brownies
I wanted to make a little something for all the people who helped us out while we were gone on our trip (thanks guys!), so I made two big batches of brownies. Nick Malgieri’s supernatural brownies have been my basic recipe for a few years, mostly because it has a ton of chocolate in it and not very much flour–because really it’s not about eating cake it’s about eating chocolate buttery goodness. They were good, but not as good as I remembered. Luckily I just found a brownie recipe with just as much chocolate and even less flour (1/4 cup) in David Lebovitz’s new book Ready for Dessert. These I might not share at all.
And I found these perfect little plates to put the brownies on while I was at the thrift store. They look Dutch, don’t they? but they actually say Lad n’ Lassie on the back. So, Happy St. Patrick’s day I guess? Now go make some brownies.
Supernatural Brownies
from the New York Times
2 sticks (16 tablespoons) butter, more for pan and parchment paper
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark brown sugar, such as muscovado
1 cup granulated sugar (I would say 1/2 cup is probably enough, unless you use super crazy dark chocolate)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or 3/4 cup whole walnuts, optional.
1. Butter a 13-by-9-inch baking pan and line with buttered parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In top of a double boiler set over barely simmering water, or on low power in a microwave, melt butter and chocolate together. Cool slightly. In a large bowl or mixer, whisk eggs. Whisk in salt, sugars and vanilla.
2. Whisk in chocolate mixture. Fold in flour just until combined. If using chopped walnuts, stir them in. Pour batter into prepared pan. If using whole walnuts, arrange on top of batter. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until shiny and beginning to crack on top. Cool in pan on rack.
Yield: 15 large or 24 small brownies.
