Hard to believe that I’ve discovered the best brownies on this planet, but it’s 100% true. A few weeks ago we had an employee leave for another job and we had treats in the office to send her off the right way, the sweet way. This super duper baker dude at work brought in a pile of brownies that aren’t your standard box style brownies and I was blown away. ( He makes Martha Stewart and Paula Dean look stupid. ) Over the next couple days I spammed his email box with requests for the recipe and a couple days later, I had the golden ticket. Try this recipe for yourself and see that I’m not lying. He says the key is to get QUALTY chocolate!
What you’ll need:
1 C. (2 sticks) unsalted butter
8 oz. high-quality unsweetened chocolate
5 large eggs
3¼ C. sugar
1½ tsp. instant espresso
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 C. sifted all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
1 C. semisweet chocolate chips
Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 400°. Generously butter a 9-by-13-inch pan and set aside.
2. Combine chocolate, butter and expresso powder in a heat-proof bowl and microwave on 70% power ,
stirring occasionally until the chocolate mixture has melted; set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment, beat eggs and sugar at high speed, 5-10 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and add melted chocolate mixture and the vanilla; beat until combined. Slowly add flour and salt; fold in just until incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
4. Bake until edges are dry but center is still soft, about 20 minutes for a dark metal pan and 30 minutes for a bright metal pan. Remove from oven, and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Cut into 3-inch squares, and store, refrigerated, in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
**Notes from baker dude**
Brownies are only as good as the chocolate you use; the better the chocolate, the better the brownie. I use Hersey’s (weird, I know) or Callebaut. Try adding 1 C. toasted chopped walnuts when you fold in the chocolate chips and reduce the chips to ½ C. Whipping the eggs and sugar for 5-10 minutes is critical! it does two things; dissolves the sugar and incorporates air into the mixture. The eggs are the only leavening agent in this recipe. I dust the chocolate chips (and walnuts) with approximately 1-2 Tbsp. of flour before folding them into the batter. It keeps them from sinking to the bottom.
I’m going to be honest with you guys. The reason there are no images of the final product is because my stupid oven didn’t cook the brownies evenly, so the edges were perfect and the center was like it never went into the oven. If the brownies tasted as good as the batter, I think I would of successfully replicated baker dudes greatness!
Let me know how it goes. I’d love to hear your thoughts. I thought they were magic, but maybe I’m just chocolate crazy.