Fudgey or cakey? That’s always the question of preference about this quintessential American treat, the brownie. Of course, some people are happy with them either way. One of the important rules of making brownies is the eggs must be at room temperature. Key to any good brownies is quality ingredients.
* Tip: Turn oven off the last 5 or so minutes and let the heat from the oven finish baking your brownies.
Always use a timer to keep track of how long your brownies have been baking so you will know when to remove them from the oven.
* Tip: If you forget to set eggs out to come to room temp try this, submerge the eggs in warm water for a few minutes which does the trick.
Brownies should be combined quickly so get the dry ingredients mixed ahead of time and whisk up the sugar, eggs and vanilla while the butter is melting on the stove. Most rich and dense brownies will be made with melted butter that has either been combined with cocoa powder or dark chocolate.
Slowly pour the melted chocolate and butter into the wet ingredients and whisk. This is called tempering. When you have something hot going into an egg mixture. Combining them slowly will bring the eggs’ temperature up gradually and gently.
After adding the dry ingredients to the batter, combined gently and quickly. You do not want to beat the batter its best to fold it in quickly. As soon as the flour disappears add any little extras. This is where you can have fun with your food and tailor the recipe the way you would like. Fold in the chips or nuts gently into your batter and get it quickly into your square pan.
Knowing when brownies are done is the toughest part. They are not a cake, so using the toothpick test is not always a good idea because you want it to be fudgy in the middle and the brownies will continue to cook once they are out of the oven. Do not to over bake them as many people do. If they look done, they’re probably overdone. Brownies should be moist if you over bake them the become too dry and the taste changes, due to the sugar content, which scorches and makes them taste burnt.
* Tip: I usually like to tap the top to make sure that it feels kind of solid and not like pudding.
Recipes
One Bowl Brownies
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (6 ounces)
4 squares unsweetened chocolate (4 ounces)
2 cups sugar (14 ounces)
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour (4 1/4 ounces)
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts (6 ounces) plus more for sprinkling on top, if desired
Spray a 9 x 13″ pan or line it with aluminum foil, spray, and set aside. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat
to 350 F Place the butter and chocolate in a large, microwavable bowl and microwave on high for two minutes. Stir to
incorporate and fully melt the chocolate. Set aside for 1 -2 minutes to cool slightly. Add the sugar and stir to blend.
Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add the flour and nuts, stirring gently until all flour is incorporated. Batter
will be thick. Scrape into prepared pan, sprinkle with extra chopped nuts if using, and bake 27 – 34 minutes, until the
edges are set but not crusty and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Allow to cool completely on a rack before cutting into squares or rectangles.
French Chocolate Brownie
• 7 oz Dark Baking Chocolate, chopped
• 3 ½ oz sugar
• 4 1⁄3 oz almonds, chopped
• 4 ¼ oz butter at room temperature
• 3 egg yolks
• 3 egg whites
• a pinch of salt
• flour for dusting
• butter, to butter the mould
• 1 pt water
Pre-heat oven to 350ºF. Place the cooking pan on a high heat and add the water. Place the medium bowl on top
of the cooking pan, taking care that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Add the chocolate and
butter and allow to melt, stirring occasionally. Once melted, remove from the heat. Add the egg yolks to the
chocolate and mix well. Stir in the sugar and chopped almonds. Remove the bowl from the top of the pan and set aside.
Pour the egg whites into the large bowl, add a pinch of salt and whisk until very stiff. If you turn the bowl upside
down and nothing falls, you’ve reached the right point. Add the egg whites to the chocolate mix and combine well.
Butter the baking tin thoroughly, sprinkle in some flour (removing any excess) and pour in the chocolate mix.
Place it the middle of the oven to bake for 50 minutes. After that time, use a toothpick to check if it’s cooked.
If it is clean, without batter, it’s ready. If not, cook for another 10 minutes.
White Chocolate Brownies
6 tablespoon unsalted butter
8 oz. grated white chocolate
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1 cup semisweet chocolate chunk
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour an 8-inch square baking pan. Melt butter and 4 oz. of white chocolate together in top of double boiler over hot water.
When melted, remove from heat and add balance of white chocolate. Stir to blend well. Set aside.
Beat eggs. Add sugar. Beat 2-3 minutes. Add white chocolate and butter mixture, vanilla and flour.
Beat just until smooth.
Add chocolate chunks and mix in by hand, do not beat. Pour into prepared pan and bake 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool on wire rack. Cut into squares or bars.
