I have a never-ending search for the perfect brownie, and oh lordy....my quest has come to an end. This week's TWD recipe was picked by Lisa of Surviving Oz, and she is my new hero. These brownies are exactly what I've been searching for: rich without being overwhelming; chewy, fudgey texture without feeling underbaked; and the perfect, absolute perfect, combination of complimentary flavours. Every single ingredient in this brownie works together in perfect symbiosis.
They are ridiculously easy to make, too. You just melt some butter in a pan, dump in the cocoa and coffee, stir in the eggs and vanilla, add the flour and chocolate chips, and bake. DONE. It took longer to measure the scant ingredients than it did to put them together. I've always heard people disparage brownie mixes, saying they are so easy to make, why would you buy a box mix? Well, these are the first I can honestly say make me vocifierously agree. For the love of God, make these brownies!!
I don't have a lot of tips, other than don't add nuts. Nuts are an abomination in brownies. But that being said, here are some things I learned:
1) Make sure when you're melting the butter that you use a decent sized pot, because all the ingredients are eventually going in there. Look at the pan below: yeah, it was a little wee, but I managed.
2) Just because you've been baking since Christ was a cowboy, it doesn't mean you're allowed to be uppity and skip directions. There's a part that calls for you to line the pan with parchment paper and butter it, yadda yadda yadda; I scoffed at that, since I had a non-stick pan.
See how they turned out? Yeah, they came out of that pan like a dream! Except not. Even when they cooled longer than, say, the 2 minutes I let them rest, they still came out in pieces. It makes for crappy pictures, but doesn't affect the taste at all. I'm betting no one is going to complain about how they look.
3) Finally, see how good this looks?
Keep this in mind: no matter how glossy and chocolately and rich it looks, until you add the sugar it tastes as bitter as a desperate housewife. GAHHHHH! Don't eat the batter until everything is mixed together.
Anyway, this brownie just made my damn day. Ahhhhh, thanks TWD!
I loved these, too -- without the nuts. I'll take a pure chocolate experience any day. These were hard to get out of the pan, but that didn't alter their taste one bit. Delicious.
ReplyDeleteI've been craving brownies recently. I'm going to have to give these a try.
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