Brownies

Instant brownie mix is for wussies.

This recipe makes the best brownies ever.

• 80g unsifted flour
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 70g butter
• 140g sugar
• 2 tbsp water
• 150g plain chocolate
• 150g plain chocolate chips
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 70g chopped walnuts

Note that above, where it says "chocolate", it means chocolate. If you make these brownies with "cooking chocolate", "chocolate style cake covering", or, gods forbid, Hershey bars, then things will not go well for you.

1. Preheat oven to 325°F / 163°C / gas mark 3.
2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt
3. Place butter, sugar and water in small saucepan; bring just to boil. Remove from heat.
4. Add 150g chocolate and vanilla extract. Stir until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Transfer to large bowl.
5. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. Gradually blend in flour mixture.
7. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.
8. Spread into greased 9-inch square baking pan.
9. Bake at 325°F / 163°C / Gas mark 3 for 30 minutes
10. Cut when cold.

Brownies to Die From

I found this recipe in a package of Hershey's cocoa. Its original name was "Deep Dish Brownies", but I don't think that name does them justice. On the stained slip of paper, between the title and the list of ingredients, is a question, in italics:

Has a brownie ever been too rich, too thick or too moist?

I think not, my friends.

It is ridiculously easy to make these brownies. You will need:

• 3/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup unsifted all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa*
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)

Blend melted butter, sugar, and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Add eggs; beat well with spoon. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually add to egg mixture until well blended. Spread in greased 8-inch square baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees (F) for 40 to 45 minutes or until brownie begins to pull away from edges of pan. Cool; cut into squares.

Share and enjoy!

* Of course the recipe calls for Hershey's cocoa, but you need not feel constrained by this fact. I have made these brownies with many different kinds of cocoa - Hershey's, Penzeys, Nestle, Scharffen-Berger, Ah!Laska. They are all different, and all good.

Pre-heat the oven to gas-mark 4, 350 degrees farenheit, 180 degrees celsius.
Grease a baking tin measuring approx 7 x 11 inches and line with greaseproof paper.

Firstly melt the butter and chocolate together in the top of a double saucepan or in a basin placed above simmering water (break the chocolate into small pieces). When this is done stir in the other ingredients and pour the mixture into the baking tin.

Bake in the oven for roughly half an hour, until the centre of the mixture feels springy (don't over cook it, it will firm up as it cools).
Sprinkle some more chocolate chips onto the mixture straight after you remove it from the oven and leave the mixture to cool for a few minutes then cut it into pieces and transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

This is a recipe I created a few years ago, toying with traditional recipes in an effort to craft something a little bit more sophisticated and interesting. Actually, I scrutinized a ton of recipes and basically added everything in the kitchen in an effort to make them moister and denser as opposed to the sorta cakey things that most recipes create. There are several ingredients that are a tad unconventional for brownies, but they combine into a wonderful, thick, dense, extremely chocolatey confection.

The brownies have an interestingly complex taste, and besides being highly chocolatey are less sweet than most brownies. They are probably most suited to people who prefer dark or bittersweet chocolate. You can skip the cinnamon if you like - I was inspired by traditional Mexican chocolate, which is usually made with cinnamon. I only used a small amount, so it's a subtle flavor.

As with any recipe, the better the ingredients, the better the results. I've had no disappointment with imitation extracts or cheap instant coffee, but no doubt the real thing would be far better. Where it really counts, though, is with the chocolate. Better chocolate really is better. Baker's brand results in a good brownie, but Ghiradelli is exceptional, and doubtless Valrhona would be still better. If you want these to be fabulous instead of just really good, go with better chocolate. Note: metric conversions are courtesy the Everything Kitchen Conversion Table, and while I'm sure it's quality, I haven't tested the recipe with the no-doubt slightly different metric quantities.

