To bake a genuinely decadent, ooey-gooey, fudgy brownie, there’s a bit of science involved in the process to get it right. Brownies are brownies, not cake. They should be dense, moist, and full of chocolate chunks with a slightly crisp top and sides. To achieve this result, you need to up the naughty factor in your baking and have a higher fat-to-flour ratio than cake. Good for you? No. Good for your soul? One bite and you’ll know that’s true.
INGREDIENTS
- 270g unsalted butter, melted then cooled
- 260g white sugar
- 200g light brown sugar
- Four large eggs
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 Tsp salt
- 130g all-purpose flour
- 100g unsweetened cocoa powder
- 200g (plus 50g for topping) roughly chopped dark or milk chocolate (milk chocolate produces a much sweeter end product)
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and place an oven rack in the top position.
- Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan (smaller baking pans will need longer cook times) and optionally line it with greased parchment paper with overhang.
- In a medium-sized bowl, combine the sugar and melted butter and whisk until incorporated.
- Add the eggs and vanilla to the sugar and butter, and using a hand mixer, beat for approximately one minute until the colour lightens.
- To avoid lumps and reduce the chance of overmixing, sift in the flour, cocoa powder, and salt before folding the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined, air bubbles have not begun to form (air bubbles will create a cakey texture).
- Fold in 200g of the chocolate chunks.
- Pour the batter into the 9×13 inch pan, smooth out the top, and add the leftover 50g of chocolate chunks to the brownies’ top.
- If baking in a 9×13 inch pan, bake for 18 minutes. If baking in an 8×12 inch pan, bake for 24 minutes, and if baking in a 7×11 inch pan, bake for 42 minutes to achieve a brownie that is just set to the touch.
- Let the brownies cool for 15-20 minutes to set before removing them from the pan by the overhanging parchment paper. Cool until fully set, and enjoy!
Calories: 357 per brownie, 5361 per tray (approximately)