Classic Peanut Butter Brownies
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cocoa
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan. In a saucepan, melt butter. Add peanut butter; stir until peanut butter is melted. Stir in sugar and vanilla.
Add eggs; beat well with spoon. Add flour, baking powder and salt; beat well.
Remove 1 and 3/4 cups batter; stir cocoa into this part. Spread chocolate batter into prepared pan. Spread remaining batter on top.
Bake for 30 minutes or until brownies just begin to pull away from side of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.
Frosted Fudge Brownies
2 cups sugar
8 oz. butter (2 sticks)
4 egg yolks, slightly beaten
4 oz. (4 squares) unsweetened baking chocolate
1 cup sifted flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans
4 egg whites, beaten until stiff peaks form
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Put sugar in mixing bowl. Melt chocolate and butter together over low heat, stir until well blended and smooth.
Add sugar; mix well. Add beaten egg yolks; mix well. Add flour and vanilla; mix well. Stir in chopped pecans. Fold in beaten egg whites.
Spread in a 10x15x1-inch greased and floured jelly roll pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes. When cool, spread on chocolate brownie frosting.
Chocolate Brownie Frosting
1 stick butter (4 oz.)
2 squares unsweetened chocolate
1 box confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
5 tablespoons milk
Chopped pecans, optional
Melt butter and chocolate over low heat; stir until smooth then add confectioners’ sugar. Heat milk until hot; add to chocolate mixture. Add vanilla; beat until smooth. Spread over brownies and sprinkle with chopped pecans, if desired. Also Good For Cakes.
Fantastic Cream CheeseFudge Brownies
1 cup margarine
4 squares unsweetened chocolate
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup chopped nuts, optional
Cream Cheese Filling
One 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Prepare Cream Cheese Filling: Beat ingredients in small bowl and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Heat butter and chocolate in small pan over low heat, stirring occasionally until melted; cool.
Beat chocolate mixture, sugar, eggs, in large bowl.
Add dry ingredients. Mix well; stir in nuts. Spread half of the dough in pan; spread with cream cheese filling. Gently spread remaining dough over filling.
Gently swirl through dough with spoon for marbled effect. Bake for 55-60 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Caramel Fudge Brownies
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus additional for the pan
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
16 small chocolate covered caramels or 16 pieces of Rolo candy, halved
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8x8x2-inch baking pan with parchment paper or heavy aluminum foil, making sure the paper or foil extends beyond the edges of the pan. Lightly butter the paper or foil.
In a heatproof container set over, but not touching,
a saucepan of barely simmering water, heat the butter and unsweetened chocolate, stirring constantly, until the mixture is melted and smooth.
Remove from heat; set aside to cool slightly.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs and sugar until fluffy and lightened in color, about 1 minute. Add the vanilla and mix until combined.
Reduce the speed to low, add the chocolate mixture and mix just until blended. Add the flour mixture and mix just until blended. The batter should be smooth. Using a spoon, stir in the chocolate covered caramel pieces. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.
Bake the brownies in the preheated oven for about 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs.
Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Using a small knife, loosen the sides of the brownies from the pan. Carefully lift the paper and the whole uncut brownie in 1 piece from the pan. Remove and discard the paper.
Best Blondie Brownies
6 very ripe bananas
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
3 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream butter. Add bananas, sugars, vanilla, and eggs and mix well. Add flour, soda, and salt and mix well. Mix in 1/2 cup of chocolate chips.
Spread into greased 13×9-inch baking pan. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of chocolate chips on top.
Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. Use a knife to swirl the melted chips on top. Return to oven and bake another 25-30 minutes. Cool and cut into squares.
Blue Ribbon Brownies
1/2 c. Crisco–I use butter-flavored
1 stick oleo
5 rounded T. cocoa
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. nuts
1 stick margarine
4 heaping T. cocoa
6 scant T. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
Melt Crisco and oleo in microwave, whisk in cocoa. Beat eggs & sugar. Stir in chocolate mixture, mixing well. Add dry ingredients, vanilla and nuts. Bake in sprayed 9 x 13 at 350 for 25 min. As soon as you remove from oven, bring oleo, milk and cocoa to a boil. Add vanilla & 1 lb. powdered sugar. May add nuts, if desired. Frost brownies while both brownies and frosting are warm.
Some Recipes from Family cook book. Others Provided by friends.
