Recipe from Kate Moses
Adapted by Alex Witchel
- Total Time
- 1 hour, plus several hours’ resting
- Rating
- 5(1,164)
- Notes
- Read community notes
These brownies must sit for some time before they reach their deeply fudgy peak. They are a perfect midweek recipe to yield a weekend's dessert, though in truth they'll be ready after only a night's rest. Once they've matured, you end up with a mystifying brownie that is firm to the bite yet melting in the mouth. Walnuts contribute crunch if you like that sort of thing. They are entirely optional. —Alex Witchel
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Ingredients
Yield:24 brownies
- 1½cups unsalted butter, plus more for greasing pan
- 1½cups walnut halves (optional)
- 9ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped or broken into small pieces
- 3large eggs
- 1teaspoon salt
- 2¾cups sugar
- 1tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1½cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (24 servings)
347 calories; 23 grams fat; 11 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 33 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 23 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 110 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13-by-9-inch glass baking pan. If using walnuts, spread on a baking sheet and toast in oven until fragrant and lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool.
Step
2
Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat, add chocolate, and cover pan until chocolate is melted, about 10 minutes. In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, salt, sugar and vanilla just until thick, creamy and beginning to lighten in color.
Step
3
Whisk the butter and chocolate until smooth, then mix into the sugar-egg mixture just until well combined. Using a spatula, fold in the flour, using as few strokes as possible, until it disappears. Fold in the walnuts, if using. Spread the batter evenly in the baking pan.
Step
4
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, checking after 22 minutes to avoid over-baking. When the tip of a knife inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs, but not liquid, remove brownies from the oven. Allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and leave in the pan for several hours or overnight before cutting into squares. Store in an airtight container.
Ratings
5
out of 5
1,164
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Cooking Notes
John
Good for you. Most people are afraid of slightly wet-in-the-center brownies when they come out of the oven. But if they are cooked until a toothpick test comes out dry, the brownies are (IMO) ruined, their marvelous texture lost. I make sure to take them out of the oven when the center is still a little jiggly and a toothpick comes out with "moist crumbs" sticking to it. I always let brownies stand covered for a day at room temp and they always firm up to fudgy perfection.
EmilyA
Learn from my mistake! I cooked my brownies for 22mins as recommended, and took them out of the oven to test. They were still completely liquid in the centre, so I popped them in for another 2mins and then another 2mins until a knife inserted in the middle came out with chunks and not liquid. It is now 24hrs later, and the brownies are covered and resting in my fridge, but they are hard as a ROCK. Take yours out of the oven when they still appear quite undercooked in the middle.
Ann B.
This is a terrific recipe that results in moist, decadently rich brownie. Make sure to use the best quality butter and chocolate you can find ( I used Plugra butter and Valrhona 66% cacao chocolate nibs.) I did add 1 Tbs. baking powder to my dry ingredients in order to create a crackly top to contrast the fudgy center. Resist the temptation of eating these right away- the flavor and texture improves after resting a couple of days.
MP
I N C R E D I B L E
I used semi-sweet choc chips instead of unsweetened chocolate and reduced sugar from 2 3/4c --> 2c to compensate.
These are the best things that have ever happened to me.
William Wroblicka
I believe it was Nick Malgieri, the well-known pastry chef, who said adding baking powder to brownies makes about as much sense as adding it to mashed potatoes...
Donalda
These brownies are great! I, too used Plugra butter and only 2 cups of sugar. I am in love.
Harlan Webber
I verified the completeness of the bake using a thermometer... We checked and it was an internal temperature of 180 degrees Fahrenheit. The web search showed that the range in between 165 and 200, but 180 or so came out great... so that is a benchmark you can use to avoid having them a day later be too hard or soft...
