Last night hunger struck. Or should I say, the sweet tooth. As I anxiously browsed through all of my baking bookmarks, rapidly discarding options for pies (too complicated and would take too long), cakes (not in the mood), anything frosted (an extra step and would have to wash more dishes), I realized I had two main options; cookies or brownies. Muffins no, they're not usually sweet enough. It would have to be something I had ingredients for; I wasn't going to go to the grocery store at 8 pm.
Deb's recipe fit the bill. It was super quick to make and had a potent dose of chocolate, in cocoa powder form. Folks, this is as close as I get to box mixes. It was simple to make; combine liquid and dry ingredients in one bowl, pop 'em in the oven and half an hour later, munch down on deep dark chocolate goodness.
Richest cocoa brownies with walnuts
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen Blog
Ingredients
10 TBSP unsalted butter, melted
1 ¼ cups sugar
¾ cup plus 2 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder (I used natural)
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, cold
½ cup all-purpose flour
⅔ cup coarsely chopped walnuts (or your favorite nuts)
Preheat the oven to 325F and place the rack in the lower third of the oven. Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with foil and coat with nonstick spray.
Whisk together the melted butter, sugar, cocoa and salt in a medium-large mixing bowl. The mixture will look slightly gritty. Stir in the vanilla extract. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the batter looks thick and shiny, add the flour and stir until you can't see it any longer. Then whisk the batter vigorously until shiny. Stir in the nuts if using. Pour into the prepared pan and spread evenly.
Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes (I did 30) until set in the middle and a cake tester comes out with some moist crumbs. Let cool completely on a wire rack, then lift up the ends of the foil liner and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 or 25 squares.
Comments