Back to work...

So, after a brief hiatus due to work, events and some orders, I've finally got some time to get back to posting.  This week's posting hails back to one of my original goals, to blog while trying to find recipes for bakery items.

I figured I'd resume with a rather important item, the brownie.  I think these are one of those hard things because everyone has a different expectation for a brownie.  I personally like a fudgier brownie and in the past I had made the recipe Ina Garten has in one of her books.  I remember it being really good...very rich, chocolately and fudge like.  I did a quick search for recipes though, just to see if anything else caught my eye and nothing really stood out.

Now going into this recipe, she calls for a lot of coffee.  Ina is a big proponent of using coffee to enhance chocolate.  Normally I am in agreement with this, but the amount in this recipe almost overwhelms rather than compliment.  So, I used only a third of the amount.  I also decided to add in some blackstrap molasses, just to add in a bit of a deep caramel undertone.  I also changed up the chocolate amounts slightly, mostly because I didn't want to buy 10 ounces of chocolate just cause I needed 2 ounces.

It's also worth noting that these brownies are insanely rich, I wanted to eat more, but I couldn't do it.  It was just too much.  So, in the future I will look to find a way to tweak this recipe to cut through some of that richness.

But let's get to baking...

Gather up all your ingredients, measure out the chocolates and butter and place into a bowl over a pot of water to create a double boiler.

While the chocolates and butter melt, crack the eggs into a bowl.  Add the vanilla, coffee, sugar and mix to combine.  Don't beat, as that adds air and will not create the more dense brownies.

Stir the chocolate as it melts to speed up the melting process. When the chocolate is all melted, remove from the heat and let cool slightly.  Add to the egg mixture and mix, then add the flour, salt and baking powder.

In a separate bowl toss nuts and chocolate chips with flour to coat (I did not use nuts in my recipe). Add to the chocolate batter.

 Prepare a 12x18x1 baking sheet, by buttering and dusting with flour.  I sprayed the sheet with non stick spray and placed a piece of parchment paper down.  Pour batter into pan and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  If you used parchment paper, give the pan a few taps on the counter.  If you only butter and flour the pan, after 20 minutes, give the pan a few taps against the side of the oven.

Continue baking for an additional 15 minutes.

 Remove from the oven and let cool, then refrigerate.  Cut into desired pieces.

Ingredients

1 pound unsalted butter 

1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate  chips

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate 

6 extra-large eggs

3 tablespoons instant coffee granules

2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract 

2 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups chopped walnuts

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter and flour a 12 x 18 x 1-inch baking sheet.

Melt together the butter, 1 pound of chocolate chips, and the unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl over simmering water. Allow to cool slightly. In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, coffee granules, vanilla, and sugar. Stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature.

In a medium bowl, sift together 1 cup of flour, the baking powder, and salt. Add to the cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips  in a medium bowl with 1/4 cup of flour, then add them to the chocolate batter. Pour into the baking sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes, then rap the baking sheet against the oven shelf to force the air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Bake for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake! Allow to cool thoroughly, refrigerate, and cut into 20 large squares.