Francesca
This all sounds lovely and I look forward to trying - but who are ALL of you people who talk so casually about letting your brownies sit for "a few hours or overnight"...????!!! I doubt very seriously that has EVER happened in my household - hahahaha! Starting to think I am alone in my total lack of willpower around ooey-gooey chocolate bliss :)
Kathy Neblett
per reviews:
reduce sugar to 2 cups
add 1 TBS baking powder for crackly top
Deirdre B.
Just made these tonight and they're insanely good. Very sweet, if you wanted to cut back a bit on the sugar it would probably be fine. The batter alone is great, why bother baking! They've very fudgey and a bit greasy due to all the butter. I let them sit on paper towels for a bit and it worked nicely. I WILL make these again.
Amanda R.
These brownies were awesome! I live in a very small NY apartment with an equally small NY oven and found I had to bake these for closer to 35 min. When I took them out of the oven, I let them sit for a few hours and then tried one square... and they were still way too gooey. So I let them rest set overnight and for half of the next day - and when I cut into them a second time, they were perfect! I also exchanged walnuts for pecans and it was equally as delicious.
Donna
These Brownies are AMAZING!! I added a tbsp. of espresso! Yummy! Chewy gooey deliciousness!!
Mirza
Add 1 TBSP of Baking Powder. Reduce sugar to 1 and 3/4 cups.
Tamar
Very good! I used Plugra butter, as well as baker's sugar for this recipe. The baking time for me was 35 minutes. I live at 6600' elevation, and I didn't make any adjustments. Worked out just fine as is.
John
There have always been two camps of brownie opinion, some like them moist and fudgey, others prefer them cooked past that stage, so they are still moist, but more cake-like. Everybody thinks their favorite is "just right".
Deb
See notes on decreasing sugar to 2 c or by 1/2.
M.Pook
Gave these to my mother- in-law for Christmas.Now, she has never had much of anything good to say about me( and I'm sure that many of you can emphasize with me) but when she bit into one of these brownies, her eyes lit up and she gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. That alone was worth the trouble of making them!
CT
These are always an instant hit at parties. Mine take 30 minutes or a tad more to achieve the “done” test in the recipe. I use Ghirardelli’s chocolate which is delicious.
Lola
Metric ?????
Kathy
Gritty sugar bomb. Looks fudgy the next day, but they turn to grit in the mouth. I'll try freezing them in 1 inch squares to get a chocolate hit once in awhile.
Stan
I have not tried this but am intrigued by Alton Brown's suggestion on how to get brownies with gooey centers.'use this easy baking hack with any brownie recipe (yes, even a boxed brownie mix!) to upgrade its texture. According to a tip Brown scrawled on a sticky note, snapped a picture of and posted on Twitter, it’s the secret to “ooier centers,” he says. To achieve it, “bake your brownies for 15 minutes, take them out for 15 minutes, then bake till done."' Bake at 300 degrees.
RiboGuy
The toasted walnuts totally put this over the top!
Chris
Simple and decadent...family loved them. I concur w/other reviews on sugar content...two cups max...less you get Type 4 diabetes.
Ann B
LOVE that this recipe fills a 9x13” pan. Who in their right mind would want only 8x8” of delicious fudge brownies!?!?!
Stephanie
Do you have to use a glass 9"x 13" pan? I only have a metal one.
JohnL
Toasting the walnuts changed the flavor, for the worse I think. Next time I'll add them untested.
Name Deborah
WHy a glass baking dish?
sarah
This will sound scandalous: Anybody done 1/2 batch? It seems as if it would be okay...I call my best melt-in-the-mouth, but firm, fudgy brownie recipe "Death by Chocolate". I'm not at all afraid to discover a recipe which might put the old one to rest.
TriciaPDX
Instead of beating the sugar into the eggs where it might not completely dissolve, beat the sugar into the warm butter/chocolate until smooth, cool enough not to cook the eggs, then proceed with the recipe. No gritty brownies.Doesn't hurt to melt a tsp. of instant coffee or espresso powder into the melted butter/chocolate either.
Lianne
What is the recommendation if you don’t have a glass baking pan, only a metal one?
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