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
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.
The brownies are made with unsweetened chocolate, which is also known as baking, plain or bitter chocolate. It is chocolate in its rawest form and this means that unsweetened chocolate is just ground cocoa nibs that have been refined and contain between 50-55% cocoa butter (cacao fat).
Using airtight wrappings (including using plastic wrap right against the brownies) is key to keeping your brownies fresh, whether you're keeping them at room temperature for short-term storage, or planning to freeze them so you can have a fresh brownie ready whenever you need it.
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.
Brownie textures fall into three general camps… Cakey, fudgy and chewy. Cakey brownies, like the name implies, are light, moist and airy, with a slightly fluffy, cake-like interior. Fudgy brownies are moist, dense and gooey, with almost the texture of fudge, but not quite as compact.
If you want a fudgy chocolate brownie, use melted butter. For cakey brownies, beating softened butter and sugar together to create air pockets will make your brownies lighter and cakier.
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.
Do Brownies Need to Be Refrigerated? 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.
The molasses content in brown sugar is what is responsible for chewy yet soft brownies. If you don't want chewy brownies, completely keep brown sugar out of the picture.
They give brownies a lighter, drier, and more cake-like texture. If you prefer this over the chewy variety, then go ahead and crack in that additional egg. On the other hand, too many eggs will yield brownies that are hard, heavy, and tough.
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.
Whether you use butter, margarine, or vegetable oil, putting too much in your brownie batter causes it to be greasy. Don't worry, you're not alone. Many people fall into this trap when trying to substitute butter with oil.
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.
Keep in mind that fats make a brownie creamy and gooey. A brownie is softer and more gooey if the fats are (at least partially) liquid. It is why a brownie stored in the fridge will be denser than one that's been heated up just slightly before serving.
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.
Introduction: My name is Terence Hammes MD, I am a inexpensive, energetic, jolly, faithful, cheerful, proud, rich person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
Terah says
