Absolutely The Best Brownie Recipe I Have Ever Made
I’m not exaggerating when I say that this is absolutely the BEST brownie recipe of my life. I spend a lot of time baking (and eating!) and I’ve never had another brownie like this one. It is the ultimate in rich, fudgy, chocolatey flavor, all thanks to the magic of browned butter. Regular brownies just can’t compete with this depth of flavor.
The other day Truman asked me from the back of the car if he would have time to play legos before dinner when we got home. I cheerfully said, “Absolutely!” And then there was this pause, and he said, very confused, “So…will there be time to play legos?”
I laughed so hard. He was confused because for some reason, I say the phrase “Absolutely not!” when my kids are in trouble or need reprimanding. I think they’ve picked up some unjustified negative connotations on the word “absolutely,” so he had no idea that I was trying to say “yes” in a happy and emphatic way.
Ingredients
1 and 1/4 cup salted butter (2 and 1/2 sticks)
4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate*, broken up
2 and 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon water**
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
4 large eggs
1 and 1/4 cups high quality semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×13 inch baking pan with parchment paper. You can also line it with aluminum foil (be sure to spray the foil with nonstick spray). Or you can just spray the pan.
In a medium pot (I use a 3 quart saucepan), melt 2 and 1/2 sticks of butter over medium heat. Yes, 2 and 1/2 sticks. I called these the best brownies of all time, not healthy brownies!
Stir the butter occasionally. See photos for how to brown butter. It will turn white on top, then it will foam up. Once it is foamy, it will start forming brown colored milk solids or “bits”. They will swirl up when you stir. The scent of the butter will change to a “nutty” or toffee like aroma. Once you see brown bits, remove the pan from the heat.
Immediately add 4 ounces of unsweetened baking chocolate. Break it up into pieces so that they melt faster. Stir until it is melted all the way.
Add 2 and 1/2 cups sugar and stir it together. If there are still bits of chocolate that have not melted, put it back on the burner on low until it is smooth.
Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon water, and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Stir it together.
Add 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled. That means take a large spoon and add flour to your measuring cup, then level off the top. Stir in the flour until just barely incorporated.***
Stir in the eggs one at a time, making sure each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next one.
Do not over mix. Over-mixed batter makes for a tough brownie, which is not what we’re going for. You want soft, tender brownies! Once that last egg has been mixed in thoroughly, stop messing with it.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread to the edges.
Sprinkle 1 and 1/4 cups chocolate chips evenly over the batter. Use your spatula to gently fold it in. If you add the chocolate chips to the batter before pouring it into the pan, they tend to melt and swirl on you. Which might be okay with you. I prefer my chocolate to stay in chip form so that when you bite into a brownie you get tiny little pools of chocolate. Mmm.
Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. The edges should be set. The center of the pan should not wobble when you shake it. I always do the toothpick test: poke a toothpick in the center of the brownies and if there is no wet batter sticking to it, it’s done. (If there is, leave it in for a couple more minutes) Be sure to poke a couple times so that you know you’re not poking into a melted chocolate chip. Every oven is different, so you are going to have to use your bet judgment here on the bake time! Do NOT over bake, or the brownies will be too dry. In my opinion, slightly under baked is better than over baked. Keep in mind that the brownies will firm up as they cool.
When the brownies are done, remove from the oven and let cool as long as you can before giving in and trying a piece.
To cut these into nice looking squares, once the brownies have cooled, lift the parchment paper or foil out of the pan. Cut with a sharp knife, wiping the knife on a clean wet towel in between slices.
These are almost impossible to eat without a glass of milk enjoy .
Recipe Notes
*You can also use 1 and 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder! I often make them with cocoa powder.
**I know brownies don’t usually call for water. This recipe has water to replace some of the liquid lost in browning the butter.
***Most brownie recipes call for adding the eggs first, then the flour. I like to add the flour first so that the batter has a chance to cool down a bit more. I don’t want to risk curdling my eggs! And I’m super impatient and don’t like to wait. But if this feels weird to you, just wait a few minutes for the batter to cool some more before adding the eggs one at a time, then stir in the flour afterward, until barely incorporated.
Source: adapted from Something Swanky.
(I found this recipe on her blog 6 years ago (almost to the day!! What does this say about my late January brownie cravings 😉 I’ve been making it ever since. I never make any other brownie recipe besides this one and Nana’s Famous Fudge Brownies. (which are in a different category because they are frosted.) This recipe reigns supreme as my favorite brownie recipe of all time.)
