Fat Witch Brownies

Fat Witch Brownies - made September 15, 2010 from Fat Witch Brownies by Patricia Helding

THESE are the brownies I initially wanted to make from the Fat Witch recipe book. These are the original Fat Witch brownies. I did an emergency run to Costco after work so I could get chocolate chips (and butter, sugar and eggs) so I'd be prepared for the plethora of new brownie recipes I plan to try from this book. What I found surprising with this recipe is the relatively small amount of chocolate used in proportion to the butter and the fact that the chocolate component comes from chocolate chips. I'm used to my better brownie recipes having an almost equal ratio of butter to chocolate and the chocolate is typically high-end baking chocolate, not chips. I didn't have high-end chips (Costco doesn't carry them) and didn't have time to pop over to Williams Sonoma or Sur La Table so I stuck with good old Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chips in the massive bag from Costco.

Let me say this recipe is true to the Fat Witch brownies I've tried from Fat Witch bakery. The texture is fudgy and dense as a good brownie should be and the richness comes from all that butter. I hovered over the oven during the last few minutes as I didn't want to overbake these and they came out just right in terms of fudginess. The only thing I would probably play with in future trials is I wasn't wild about the flaking of the top crust. According to Shirley Corriher of Bakewise and Cookwise fame, that "meringue-like" flaking comes from beating the eggs and if you want to minimize it, you have to minimize the beating of the eggs once they're added to the batter. This recipe calls for beating the eggs from the first step and you keep beating the mixture as you add more ingredients. I'll have to figure out how to get around that. Some people like that flaking on top. I don't particularly care for it. Regardless, it doesn't detract from the deliciousness and richness of the brownie.

Oh, one other note - the recipe calls for baking in a 9 x 9" pan. I used an 8 x 8" pan instead to make thicker brownies.

14 tablespoons (1 ¾ sticks) unsalted butter
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons bittersweet chocolate chips
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons unbleached flour
Pinch of salt

1. Grease a 9-inch x 9-inch baking pan with butter. Dust with flour and tap out the excess. Preheat the oven to 350˚F.
2. Melt the butter and chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently. Set aside to cool.
3. Cream the sugar, eggs, and vanilla together. Add the cooled chocolate mixture and mix until well blended.
4. Measure flour and salt and then sift together directly into the chocolate mixture. Mix the batter gently until well combined and no trace of the dry ingredients remains.
5. At this point, if desired, stir in any extras like walnuts.
6. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared baking pan and bake 33 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean or with only crumbs, not batter, on it.
7. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack for 1 hour. Cut just before serving.

Makes 12 to 16 brownies