Outside of the people who are allergic to chocolate or don't enjoy chocolate... who doesn't love a well-prepared brownie? Since the very first time I tried one many years ago, I have learned and re-learned one golden rule about baking brownies: creating the perfect brownie is not just baking. It's an art form. Why? Because a brownie is not cake. A brownie is not fudge. The perfect brownie is something in between: a thin layer of crunch on the outside, followed by what's not quite a cake structure, and semi-gooey center. Best consumed a little warm with a scoop of vanilla-perfumed ice cream and a little warm chocolate sauce.

For 6 - 9 people

• About 2 cups (392 gr) sugar, it may be less if you want to experiment
• 1 cup melted butter that has cooled (you can also use vegetable oil)
• 4 eggs - room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup (90 gr) to no more than 1 cup  plain flour (never pack it down, just scoop it out of the flour bag and wipe away the excess)
  • more flour = more cake-like
• 2/3 cup (70 gr) good cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (recommended)
• 1/2  to 3/4 cups dark chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup lightly toasted walnuts
• Conversion chart

Brownies with a twist

• Option 1 Pistachio brownies
  • instead of walnuts, use freshly roasted/salted pistachios (omit the salt in the recipe)
• Option 2 Peanut butter brownies
  •  once the dough is in the baking dish, add a couple of spoon-fulls of peanut butter (smooth or textured is up to you)use a large skewer or the handle of a spoon to swirl the peanut butter gently through the brownie dough (don't scrape down to the bottom of the baking dish though)

Dough

• Beat eggs GENTLY together with sugar and vanilla extract , using a whisk
  • Remember, we're not baking a cake. You don't want too much air in the eggs as it will make the brownies rise i.e. turn cake-like.
• Add cooled down, melted butter
• Sift flour and salt into the bowl and gently mix through
• Add chocolate chips and nuts, gently mix through
• Butter and flour or cocoa powder a square (preferred) baking dish
• Poor the batter into it and gently spread to all four corners (GENTLY!)

Bake & finish

• Bake at 160c (about 350F) for 20 to 30 min
  • set a timer for 20 minutes and use a toothpick to check the center of the brownies
  • if too liquid, it's not time yet
  • NOTE: the toothpick has to have some goo - in other words, the toothpick should not come out completely dry.
  • That's why in the last ten minutes, you should not walk away, but keep checking using a fresh toothpick each time (or wiping it clean in between checks)
    • if the sides of the brownie is turning too dark, it will be over-baked and the sides of the brownie will be too hard to serve.
• Carefully cut the brownies into strips about 5cm wide, rotate the baking dish and do the same to get even pieces about 5cm by 5cm.
• Carefully scoop out of the mold and place on a wire rack to cool.

Serving suggestions

• coffee or tea or milk
• scoop of vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce (melt 1 bar of Cote d'Or chocolate with a little milk in the microwave, stir until thick sauce, add another spoonful of milk as needed)

Enjoy!
Bren