The Baked Brownie

One of my coworkers is having a baby and we threw her a small shower at work this week.  When we asked her what her favorite dessert was, she replied brownie.  A nice rich, fudgy brownie with a crispy crust and no chocolate chips!  I told her no problem.  My go to brownie recipe has mini Hershey kisses in it so I needed to find another recipe to make for her.  To the internet I went and came across a post from Brown Eyed Baker where she listed her top 10 favorite brownies and the Baked Brownie was her number one favorite brownie recipe.  The picture she posted looked like everything that Dani was looking for so I knew this was the recipe.  By the way, the cookbook that the recipe came from looks tremendous.  I think I may have to break down and buy it.  The original recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of espresso powder but I didn't have any so I didn't use it.  I still think they came out great.  I imagine the espresso powder would just give you that hint of coffee flavor in them so if you are looking for that flavor go for it, otherwise it is OK to leave it out.

I made the brownies while Joe was at work and he was drooling over them by the time dinner was over so I let him have a taste later that night and he gave it his seal of approval and ate it with a nice large glass of milk, which, according to him, is the sign of a great brownie, who knew!

The Baked Brownie
From Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. dark unsweetened cocoa powder
11 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
5 eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter the sides and bottom of a 9 x 13 inch glass or light-colored baking pan.  Line the pan wiht parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt and cocoa powder together.

Put the chocolate and butter in a large bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth.  Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water and add the sugars.  Whisk until completely combined, then remove the bowl from the pan.  The mixture should be room temperature.

Add 3 eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined.  Add the remaining eggs and whisk until combined.  Add the vanilla and stir until combined.  Do not overbeat the batter at this stage or your brownies will be cakey.

Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture.  Using a rubber spatula (not a whisk), fold the flour mixture into the chocolate until just a bit of the flour mixture is visible.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.  Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway thorough the baking time, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it.  Let the brownies cool completely, then lift them out of the pan using the parchment paper.  Cut into squares and serve.

Store at room temperature in an airtight container or wrap with plastic wrap for up to 3 days.