I have identified these brownies as the beginning of my downfall this holiday season. I usually have considerable willpower, but with the way I acted around these brownies, I was surprised not to find “kryptonite” in the ingredient list.
The photo shoot for these brownies started with sixteen … and ended with … less than sixteen.
Well, more than four, but less than sixteen.
In the fudgy vs. cakey brownie battle, I side with the fudgy crew. These brownies are thick and fudgy, with a dense texture that I believe is referred to in culinary terms as “perfect.”
I have been using King Arthur flour almost exclusively for a few years (I also love their catalog, full of specialty baking items, so fun to peruse). But I had not explored the recipes available on the King Arthur website until I clicked through an email I received from them. I will be visiting that site often – tons of good stuff there!
I learned something really important, in the brownie realm, from this recipe. You know how sometimes when you make brownies, they have a crackly flaky top layer, and sometimes they don’t? Turns out that layer results from heating the butter and sugar together before mixing them in to the remaining ingredients. I had never paid attention, but some recipes call for this step and some don’t. So there you have it!
How much do people LOVE round “two bite brownies”? Rhetorical question. Make this recipe into nuggets of goodness by using a mini muffin pan instead of a square baking dish. Just make sure to spray and flour the pan first, and have a small implement (like the TINY spatula shown below) to loosen them from the pan after a few minutes of cooling. {Or save yourself some work and just cut the brownies smaller from the square pan.}
Ingredients: – 2 eggs – 1/2 c + 2 T high-quality cocoa – 1/2 t kosher salt – 1/2 t baking powder – 1/2 t instant coffee granules or espresso powder (you won’t taste it – it just heightens the chocolate flavor!) – 1.5 t vanilla – 1 stick unsalted butter – 1 c + 2 T sugar – 3/4 c flour – 1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks {I had some Baker’s semi-sweet chocolate squares that I wanted to use up so I chopped them roughly}
How do I make it?
Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly grease an 8″ x 8″ or 9″ x 9″ pan.
Crack the eggs into a bowl, and beat them with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, coffee granules or espresso powder, and vanilla until smooth.
In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the butter and sugar, and heat, stirring, until the butter is melted and the mixture is hot and JUST starts to bubble. Once it bubbles and the mixture looks shiny, turn off the heat.
Add the hot butter and sugar mixture to the egg mixture, and stir until smooth.
Add the flour, and stir until smooth.
Add the chocolate chips or chunks, and stir to distribute. If you want the chips to retain their shape and not melt in, let the batter cool in the bowl for a few minutes before stirring in the chips.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake the brownies for about 30 minutes (check around 27 minutes). When a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it, the brownies are done. The brownies will be more set around the edges, and the middle will still look moist (but still cooked through).
Cool on a rack before cutting; use a bench scraper to make sure you get straight lines. But if you don’t get straight lines, and need to keep “evening it off,” I won’t tell.
Original link: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/fudge-brownies-recipe
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Terahsays
You hit the mark with these! I just made a batch and I am getting crumbs in my keyboard I type. Definitely a new go to. Thanks for sharing.
Fudgy brownies have a higher fat-to-flour ratio than cakey ones. So add more fat—in this case, butter and chocolate. A cakey batch has more flour and relies on baking powder for leavening. The amount of sugar and eggs does not change whether you're going fudgy or cakey.
Brownies should be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, and placed in an airtight container to help keep them from drying out and going stale. (You can also use a layer of aluminum foil around the layer of plastic wrap to help protect them from air exposure.)
Too much flour? Go back to your edges - if they're not burnt, look a good colour (similar to the centre) but the brownie is too cakey and dry throughout, the recipe probably included too much flour.
Adding vanilla extract is also one of my favorite brownie mix hacks. This will enhance the flavor and make your brownies taste even better! It doesn't take much either, one teaspoon will do to make a difference in any baked good. Its best to add it to your brownies when you're making the batter.
Want Fudgy Brownies? Add an Extra Egg Yolk! As you may know, eggs not only act as a binding agent in baked goods, but they also add structure, richness, and enhance texture.
the butter brownies actually had a fudgier texture. they were softer, and they really just melted in your mouth. they also had that shiny crust and just better flavor, whereas the oil brownies were actually chewier. they were crunchier at the top and at the edges.
Brownies don't need to be refrigerated, but they'll hold up a few more days if they are. Unless your brownies include more perishable ingredients like fresh fruit or cream cheese frosting, they'll be fine at room temperature as long as they're stored in an airtight container.
Good fudgy brownies are not fully baked, they are slightly underdone when you take them out of the oven. So you need to give them a chance to set before taking them out of the tin or cutting into them, otherwise they will fall apart. I like to leave them in the fridge for at least 1 hour before cutting them.
Unbalanced temperature settings make your brownies hard and dry, another undesirable thing. These are just a FEW of the many brownie fails that people face.
A fudgy brownie recipe will use more fat than flour. Generally this is achieved by adding more butter or real chocolate to your brownie recipe. A cakey brownie recipe on the other hand will call for more flour in the ratio of fat to flour.
Without enough butter, the dough can become dry and crumbly. This can make it difficult to form the dough into cohesive balls or drop it onto baking sheets, and it can result in cookies that are overly dry and lacking in tenderness.
The first and easiest upgrade you can give to your boxed brownie mix is to add a tablespoon of instant coffee to the batter. Adding coffee to your brownies boosts their flavor because its bitter quality balances out sweetness, making it less overpowering. It allows that delicious chocolate flavor to really shine.
One change is to use milk or heavy cream instead of water. This change will make brownies more moist and gooey since milk is more fatty and flavorful than water. A second change is to use butter instead of oil. For similar reasons to using milk, butter adds a rich and more decadent quality to the batter.
Add a teaspoon of instant coffee or espresso powder. Throw in a handful of nuts—pecans, walnuts, macadamia, whatever you have on hand. Scoop in a palmful of dried or frozen fruit. Add an extra splash of the top-shelf vanilla extract, or a dab of vanilla paste, or a dash of vanilla powder, to the batter.
A more certain result is to choose a brownie recipe that has a higher amount of chocolate and butter. A brownie recipe with baking powder should be avoided as you'll most certainly end up with a cakey texture. Another reason your brownies may be cakey is too much mixing or beating during the cooking process.
Traditionally, what makes a brownie fudgy is the fact that the wet ingredients are more as compared to the dry ingredients. Conventional (and the best) brownie recipes require you to melt your chocolate and this also make it a wet ingredient.
To test for doneness with a toothpick, insert a toothpick into the center of the brownies and pull it back out. For fudgy brownies, you'll want to see some moist crumbs attached to the toothpick when you pull it back out. If it looks like it's covered in brownie batter, the brownies will need to bake a bit longer.
The ideal consistency of brownie mix is thick and gooey, similar to a thick cake batter. When you mix the ingredients together, the batter should be smooth and free of lumps, with a slightly sticky texture. This consistency is important for achieving moist and fudgy brownies that are rich in flavor.
Introduction: My name is The Hon. Margery Christiansen, I am a bright, adorable, precious, inexpensive, gorgeous, comfortable, happy person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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Terah says
