My Ultimate Chocolate Brownies

These brownies are wonderfully gooey and fudgy, but still have a slight bit of cakiness to them. The textures are enhanced with the addition of cocoa nibs and pecans.

Brownies are a little chocolate bites of heaven, which lots of people have strong opinions about …. cakey vs fudge, cocoa vs chocolate, nuts vs no nuts …. the list is endless. That’s the wonderful think about baking, you can take a recipe and adapt it to your own taste. This is in fact what I did, adapting this recipe from Handle the Heat.

Though, I think I adapted it so much it is barely recognizable from the original! This should be testament to the number of trials this brownie underwent. I think brownies are a matter of personal preference, so feel free to adapt it as you would like – swap out the pecans for walnuts, or toss in some fudge, white chocolate chunks ….. make this your own 🙂

What makes this brownie special is the browning of the butter, as well as the inclusion of the rye flour. The browned butter gives this bake a nutty, wonderfully rich flavour and the rye flour has less gluten than regular flour, so adds to a more dense brownie.

The most difficult step in making this brownie is that you have to wait for it to cool completely before diving in! The wait is worth it though, trust me – the brownie is the perfect balance of fudginess with just a hint of cakiness to it (are these even legit words ?!).

The recipe is relatively simple, but as usual, I have included more detailed steps and general reasoning for the different steps, so that you can be guided, should you want to omit/add a certain ingredient.

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WHAT SHOULD I KNOW ABOUT MAKING THIS RECIPE?

• Is it necessary to brown the butter? No, this step is not essential, but it does help with developing a deeper flavor for the brownie and complements the pecans in the recipe.
• Is the coffee an essential step? I always use coffee to deepen the flavour of chocolate. You cannot taste the coffee, it just makes the chocolate, well … chocolatier. You can skip it if you want.
• What is the purpose of using a combination of milk and dark chocolate? The dark chocolate helps balance out the sweetness. The milk chocolate has an ingredient called soya lecithin, which in part, helps to give the brownie its shiny crust.
• Is using rye flour essential? What if I cannot find rye flour? Rye flour helps to produce a really gooey, sticky fudgy brownie. There is less gluten in rye flour than cake flour, so the overall result of the baked good is more dense – which is what you want in a brownie. You can use normal cake flour, of equal quantity, if you prefer.
• Why are there two types of sugar in the recipe? I found that the brownie made with just brown sugar was too cakey and the the brownie made with just demerara/muscavado sugar was too gooey. So I used a combination to find a good balance.
• Beating the eggs and sugar …. is this necessary? It is, if you want a nice shiny crust on the top. Also, there is very little leavening in the recipe, so the air incorporated into the sugar and the egg helps to give the brownie structure.
• Why do you let your brownie batter stand for 5 minutes? I noticed, by accident, that doing this produced a thicker batter. Possibly because there is more time for the rye flour to absorb into the batter.
• How do I store my brownies? Place them in an airtight container once they are fully cooled.
• Can I enjoy my brownies straight out of the oven? Unfortunately here, patience is a virtue. If you cut into the immediately, its going to be a hot, gooey mess. The chocolate in the recipe does set up, as it cools however, to add some structure.
• How long do the brownies last? I have no idea, they were gone by the next day in my household! I assume a shelf life of around 5 days, stored in the fridge is reasonable. You may want to microwave them before enjoying.
• Are the cocoa nibs and pecans essential? They are not, though I do recommend them for the texture they impart.
• Can I tailor these brownies to my own taste? I am a firm believer in adapting recipes until it suites what I am looking for – but only after testing the original one.
  Naturally, changing core ingredients like ratio of sugar, or different qualities of chocolate will impact the final bake. These ratios have a specific scientific functions on the end result, so I do not suggest changing them without trying the recipe unaltered first.
  That being said, this is a great base to add other accompanying ingredients. Feel free to swirl in caramel or peanut butter. For a more savoury flavour, pretzels or even potato chips are also an option. Tossing in some blueberries or raspberry’s will also be delicious and complimentarily pair with the chocolatiness.

CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

• 200g butter
• 100g 70% dark chocolate
• 150g milk chocolate
• 30g cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp instant coffee granules
• 3 large eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 150g demerara sugar
• 150g brown sugar
• 90g rye flour (or plain flour for a slightly cakier brownie)
• 1/2 tsp flakey sea salt
• 50g cocoa nibs (optional)
• 100g pecans (optional)
• 50g dark chocolate chunks (optional)
• 1/2 tsp flakey sea salt (optional)

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius. Grease and line a 20cm square cake tin. Make sure there is enough overhang of the baking paper, so it is easier to lift out.
2. In a medium saucepan, brown the butter. Melt the butter until it begins to bubble and turn a brown colour, with the milk solids settling at the bottom. Be careful not to burn the butter.
3. Add in the cocoa powder and whisk into the butter to “bloom” it. This releases the flavour from the cocoa, which is trapped in the solids.
4. Then add in the coffee granules and chocolate and mix well, until all the chocolate is melted. Set aside to cool slightly.
5. With a stand or hand-held mixer, beat the eggs and sugars for around 5 minutes until the mixture has tripled in volume and looks pale.
6. Gradually pour in the melted chocolate mixture, followed by the rye flour and salt.
7. Fold in the cocoa nibs and pecans. Set the batter aside to rest for 5 minutes.
8. Then pour half your batter into a lined cake tin, sprinkle on half the dark choc chunks if using, and then add the rest of the batter. Follow that with the remaining chocolate chunks and flakey sea salt.
9. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the brownie has risen and set, and the edges begin to crack a bit. A skewer inserted WILL NOT come out clean, as you want the brownie to be fudgy.
10. Wait a few hours for the brownie to cool before cutting into it.

Recipe by adventureswithsugar.com