Brownies

Brownies - made April 28, 2011 from Williams Sonoma Dessert (book #98)

I've been asked to contribute to another bake sale this weekend, this time for a spring fair where the proceeds benefit the school a friend's son goes to.  Anything for a good cause and any excuse to bake, that's my motto.  So you know this means the next few posts will be all about bake sale brownies.  I also will bake any kind of brownies that let me add the nutella crunch topping on it so I went with this plain brownie recipe from the Williams Sonoma Dessert cookbook.  This differed from most of my brownie recipe in that it uses cake flour instead of all-purpose flour.

Except for the cake flour, it's a pretty standard brownie recipe and it turned out well.  In fact, I could probably have left the topping off if it weren't for wanting it to look a little more special for the bake sale.  The brownie was fudgy with just the right amount of chocolate and can stand alone as a plain brownie. I took a couple of closeups of the brownie so you can see what I mean when I say "fudgy".  This is what I look for in a good brownie and why I never overbake brownies.  If you overbake, you won't get this fudgy texture.

A good brownie has to be dense and fudgy

½ cup unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped

1 cup sugar

Pinch of salt
2 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ cup cake flour, sifted

¾ cup bittersweet chocolate chunks

1.     Preheat the oven to 350⁰F.  Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking dish, preferably glass (I used metal and it was fine).

2.     In a saucepan over low heat, combine the butter and chopped unsweetened chocolate.  Heat, stirring often, until melted, about 4 minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar and salt.  Add the eggs and vanilla and stir until well blended.  Sprinkle the sifted flour over the mixture and stir until just blended.  Stir in the chips, if using.

3.     Pour the batter into the prepared dish and spread evenly.  Bake the brownies until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out almost completely clean, about 30 minutes, or longer if using a metal pan.  Do not overbake.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before cutting.