Decadent Chocolate Brownies aka Outrageous Brownies

When you hear the phrase 'death by chocolate' associated with a recipe, are you someone who becomes giddy at the prospect of learning of an intense chocolate concoction or are you someone for whom this would be on the 'too much' end of the chocolate dessert eating continuum?  If you are on the giddy end of the continuum, you might just want to read on. And for those of you who are on the 'too much' end, maybe today is the day where you can appreciate just a small dose of 'too much'.

When Ina Garten's first cookbook, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, came out I did not want to share this new discovery with anyone until I had time go through many of the recipes.  Her recipe for Outrageous Brownies was one that I wanted to keep as a temporarily guarded secret. In retrospect I wonder what I was thinking.  

Everyone who has tasted these brownies has declared they were the best brownies they had ever eaten.   One bite of these brownies and you are immediately transported to an incredible euphoric state.
When I finally succumbed to sharing the recipe with others, almost everyone was amazed at how much chocolate was actually in them.  There was one person who upon reading the ingredients jokingly said 'my mortgage payment is less than the cost of the chocolate in this recipe'.  While there was some humor in this exaggeration, the recipe actually does call for a little more than two pounds of chocolate, which explains in part why these brownies are so insanely decadent.

There are many words to describe these brownies.  Dense, moist, chocolately, nutty, rich, and decadent are just some of them.  Served all by themselves or with some vanilla ice cream, they are a perfect death by chocolate eating experience.  Once you get rave reviews from your family and friends for this decadent brownie, I wonder if you too will want to temporarily guard the recipe.

The set of graduated glass bowls available from Williams-Sonoma are my favorites and I use them constantly.  They are the only bowls I use for melting chocolate over simmering water.

Once the butter and chocolate is melted, it is stirred until combined to a beautiful, thick, shiny consistency. Whisk this mixture gently.

For a long time I didn't believe that lightly toasted nuts made a difference to the taste of the finished product because it just seemed like one more step in a recipe.  But one day just for the heck of it I decided to just do a little taste test comparing a raw nut with a lightly toasted nut.  The difference was more than subtle for walnuts, pecans and macadamias.  From that point on if a recipe called for lightly toasting the nuts before combining with the rest of the ingredients, the additional step and time was well worth the effort.  Remember to always toast your nuts first before chopping them.

If you have ever made recipes from any of Ina Garten's cookbooks you will note she almost always uses extra-large eggs in her recipes.  So when shopping for the ingredients for these brownies, remember extra-large (not jumbo, not large) eggs.  

The original recipe called for instant coffee granules as one of the ingredients.  When I first started making these brownies I was using one of those instant flavored coffees. However, over the years shifted from instant coffee (Sanka) to instant espresso coffee.  The brand I like to use is Medaglia D'Oro as it not only works perfectly in recipes calling for 'instant coffee', it makes a great cup of instant espresso as well. The addition of the espresso adds to the richness of the chocolate and is the game changer ingredient that separates this recipe from all other brownie recipes.

The recipe calls for a one and a quarter cups of flour.  One cup is used for the batter and the quarter cup is mixed into the chocolate chips and nuts.  Coating the nuts and chocolate chips with flour prevents them from sinking down to the bottom of the brownies.  The result is a brownie with chocolate chips and nuts mixed perfectly throughout.

When finished baking the brownies should have a beautiful sheen to them.  If they come out with a dull finish, you have overworked the batter.

 
After the brownies have cooled they should be refrigerated before cutting.  The brownies should spend at least a couple of hours in the refrigerator.  You will them be able to simply lift up the parchment paper out of the pan and then cut them into whatever size of squares or rectangles you like. I like to put the cut brownies into white cupcake papers as it makes for a great presentation on a platter or stacked in a cellophane bag.

Recipe

Decadent Chocolate Brownies aka Outrageous Brownies (oh so slight adaption of Ina Garten's Outrageous Brownie recipe appearing in The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook)

Ingredients

1 pound (454g) unsalted butter

1 pound (454g) semisweet chocolate 

12 ounces (340g) semisweet chocolate chips

6 ounces (171g) bittersweet chocolate

6 extra large eggs, room temperature

2 Tablespoons instant espresso or 3 Tablespoons instant coffee granules

2 Tablespoons vanilla

2 1/4 (450g) cups granulated sugar

1 1/4 (163g) cups all-purpose flour, divided

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups (340g) lightly toasted walnuts, chopped

Flaky Sea Salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).

2. Place walnuts on baking sheet and toast for approximately 6-8 minutes.  Cool and then chop coarsely.

3. Line a 12" x 18" x 1" rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

4. In a medium sized bowl placed over simmering water melt butter, one pound of semisweet chocolate and six ounces of bittersweet chocolate.  When melted, stir, remove from heat and let cool slightly.

5. Mix together the eggs, instant espresso granules, vanilla and sugar in a large bowl using a whisk.  Do not over beat.

6. Add slightly cooled chocolate/butter mixture.  Stir gently until mixed.  Set aside.

7. Sift together 1 cup flour, baking powder and salt.  Mix into batter.

8. In a separate bowl mix together the 12 ounces of chocolate chips and chopped walnuts with 1/4 cup flour.

9.  Add chocolate chips and nuts into the chocolate batter.

10.  Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle lightly with flaky sea salt.

11.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and tap baking sheet at least twice on counter.  Return to the oven and bake for up to an additional 15 minutes or 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Be careful to not over bake as they are intended to be moist brownies.

12.  Once the brownies have cooled, cover, and place in the refrigerator.

13.  Cut chilled brownies into the size or shape of preference.  Serve room temperature or chilled.

Notes: (1) I used Ghiradelli chocolate bars and chips in these brownies. (2) To toast the walnuts, place them on a baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 7-9 minutes. Allow to cool before chopping and mixing into the batter.

Unlike cooking there is a precision to the measuring of ingredients in the making and/or baking of desserts. European recipes usually list ingredients in weights where here in the US we generally use the measures of teaspoons, tablespoons, cups, etc.  However, there is a movement here now with some chefs like Thomas Keller who advocate for weighing ingredients when baking. Until I fully transition to the weighing of ingredients, I will use my trusty measuring tools to get the perfect measured spoonful or cup.

Last week I went looking for my favorite Williams-Sonoma measuring spoons and could not find them.  I was beside myself.  I tore apart every drawer not just once but twice and then looked in the dishwasher at least three times. I even looked in drawers where I would not even think to put my baking tools. I couldn't imagine that I would have inadvertently thrown them out, but my efforts to find them were unsuccessful.  If there was no rationale explanation for their whereabouts, maybe there was an irrational one.  I live in an 80 year old farmhouse so in my active imagination world, I momentarily wondered if the house had a ghost that 'took' these treasured measuring spoons from me.

After my unsuccessful search, I made the hour drive to the Williams-Sonoma in Wrenthem, Massachusetts to buy a new set of metal measuring spoons.  I couldn't just use any measuring spoons. Yes, I have an affinity for measuring spoons made not of thin, light-weight metal that bends easily or of plastic, but for spoons crafted with more substantial metal, making them difficult to bend out of shape.  All was again right with the world when I bought the new set of Williams-Sonoma spoons.  These simple little spoons had the amazing ability to make me happy.

Today as I was making the brownies I used my new measuring spoons to get the precision I wanted. In cleaning up the bowls and spoons, I opened the dishwasher, took out the KitchenAid bowl and to my amazement there were the measuring spoons I so frantically looked for last weekend.  I could hardly believe my eyes. So just in case there really is a ghost here, it now will have to hide two sets of spoons before I have the need or time to spend another two hours of my life buying a third set