Question: What is the best fudge brownie recipe?
So far, I've tried two recipes, detailed below.
Why do this?
I have not yet made brownies from scratch or any desert, for that matter, besides traditional Toll House Chocolate Chip cookies (which don't count, to me) and Hello Dollies. If you know what Hello Dollies are, you get a gold star. Apparently, that name for them is only used up North. On the web, they are also called magic cookie bars.
Ever since my favorite box mix of fudge brownie was discontinued, we have searched in vain to replace it. I shall now go on a quest to find a better one. I was amazed that making brownies from scratch was possible. Mix a lot of common ingredient together and you get... BROWNIES! It's kind of weird. I'm not used to knowing what goes into making the mysterious mix in the box.
Recipe #1: Fudge Brownie Recipe from allrecipes.com
Here is the first recipe I made on Saturday.
Original Recipe
Original recipe makes 2 dozen
- 1 cup butter
- 4 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
- 2 cups white sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups chopped walnuts
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
- In 3-quart saucepan over very low heat, melt butter or margarine and chocolate, stirring the mixture constantly. Remove from heat, and stir the sugar into the chocolate. Allow the mixture to cool slightly. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour and salt; stir into the chocolate mixture. Fold in the walnuts. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
- Bake in oven 30 to 35 minutes. Brownies are done when toothpick inserted into center come out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack.
Results
This recipe produced decent brownies. They were definitely different from a box mix. When cutting the brownies with a metal knife - box mix brownies always stick to the knife and are so annoying to cut - however, these sliced like butter and bowed in before cutting like a sponge. It was bizarre. (By the way, I'm told by someone in the Scarborough lab at Emory that to avoid brownies sticking to the knife, use a plastic knife. I shall have to see if this really works.)
James and I agreed that these brownies were ok - not the best we'd had of box mixes, but not the worst either. I would prefer them to be more fudgy. Someone on the allrecipes.com site recommended using two more chocolate squares for more fudginess. James said he'd heard adding fewer eggs also worked. I shall have to try both. *strokes non-existent beard and steeples fingers* The flour didn't appear to mix as thoroughly as I would have liked, for there were small flour-looking speckles at the top of these brownies.
Recipe Optimization
I shall try this recipe again next week - one batch w/ two more chocolate squares, one with two fewer eggs and one with both those change.
Alton Brown is an Atlantan chef and also the one I respect most. John reminded me of him and I just had to try his recipe. I made his recipe for the best pancake mix once - and it really was the best I ever had. His recipe can be found here.
His recipes calls for cocoa rather than chocolate squares, more vanilla, less flour and part brown sugar, when compared to the other recipe. Interesting. I am just baking it now. We shall see!
Original Recipe
Soft butter, for greasing the pan
Flour, for dusting the buttered pan
4 large eggs
1 cup sugar, sifted
1 cup brown sugar, sifted
8 ounces melted butter
11/4 cups cocoa, sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Directions
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8-inch square pan.
In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs at medium speed until fluffy and light yellow. Add both sugars. Add remaining ingredients, and mix to combine.
Pour the batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square pan and bake for 45 minutes. Check for doneness with the tried-and-true toothpick method: a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan should come out clean. When it's done, remove to a rack to cool. Resist the temptation to cut into it until it's mostly cool.
SERVINGS: 16 (PER BROWNIE); Calories: 243; Total Fat: 13 grams; Saturated Fat: 8 grams; Protein: 3 grams; Total carbohydrates: 28 grams; Sugar: 22 grams Fiber: 1 grams; Cholesterol: 83 milligrams; Sodium: 82 milligrams
Results
Just tried them. Interestingly, they also were slightly spongy (but not quite as much as the others) and had no trouble being cut with a metal knife. It tastes a bit bitter, is fluffy and somewhat cakey - I think I'd like mine to be fudgier and slightly sweeter - you can really taste the cocoa flavor coming through. But it's really good. I think this brownie is a winner - definitely better than the other recipe. I'm wondering if I added fewer eggs to it, if it would be more fudgy. Until next week - same bat time, same bat channel.