Decadent Brownies

Decadent Brownies
Adapted from epicurious.com

Whenever I need some tasty brownies, this is my go to recipe. These brownies always turn out chocolatey, moist and dense; just the way I prefer them. So when my nieces asked me to make brownies for our Thankgiving dinner this past weekend, I knew these would be a hit.

My favourite addition to the brownies are toasted walnuts but I have made them with toasted almonds, white & semi-sweet chocolate chips and even dried cranberries. Experiment with your own favourite additions. Enjoy!

Makes: 16 or 25 squares

Ingredients:
1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tabelspoon espresso powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cold large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup walnuts, toasted & chopped coursely (optional)

Directions:

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom and sides of the baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.

2. Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Stir from time to time until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test. Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot.

3. Stir in the vanilla & espresso powder with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir in the nuts, if using. Spread evenly in the lined pan.

4. Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 25-30 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack.

5. Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 or 25 squares.

15 comments:

Sara@OneTribeGourmet said...

Love the brownies..they look decadent indeed! great recipe!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Those look divine!

Cheers,

Rosa

Jamie said...

Oooh perfect brownies! Yay another one to try! Love it!

casino online said...

Thanks for sharing. Good for this coming holiday season.

play casino said...

I love those brownies.

Ana Powell said...

Perfect and well moist ♥

Peter M said...

I would like to place my order...with a fudge topping please!!!

Megan said...

Looks like the perfect brownie!

chrissywitch said...

I just made these this morning. Amazing! Thanks for the great recipe. It's definitely a keeper.

Do you add the espresso at the same time as the vanilla?

Dragon said...

Thanks for all the comments!

Chrissywitch, yes, you do. I've fixed the recipe. Thank you for catching that. :)

Bunny said...

Look how tall and luscious they look! Fantastic Paula!!

Joie de vivre said...

Oh wow. That's all I have words for right now. Your brownies look gobble up delicious.

Lo said...

These definitely look like my kind of brownies -- always love coming over here for my chocolate fix!

Denise Michaels - Adventurous Foodie said...

Love me a fudgy brownie with some great crusty edges. I have a recipe I use from Epicurious.com called "Sauce Pan Brownies" that turns out a lot like this. What I love about it is that you add one ingredient after another into a sauce pan and then finally pour the batter into a prepared pan to bake. No messy bowls to clean up.

http://dmmfoodie.wordpress.com/

Quay Po Cooks said...

These brownies looks delicious! I like the expresso powder in it! Beautiful picture.

 
Dragon's Kitchen - Copyright 2007-2010