Brownies from The Food Charlatan

Brownies - made June 26, 2020 from The Food Charlatan

You know all the directions in brownie recipes that call for baking the brownies until the toothpick comes out "clean" or "with a few moist crumbs"? I decided to illustrate that in this post so people know what I'm talking about when I blog it and the difference you can expect between "raw" and "underdone" or "done enough". Note: not overbaked.

But first a shout out to a new source for unsweetened chocolate. I normally buy them by the hefty poundage from Scharffenberber, a 10-lb bag that costs enough for me to mortgage a piece of my soul. It lasts a long time though so I usually don't mind once I work it into my budget. But this time around, when I was getting low and it was time to reorder, it wasn't available on the Scharffenberger site. Erk.

But google is my friend so I was able to poke around on the internet and find a 5-lb bag from Cacaoholic. A 5-lb bag of unsweetened chocolate goes for $40 shipped. While it still requires a piece of my budgeting soul, albeit a smaller one, I needed a good bulk source. Chocolate is life and I can talk myself into anything. Plus I've been eating ramen and such to make up for the expense.

Back to the toothpick test. The first picture above is what the toothpick looked like after the brownie had been baking for 25 minutes. Every oven is different so never take the recipe baking guidelines as gospel. They're just that - guidelines. My oven doesn't run as hot as I'm used to. Normally I would check the brownie after 20 minutes but since I knew my oven lagged, I checked at 25 minutes. You don't want to check too soon or too often because every time you open the oven door, you let heat out and the temperature drops, thereby setting your brownie baking time back further. As you can see from the pic above, this is what I mean when I put in the baking instructions that you want a few moist crumbs on the toothpick, "not raw batter". Above is raw batter.

The second toothpick picture (always use a fresh toothpick for each test for doneness) - and sorry for the blurriness, my camera phone wasn't cooperating - is a little closer to doneness but there's still raw batter at the end. Not done yet.

Success at last with the third test, between 6-9 minutes after the last test. No raw batter and a few moist crumbs at the end. I don't like to bake until the brownies yield a completely clean toothpick. By then I always think the brownies will be too dry.

Here's what the texture of the brownies looked like with that third toothpick test, after they had cooled completely. Not dry, still fudgy, not too raw or underdone.

Since chocolate sets when it cools, you do have a little leeway. If you want a more firm brownie, you can bake a few minutes longer. A cakey brownie, potentially even a few minutes more. But I'll stick with my third toothpick test result.

Oh and the chocolate from Cacaoholic worked just fine in these brownies. This was a good brownie with a nice fudgy texture and flavor.

1 1/4 cups butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 x 13 baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a heavy duty saucepan over medium heat, melt butter, stirring until foamy and browned bits form. Turn off heat and immediately add unsweetened chocolate. Whisk until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth and combined.
3. Add granulated sugar and mix until combined. Add water and vanilla extract, whisking until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until incorporated. Add flour and salt, mixing until no flour streaks remain. Do not overmix. Fold in chocolate chips.
4. Pour into prepared pan and smooth top with small metal spatula. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs, about 25 minutes.  Cool completely before cutting and serving.