Tuesday, February 12, 2013

The Perfect Brownie




It's a cliché to have chocolate on Valentine's Day. But so are big puffy red hearts and oversized teddy bears. I'm okay with that, especially when chocolate comes in the form of these delicious brownies. These would be "perfect" brownies, to be exact. And perfect they are. Brownies are a funny thing and there are so many different types out there and everyone has a preference. There are some made with just cocoa, some made with only chocolate, with chocolate chips, with nuts, without nuts, frosted, iced, glazed. Then there's the cakey, the fudgy and the chewy. Me? I like them chewy on the edges, a little fudgy in the middle, plain with no adornments and there must me a shiny crackly top. Enter the "perfect" brownie. 


 
I found these brownies through a fellow Instagrammer named Cheryl. She posted a photo on her Instagram of a recipe she made from Blackjack Bake House and was kind enough to share the link with me. Thanks Cheryl! There are so many drool worthy recipes on her site that I want to try. I read her description for these brownies and they were high on the top of my list. For the longest time, I thought that the only way to achieve chewy brownies was to make them from a boxed mix. And while those are still delicious, I prefer to make them homemade. I just never quite found the right recipe.  I tend to be a "cocoa only" type of brownie girl, but the added melted chocolate in these makes them a little richer and denser. if you want to add nuts, chocolate chips or chopped up candy, feel free to personalize them. You'll have everyone (even sneaky toddlers) reaching for one!

Perfect Brownies adapted from Blackjack Bake House


  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 10 Tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 4 oz. chopped bittersweet chocolate or chocolate chips 
  • 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8-inch baking pan with foil or parchment paper. Make sure the edges are long enough to drape over the sides of the pan, for easy brownie removal. Butter the foil or parchment paper or spray with non-stick spray and set aside.   

In small bowl, whisk together cocoa, flour and salt. Set aside.

Melt butter over double boiler. Add sugar and chopped chocolate and whisk until chocolate melts and mixture is fairly smooth (it will be grainy). Remove from heat. Allow to cool slightly.

Add eggs to lukewarm chocolate mixture and beat with an electric mixer on medium for about 1 minute, until smooth. Add vanilla extract and beat to combine.

Add flour mixture to chocolate mixture and beat on medium speed for a full 3 minutes. (This is important to the success of the recipe)

Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly over the bottom and into the corners. 

Bake for about 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in brownies comes out mostly clean. 

To store, wrap in plastic or store in airtight container at room temperature.

Happy Valentine's Day! Lots of love to you all!

32 comments:

  1. Oh. My. God! These look just like my version of the perfect brownie. I thought these were going in your book when you posted them on Instagram. I just made a batch of brownies ver the weekend, so I'm a little brownied out, but I can't wait to try these! :D

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  2. These do sound perfectly chocolatey for Valentines Day.

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  3. YUM!! They DO look perfect!! I just made really good brownies last week that looked very similar to these. I will need to still try these out soon.

    Hayden's officially a toddler?? No! Say it isn't so! ;)

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  4. Monica, pinning these as soon as I finish this comment. Will be making this soon...thanks and have a nice Valentines Day!

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  5. wow they look incredibly good!!!

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  6. Hayden's hand shot is just too cute. I love me a fudgy brownie with crusty edges, too. Happy Valentine's Day, Darlin'

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  7. This looks great! It’s definitely becoming a part of my future To-Do list! :)

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  8. Oh, forget the brownies...look at that little sweetheart! So cute!! Well, the brownies look wonderful too. I like mine with nuts and I always use my mom's homemade recipe...real butter of course, cocoa, sugar, flour and vanilla. What I wouldn't give for a pan right now but my husband doesn't like chocolate, so you know what would happen with a whole pan and no company!

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  9. These were the BEST brownies I've ever had in my life. I'm going to share this recipe to everyone I know. Omg thank you for changing my life.

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  11. Oh my! So much yummyness found here! Pinned some of them! :)

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  12. I made these brownies yesterday and I cannot stay out of them! I will never buy another boxed brownie mix again. So good!

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  13. 50-55 minute???
    so much?

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  14. My cousin made them and they were soo good and chewy but when I tried to make them, they were good but not chewy. What am I doing wrong? does the temp of the chocolate mixture have anything to do with the chewiness?

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  15. extreamlyyyy gooooddddd. .. i did put aluminum foil in my pan the sugar got jammed. . i should hv used the butter paper. .. but one thing they are really yummy chewy n awesome. .. i was a bit not sure abt the granulated sugar but but but granulated sugar make it chewy. . i will try it again

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  16. I made a batch today and they are so good! Though the ones in the edges are more cakey but the bites in the midddle yum! Next week I'll make triple batch of these and bake 5 mins less! Thanks (from Finland!) for this easy and delish recipe :)

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  17. I made these gluten free using a mixture of brown rice floyr, white rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch and guar gum! They taste delish! Definitely have the chew factor and were very moist in the middle but not gooey and no shiny crust.. probably just the downside of being gluten free abd o ly having a 9x9 inch pan! They were overbaked after only 20 mins!

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  18. I baked for only 45mins which already resulted in a burnt top :( anyone who tried all baked for a full 55mins?

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  19. Hi! So forget to comment but the triple batch was perfect! I baked 5mins less and on the middle/low level in the oven. The best thing is that they are perfectly delicious also after freezing so you can always have a batch of these in the freezer.. if you can resist the temptation of knowing their existence ;)

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  20. I am currently making this batch I did change it a bit by mixing all purpose flour and whole wheat flour together half an half, just because I'm a big wholewheat fan. They smell heavenly and sure taste great thank you!:)

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  21. I am making these right now for my friend's birthday today!! Double batch for us and her! Will share how it goes after everyone tries them!

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  22. Making these as I type..Just wonder why bother to line the pan with foil.. I did it but won't next time..Too messy ..I do not mind cleaning pans.

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  23. To get them outif the pan easier. It's not for less cleaning. You can use parchment paper as well.

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  24. Made these yesterday! This recipe is great! The brownies got eaten up richt away! This is going to be my new go to recipe! iThe only thing is for my oven you only need to Cook the brownies for about 40 mins.

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  25. These were wonderful! I baked them for 50 minutes and they tasted wonderful, not over done. I MAY have added more chocolate chips then the recipe called for, but really is there such thing as too many! Thanks for the great recipe, with a soy allergy I have to make everything from scratch and these were perfect!

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  26. I have to bake quite a large batch of 25 - 50 brownies. With the above listed ingredients how many brownies can I make? The brownies size I want per slice is approx. 4 by 6,5 cm.

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  27. I would make 3 batches to be on the safe side.

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  28. I've found your blog a long time ago but i've just try to make this recipe now, silly me
    i regretted that i just made 1 batch! i should have make at least 3 batch for this brownies! :))
    this is the first time i made something looked perfectly like in the picture, i really love the brownies just by looking at them. i haven't try the brownies yet because i'm fasting now and i can't wait to try it after maghrib!
    very good recipe! the result come out as the title : perfect brownies!
    will definitly try out another recipe next time! ;)

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  29. Thanks for the recipe, I'm going to do it but have a question to ask you, what is the difference between using chocolate 60% and chocolate chip. What will happen to the outcome.

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    1. 60% is just the amount of cocoa in the chocolate. The higher the percentage, the better the more bitter it is. The lower the percentage, the sweeter it will be. You can use chocolate chips and it will be fine, just check the bag for the percentage. Guittard or ghiradelli make some good ones.

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  30. Can semi-sweet chocolate chips be substituted for the bittersweet chocolate?

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Thank you for your supportive comments. I appreciate each and every one of them!