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Always in search of the ultimate dark chocolate brownie, I’ve blogged about brownies several times before. I’ve tried the Ghiradelli Classic Brownie Recipe. I’ve swirled chocolate brownies with pumpkin, and I’ve tried the Scharffen Berger Fudgy Brownie recipe. But now I can say, I’ve finally made the brownie recipe I will return to again and again.
The secrets to this recipe?
For one, I’ve doubled the quantity so that you can use a larger pan (and make more at a time). The larger pan slows down the baking rate a bit, and I think helps keep everything moist. Also, this recipe calls one more egg than the average recipe. Eggs make batters more cakey, and normally, I wouldn’t want my chocolate brownie recipe to be too cakey. If it’s cakey, then it’s not fudgy, right? We’ll the balance of chocolate, butter, flour and eggs in this recipe seems to hit it just right. They’re fudgy and dark, but they hold together well.
One of the other secret ingredients in this recipe is the espresso powder. In the same way that vanilla functions, the espresso gives the chocolate flavor additional depth and complexity. It doesn’t make it taste like coffee, it just anchors the chocolate flavor.
Lastly,the chocolate chips give these brownies texture and additional chocolate umph.
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder)
- 8 ounces (2 sticks) butter
- 1½ tsp espresso powder
- 9.7 oz Scharffen Berger® 70% bittersweet chocolate baking bar, broken into pieces
- ¼ cup of Guittard® Real Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
- 1.5 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 6 large eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1½ cup Guittard® Real Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
- Preheat the oven to 350⁰F. Spray a 9x13-inch rectangular baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Mix the flour, salt, and cocoa powder together in a bowl; set aside.
- In a double-boiler (I put a pyrex bowl on top of a saucepan with boiling water, combine the butter, chocolate espresso powder and stir over low heat until all is melted and combined.
- Take the chocolate mixture off the heat and add the sugars, mixing until combined.
- Transfer the chocolate mixture to a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time and mix thoroughly.
- Add vanilla and stir to combine.
- Add the flour mixture and stir just until blended. Gently stir in the chips.
- Pour the batter into the sprayed pan and push the batter into the corners with the back of a spoon.
- Bake the brownies for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Do not overbake. Cool completely on a wire rack.
