Seriously Chocolate Brownies

These chocolate brownies are for serious chocolate brownie lovers only.  They are not overly sweet as some brownies tend to be but they are extremely chocolate.  I make a flourless chocolate cake that is quite similar to these brownies.  I almost considered renaming them Blackies instead of Brownies!  If dense, fudgey and uber chocolate is your destination….look no further!  Preheat your oven to 300F.  Line an 8″ x 8″ square pan with parchment paper or tin foil.  If you use tin foil, leave enough hanging over the sides to make a handle for you to lift the brownies out.

Serious Chocolate Brownies

4 large eggs

1 cup each of brown sugar & white granulated sugar

1 cup of butter melted (salted or not)

1& 1/4 cups of the best quality cocoa powder you can get  your mitts on

1 teaspoon each of Pure Vanilla extract and Almond extract

1/2 cup of all purpose flour or cake flour if that is all you have

1/4 teaspoon salt (if using salted butter) OR  1/2 teaspoon salt if using unsalted butter

2 tablespoons strong coffee or instant espresso (optional)

Using your whisk attachment beat 4 large eggs at medium high speed until they are light and fluffy and pale in colour.  Add 1 cup of brown sugar and continue beating.  Add 1 cup of white sugar and continue beating (til no longer grainy 2 minutes).  Then add all the other ingredients beating after each addition.  Don’t forget to scrape down the sides of the bowl as well.  Bake for approximately 45 minutes.  The tester should come out with a few crumbs but not wet.  Do not over-bake or they will just be hard and then…well…that would just be sad ;-(

Classic Brownie Frosting

1 cup powdered sugar + 1/4 to 1/2 cup cocoa depending how serious you are about your chocolate
2 tablespoons butter softened to room temperature as in your finger leaves an indent not so soft it’s pooling
2 tablespoons milk or cream – any % is fine
1 teaspoon vanilla or espresso or coffee

I start mixing with a fork and then I take the hand-held beaters and beat until it is super creamy, fluffy and lighter in colour.  I do not like a lot of frosting on my brownies.  IF you do then double this recipe with the exception of the vanilla.  I would also suggest you only start with 2 tablespoons of milk and add a little at a time from there.  You can always add more milk but you can’t take it out once it is too much.  If it’s too late and you’ve already added too much milk STAY CALM   and just add some more icing sugar or cocoa.  If you prefer a more stiff icing add less milk, more creamy add more milk.  I like mine somewhere right in the middle.

You can also cheat and when the brownies come out of the oven throw a half a bag of chocolate chips (whatever kind you like) directly on top of the brownies.  Wait one minute while they become warm and start melting and then take your weapon of choice and spread it back and forth all over the top of the brownies.  You can then lick all leftover chocolate off of said weapon…because no one will ever know.  Let it cool before you slice into them.

The most challenging part about making these brownies is being able to wait until they are cooled before cutting them.  Your kitchen and most likely your entire house will smell like heaven.  Neighbours you’ve never met before will be coming out of the woodwork under the guise of saying hello.  Family members you haven’t seen for ions will suddenly be knocking on you do to ‘get re-acquainted’.  Don’t you believe it for a minute…they just want your brownies!  I don’t think these brownies could win a Nobel Prize but they could most definitely be a per-cursor to World Peace!

I am sorry dear reader for the lack of pictures but I am having technical difficulties these days.  I swear things of an electronic nature just hate me. lol  Today I thought I was making room for more pictures for my blog by cleaning out my media file…but nooooooo…I deleted pictures on my blog…I was going to cry but that won’t help so I ask you to please be patient while I try to restore said chaos here.