Ingredients

• 8 oz. (225 g) unsweetened baking chocolate
• 1 cup (225 g or 2 sticks) butter
• 2 oz. (60 g) cream cheese
• 1/2 cup (175 ml) honey
• 1 cup (250 ml) white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) dark brown sugar (packed, like mama taught. Always pack the brown sugar when you measure it.)
• 1/4 tsp (1.5 ml) cinnamon
• 2 tsp (10 ml) vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp (15 ml) instant coffee crystals (this doesn't make for a terribly intense coffee taste, but it somehow intensifies the impression created by the chocolate.)
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) white flour (cake is preferable, but if not, all-purpose flour will do.)
• 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C, gas ovens on 3.) Grease a 9x13 glass baking dish. Metal could probably be used as well, increasing heat to 350°F (180°C, gas oven 4.) First, melt the chocolate, butter, and cream cheese together. One could probably use a double boiler, but generally I use the microwave. If you do so, nuke the chocolate for a minute or so on high first, and then add the cream cheese and butter. It always takes a surprisingly long time to melt them - I just baked them today, and it took almost four minutes to fully melt the chocolate.

Beat with a wisk or an electric mixer until you have a smooth, glossy, dark brown liquid. Marvel at its beauty. Baking has always seemed highly sensual to me; there's an almost sexual beauty to a cake batter or bread dough as it bakes. Then add the honey. Stir as you drizzle it in and remark at the swirls they make as they mingle. Add the sugar gradually while mixing, and observe how the batter changes from smooth to crinkly.

At this point I like to add all of the spices - the cinnamon, vanilla, rum extract, and coffee. Mix them thoroughly and blend in the eggs one by one. Next, the flour, and this is far easier if added slowly while beating with the electric mixer. Be sure to mix it well, scraping the sides at this point with a rubber spatula. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips. Scrape the batter into the pan and bake, 45-50 minutes seems to work, but check often, because ovens, as well as your mileage, may vary.

Vegan brownies

I have no idea how well these resemble the real McCoy, but they're tasty in their own right. And they contain chocolate, so I guess that's enough reason... The simplicity of preparation might be ideal for making them with kids. As the batter also doesn't contain any egg, anyone is free to lick the bowl clean.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar (including some vanilla sugar)
1 cup (dutch processed) cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup oil
1 cup water

Mix the solid ingredients together before pouring in the liquid ingredients. Mix into a nice batter. Pour the batter into an oiled tin (approx. 8x8 in.) and bake in an oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Optional ingredients could be (upto) 1 cup of chopped nuts or some chili powder (I use 1/2 teaspoon, but as either the strength of your chili powder or your mileage may vary, try how much you like for yourself).

• 110g butter
• 130g Lindt 70% chocolate
• 4 eggs
• 100g flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 220g nuts (I use pecans or walnuts)
• 450g sugar
  • 100g molassas sugar
  • 200g dark demerera
  • 75g maple syrup
  • 75g white cane sugar

• Baking tin approximately 144² inches in area (30cm x 30cm) and a few inches deep.
• a large bowl, a glass mixing bowl and a saucepan with a smaller diameter
• A wooden spoon and a sharp knife
• Greaseproof paper, 1 sheet thereof

• Preheat oven to 180^oc
• Grease tin with butter and line with a big sheet of greaseproof paper.
• Melt butter and chocolate, both broken into bits, in a glass bowl above a pan of boiling water.
• Mix everything together in the big bowl, mmm
• Pour it into the tin, stick tin in oven, leave for about 30 minutes, have a check. If it's browning nicely, starting to pull away from the edges of the tin and you can stick a knife in it and pull it out again cleanly and easily, it's probably done. The mix will probably still be a bit gooey, that's fine, as it cools it firms up.
• If it's not ready, give it another 5/10 minutes and check again. The cooking time really will depend on your oven, and does not scale linearly based on volume of brownie production.
• Leave it to cool in the tin for a while, then take it out, leave it to cool a bit further, chop into bits of an appropriate size.