The best chocolate brownies are made from scratch! This brownie recipe is easy to make and easy to customize to suit your tastes.
BE PICTURED IN; CHARACTERIZED IN:
If you go to the trouble of making chocolate brownies, you might as well make them right. Brownies out of the box? No thank you.
I got this chocolate brownie recipe years ago from my dear friend Suzanne, who adapted it from a recipe by Alice Medrich from the book Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate that she found on Epicurious.
Suzanne uses the same method and proportions, but instead of using vanilla, she heavily flavors the brownies with almond extract. So good! Almond extract gives these brownies a wonderful flavor, a perfect blend of cocoa and pecans.
A dense, fudgy brownie
They’re the kind of brownies that can’t decide if they’d rather be cake or fudge. They’re fairly dense and fudge-like, but have just enough flour and eggs to keep them in brownie camp.
This will tell you when the brownies are done
With many brownies, you’ll want a bamboo skewer or toothpick inserted down the center to come out clean to make sure they’re done. Not so with these brownies, as they’re dense and crunchy. If the skewer or toothpick comes out clean, these brownies are overcooked.
To tell if these brownies are done, you want the end of the skewer or toothpick to come out slightly damp but not dripping with batter. When you remove the pan from the oven, make sure it is completely cool before slicing. They take time to set up or they will fall apart if you cut them.
If you love extra moist brownies, try this trick from chocolate connoisseur Alice Medrich: pop the pan in the freezer right after it comes out of the oven. The freezer “shocks” the brownies so they stop cooking and stay moist. Remove them after about an hour. Bonus: This makes them easier to cut.
Tips for storing and freezing brownies
To keep the brownies on the countertop, keep them in an airtight container for 3-4 days. If they aren’t finished by then, you can refrigerate them for an additional 3 to 4 days, or you can refrigerate them immediately for up to a week.
To freeze the brownies, place sliced brownies – unwrapped – on a baking sheet and place in the freezer until just frozen through. Wrap the frozen brownies individually in plastic wrap, then store them together in an airtight zip-lock bag in the freezer for up to three months. Brownies can be thawed individually in the refrigerator or on the countertop.
More brownie recipes to try
- Juicy chocolate brownies
- Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies
- Caramel Brownies
- Guinness Chocolate Brownies
- Brookies (chocolate chip cookies)
From the editors of Simply Recipes
Best Chocolate Brownies
This dense and moist brownie recipe is adapted from Alice Medrich’s Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate.
ingredients
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10 tablespoons (140G) unsalted butter
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1 1/4 cups (250G) granulated sugar
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3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (85G) unsweetened cocoa powder (Naturally)
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1/4 teaspoon kosher Salt
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1/2 teaspoon almond extract
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2 cold big eggs
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1/2 cup (65G) all purpose flour
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2/3 cup (80G) pitchnut pieces
method
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Preheat the oven and lay out the baking sheet:
Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F) with a rack in the bottom third of the oven.
Line the bottom of an 8-inch square baking pan with foil or parchment paper so that there is an overhang on two opposite sides so the brownies can be easily lifted out when they’re done.
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Heat butter, cocoa, sugar, salt:
Place butter, cocoa, sugar, and salt in a medium-sized metal bowl. Fill a large pan halfway with water and bring to a simmer. Place the bowl of butter and cocoa mixture in a pan of simmering water. The bottom of the bowl should touch the bottom of the pan.
Stir in the butter and cocoa mixture until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and hot to the touch.
Remove the bowl from the pan and let cool slightly, going from hot to warm.
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Stir in remaining ingredients:
Stir in almond extract. Then stir in the eggs one at a time, beating vigorously after each addition.
Once the batter is well mixed, glossy and thick, stir in the flour. Beat 40 strokes with a wooden spoon.
Mix in the pecans until they are distributed throughout the batter.
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Pour the batter into a greased pan:
Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth the surface evenly.
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Bake:
Bake at 325°F (160°C) for 25 minutes (minimum) or until a bamboo skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out still slightly moist with the brownie batter. Depending on your oven, the baking time can take anywhere from 25 minutes to 40 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.
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Cut:
When the brownies are completely cool, lift the sides of the foil or parchment paper to remove them from the pan. Place the brownies on a cutting board and cut into squares or rectangles.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 130 | calories |
| 8g | Fat |
| 15g | carbohydrates |
| 2g | protein |
