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Thursday, September 01, 2005

Outrageous Brownies

Another rich, decadent, fudgy brownie recipe. My batter almost overflowed the jelly roll pan I baked them in, so be careful. These are very gooey and do require refrigeration if there is any hope of cutting them into squares. A little rich for my blood, but fabulous flavor. The incredible amounts of butter and chocolate also make these a tad cost prohibitive.

Source: Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa

Makes 20 Large Brownies

Inspiration for this recipe came frm the Chocolate Glob in the SOHO Charcuterie Cookbook published by William Morrow in 1983. In its heyday, the SoHo Charcuterie was the cutting edge of New York restaurants. The giant confection was a blob of chocolate dough filled with chocolate chips and nuts. I thought I could make a brownie with almost the same formula. They've been flying out the door for fiteen years!

1 Pound unsalted butter
1 Pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
6 extra-large eggs
3 tablespoons instant coffee granules
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350ยบ. Butter and flour a 12 x 18 x 1-inch baking sheet. Melt together the butter, 1 pound of chocolate chips, and the unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl over simmering water. Allow to cool slightly. In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, coffee granules, vanilla, and sugar. Stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature.

In a medium bowl, sift together 1 cup of flour, the baking powder, and salt. Add to the cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips in a medium bowl with 1/4 cup of flour, then add them to the chocolate batter. Pour into the baking sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes, then rap the baking sheet against the oven shelf to force the air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Bake for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake! Allow to cool thoroughly, refrigerate, and cut into 20 large squares.

Notes from Contessa: Flouring the chips and walnuts keeps them from sinking to the bottom. It is very important to allow the butter to cook well before adding the chocolate chips, or the chips will melt and ruin the brownies. This recipe can be baked up to a week in advance, wrapped in plastic and refrigerated.

Reviews: Cooking Light

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous5:26 PM

    This is, beyond a doubt, the BEST brownie recipe in the world! We make it all the time, my daughter takes them back to college, I even serve them at fancy dinner parties, not a crumb is left. I have made a couple adaptations. First I wisk the eggs, then the sugar, vanilla, or you get clumps of egg in the brownies(she says only to stir them but it isn't enough). Also, we use rich high cocoa, dark chocolate instead of semi-sweet, cut into chunks. Delicious.

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  2. This is definitely an awesome brownie - or dessert. It's so rich, I don't even know if I consider it a brownie! Definitely the best chocolate taste of any brownie I've had - if only it weren't so gooey......

    Thanks for stopping by! :)

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