The Perfect Fudgey Brownie
I love a good brownie. My perfect brownie is fudgey and chewy with giant chunks. Wow. That being said, after much brownie research and brownie surveys...I learned that there are, like, a million different brownie consistencies. For example, brownies are totally different than an apple pie. Apple pie has a specific universally acknowledged standard of deliciousness. Sweet and cinnamony with a buttery crust. There's not a lot of room for flavor biases and guess what? People really carry a lot of flavor biases around, you guessed it, brownies. Chewy, fudgey, cakey, or all the combinations in between, everyone has their own taste. Personally, I'm a chewy brownie gal.
These are definitely on the fudgey side with a dash of cakey. Although I'm still biased towards chewy bites of deliciousness, fudgey/yummy/fluffy are just as lovely. How could I withhold such a recipe? Again, this got me thinking. Why not create and test several brownie recipes? Something for everyone? Healthy, chewy, fudgey. All the good! Brownie development has become my new calling.
Although I've not been tasting them, my very trusty taste testers have described these brownies as: melt in your mouth, fluffy, and delicious. I can live with that!
Notes:
1. Browned butter is the ~wave~ here. I did so in a small sauce pan. I promise it's worth the extra step! So that your butter doesn't burn, set the butter out about 20-30 min before you start baking.
2. Dark chocolate has a lower fat content, which balances out the higher fat content in the butter and cocoa powder. You don't have to use dark chocolate, if you have semi-sweet on hand! They just might be more fudgey with the semi-sweet.
The Perfect Fudgey Brownies
Prep Time: 20min
Cook Time: 25-30min
ingredients
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
8oz (1 cup) dark chocolate bar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
instructions
1. Roughly chop the whole dark chocolate bar into chunks. Set aside.
2. Cut the sticks of butter into large cubes and place in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Let simmer for about 5-8 min until your butter has achieved a golden brown color.
3. Once the butter is browned, toss in half of the chocolate chunks (about half a cup) and let melt completely, stirring pretty consistently. When chocolate and butter are combined, set aside.
4. In a small bowl combine dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, and salt.
5. In a large mixing bowl, mix light and dark brown sugars, eggs, and vanilla. Mix until thoroughly combined.
6. Pour butter/chocolate mixture, slowly while mixing, into the egg/sugar mixture.
7. Mix dry ingredients with wet by adding a half cup of flour/cocoa powder to chocolate mixture at a time, mixing well in-between. Make sure everything is well mixed and combined.
8. Lastly, fold in the rest of the chocolate chunks. Pour into a 9x9 or 6x12 dish. I used 6x12 because our 9x9 has tragically broken (sigh). Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 min (depending on how crispy you like your corners). I did about 28 min.