As much as I adore desserts and sweets, I rarely bake for myself.  Honestly, living alone, there’s no point in making 3 dozen cookies or a dozen brownies.  Well, there’s great point to it, but I’m sure my hips would disagree.  So when I do bake, I try to have an outside motivator or reason to do so, which allows me to share whatever I end up making with people en masse.  This case being the return of my co-worker Connie (of smoked salmon fame) from Alaska back here to Boulder.  Kara our intern and I decided we wanted to welcome her back with two of her favorite things – flowers and chocolate, the latter of which I was more than happy to tackle.

Having just done two somewhat elaborate sweets, I felt like something easy and super crowd friendly was in order, and the first thing my sister suggested was brownies.  They’re just one of those things that everyone seems to love and although simple, always feel like a special treat.

Scouting for recipes, I looked at a my usual spots until the idea hit me to just look up Baked again since their whoopie pies were just out-of-this-world and I figured their brownies would be too.

And hoo, lord have mercy, are they ever.  Rich, thick, with that perfect cake/fudge balance, these are to die for.  Not too many ingredients to complicate things, it’s all about getting the best quality chocolate and using little of it. Plus compared to many other brownie recipes I scouted, you don’t use a double boiler, they come together pretty easily (in one pot!) and they’re made by hand – no KitchenAid necessary!

There’s a video on the website where I link to the recipe below that’s quite helpful in advising you not to overmix the batter, which causes too much air to get in and gives you those cakey brownies no one likes.  I recommend watching it, it was a huge help.

Deep, Dark Brownies

Based on the recipe from Baked bakery in Brooklyn, NY.

Makes 9, 12 or 16 brownies, depending on how you cut them/how indulgent you’re feeling.

I add a little extra espresso powder here because I like the bitterness, and use dark brown sugar because I think it adds richness.  The big thing about this recipe is just barely mixing things as you go.  Matt, the owner of Baked shows in the video above how he purposefully leaves flour clinging to the bowl to remind him not to overmix.

Ingredients

• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon best-quality cocoa powder you can get
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for brushing the pan
• 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
• 5 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (again, get the good stuff here)
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup dark-brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ¾ cup (4 ½ ounces) semisweet chocolate chips, optional (but come on, you’ve come this far, just throw them in)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325° F. Butter an 8-by-8-inch square baking pan and line with parchment paper, letting overhang happen on 2 sides and sticking two smaller pieces on the uncovered sides (so you can ‘lift’ the brownies out once they’ve cooled.)
2. In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine butter and espresso powder. Place over low heat and stir until butter has just melted. Remove from the burner and add chocolate, stirring constantly until mixture is smooth, about 2 minutes. While warm, stir in both sugars until well combined, but do not overmix.
3. Add vanilla and then eggs one at a time, stirring until well incorporated and mixture no longer appears grainy. Sift flour, cocoa and salt over batter, and stir until just barely combined. Fold in chocolate chips, if using.
4. Pour batter into prepared baking pan; smooth top with the back of a wooden spoon or a spatula. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs, 28 to 30 minutes. Check every 5 minutes after 20 minutes has elapsed, being sure not to over bake. Let cool completely on a wire rack and then lift out using parchment wings.
   
5. Cut into 9, 12 or 16 brownies, depending on how gluttonous your crowd is (16, in my case).

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