disaster, when my then-12 -years old daughter neglected to read the complete instructions and kept on using the melting pan to cook, rather than bake, the brownies! Happy to say, they were eventually baked and enjoyed. Love your recipes and cannot wait for your cookbook!
This week I took microbrews, potato salad, breads meat and cheeses and TWO types of brownies to a group of young men who were hauling ice, water and gatorade to forest fire fighters. One brownie was chocolate truffles and wanuts, the other was a blondie with oats, chocolate and pecans. Microbrews can help put a a blazing forest.
Just tried this recipe the brownies came well and tasted fantastic!one among the best brownies i ever had.Glad you shared the recipe.DEB did you used powdered sugar in the recipe instead of grain sugar,I had a really tough time dissolving the grain sugar in the batter,i managed any how.HOW did you manage?
These are a lot like a James Beard recipe that I have used since 1975. Always liked that I did not use a lot of dishes to make them. They are a great snack for after school! They also can be made into great ice cream sandwiches with ice cream of your choice.
My grandmother used to make a very similar brownie since, well, as far back as I have any brownie memories. Though your recipe has slightly more flour and sugar, it is the same basic formula. My family has never accepted any other brownie. It comes from the old Claiborne NYT cookbook, and it is a treasure.
These were amazing and easy. I have always done Alton Browns cocoa brownies and while good, these are better. (and easier) I had so much fun making them. I need better chocolate next time, but Bakers worked fine as that was what I had on hand. I need to get out of the kitchen or I am going to eat them all!
These look AMAZING! Just for future reference: in the UK unsweetened chocolate is also called cooking chocolate, which can be found at any supermarket :) We might also be able to use 100% cocoa chocolate?
Oh, thank you. As a mother of a seventeen month old insomniac and a deep lover of all things started and completed in under 40 minutes, your post made me cry in my coffee this morning knowing that someone, somewhere shares my degree of sleeplessness and penchant for bittersweet chocolate.
You have a wicked, wicked power. Basically, you post it, I make it. Your photos and descriptions have a power of suggestion that cannot be overcome, and I must have it RightNowOrAsSoonAsIGetHome. You posted it on Monday and I made it Monday night, even though I was dead tired and fell asleep right after they came out of the oven. My husband thanks you.
I owned a bakery back in my day and my most popular item was the fudge brownie and this is more or less the EXACT recipe I used. Completely pure ingredients, no fillers needed. The.Perfect.Brownie. So glad to know you appreciate it as much as I do!
I ate these for dinner last night and they were perfection! Even better when they had fully cooled down this afternoon! I will be using this recipe often. Takes two minutes more than boxed brownies and the result is two million times better!
Well, your favorite brownies are now my favorite brownies too. Thanks to this recipe, last night I was able to banish my crummy mood within 45 minutes, and before 9pm! I miraculously had all the required ingredients on hand, including exactly 3 oz. of unsweetened chocolate. Thanks for making my evening!
*85% chocolate worked wonderfully. When adding the sugar to the melted choco & butter, I started with half a cup and kept tasting and adding in heaping tablespoons until it seemed sweet enough. For me, that ended up being about 2/3 cup sugar total.
With my above sugar-tweak and the flour sub I found I needed to bake these about 5 minutes longer. They turned out delectably dark and chocolatey. They were perhaps a tiny bit denser than regular brownies. But my favorite tip from Deb is to freeze them. Oh, my, they are so, so good that way! I kind of want to split them horizontally and make them into ice-cream sandwiches.
These are almost exactly the recipe that I use! Its from Julia Child, the only differences are that your recipe is for half of hers, you use more flour and she uses a combo of unsweetened and bittersweet (although i only use unsweetened). So perfect!!
My second attempt saw only the smallest changes. I melted the chocolate and butter together, as prescribed, but included freshly scraped vanilla bean with them. I allowed them to melt together for about ten minutes, so as to extract some of that flavor from the vanilla. I also used one egg and two additional yolks, to make the brownies even richer. And I used coarse sea salt so there would be little pellets of crunchy saltiness in the sea of chocolate. They turned out great.
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