Milk Chocolate Brownies

Milk Chocolate Brownies - made March 16, 2010 from The Brownie Experience by Lisa Tanner

The first brownie baking book I ever remember owning was The Brownie Experience by Lisa Tanner. I can't remember if I discovered it on my own or if my then-college housemate and baking partner in crime, Caroline, had brought it to my attention. But at the time I thought it was a marvelous thing - an entire cookbook just on brownies. The world was such a good place. I've made a fair number of recipes from this book but not lately. Having been on a nostalgia kick lately, brought on by looking for old family pictures, I decided to dust off this baking book that I've owned for more than 20 years and resurrect some of the recipes. I don't know if this is even still in print or not.

The one I made last night were the Milk Chocolate Brownies. Funny thing about milk chocolate - I love it in cookies and as chocolate chips and candy. But for a rich, decadent, fudgy brownie, I prefer to use dark chocolate or unsweetened chocolate. The milk chocolate is good and these brownies are fudgy and chewy but they're (logically enough) more sweet and somehow less chocolaty. Only a truly dark chocolate makes my brownie of choice.

However, these aren't bad - I just have a high bar for brownies. They disappeared fast enough from the communal kitchen at work so people must've liked them. The recipe calls for baking in a 9" pan but I made them in an 8" pan to make them a little thicker. Watch the baking time on these. I didn't go by what the recipe said and baked them a little longer since I used a smaller pan. You'll know they're done when a toothpick inserted at the edge comes out clean but inserted in the middle it comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it, not raw batter (unlike what the recipe says). The edges rise higher than the middle as the middle will sink once you take it out - that's okay. You don't want to overbake them to the point that the middle is as done as the edges.

¾ cup flour
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup butter
¾ cup sugar
2 tbsp milk or cream
2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup chopped nuts
powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 325˚F. Butter a 9” square pan.
2. In a small bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.
3. In a small saucepan, melt butter, sugar and milk or cream together over low heat, stirring constantly. Bring mixture just to boiling them remove from heat and immediately stir in 1 cup of the chocolate chips and vanilla. Stir until chips melt and mixture is smooth. Transfer to a large bowl.
4. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Blend in flour mixture. Fold in remaining chips and nuts.
5. Spread batter evenly in pan. Bake 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.