I believe in the healing power of a brownie. I know, they say that sugary things are not good for you, but how can something that looks and tastes so good, possibly, be bad for you???
Seriously! I also believe that a brownie recipe is like an LDB (Little Black Dress). Just like every woman should have an LDB in her wardrobe, every food blogger should have a brownie recipe in her/his blog.
Table of Contents
Well, this one is my “Ultimate Brownie” recipe.
These brownies coupled with a cup of coffee and my favorite book (or a great movie) is how I spoil myself. Just like I did this past weekend with my husband…
I kid you not, after eating 2 squares of brownies topped with 2 BIG scoops of vanilla ice cream, my husband, Dwight said that even if it were to make him go blind for the next 3 days, he would still eat them.
Crazy husband! No?
I have made this so many times and it never failed me. The best part about it is that you do not need a fancy mixer. All you need is your very own arm power.
It is chewy, gooey, fudgy and SERIOUSLY chocolatey.
There are three things you have got to do for this recipe to work:
- Use cake flour: If you were wondering if you can use cake flour to make brownies, you are in the right place. This recipe is made with cake flour and I would not recommend it with all-purpose flour for this recipe. You have got to use cake flour. If you do not have cake flour at home, you can make your own.
Here is the formula: To make 1-cup cake flour, you need ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour and 2 tablespoons of corn starch. Mix them in a bowl and then, using a sifter set over a bowl, sift them at least four times to get them well incorporated.
Or… simply go to the supermarket and buy some cake flour. I tried, they, both, work very well… - You need to switch from whisking to folding: As you will see in the recipe, at first, you whisk the wet ingredients and then you fold the dry ingredients into the wet batter.
I think this is the most important part because if you continue whisking (instead of “folding”), the proteins in the flour toughen, which, as a result, produces a tougher cake.So, what is “folding”?I found the best answer for this question in the Bouchon Bakery - Book co-writen by Sebastien Rouxel, the Pastry Chef of Bouchon Bakery. In his book he says:
“Folding one ingredient to another – flour into beaten eggs for a cake, for instance – is so common an instruction that we scarcely think to define it. The method we teach our chefs for folding is to use a double action: spin the bowl gently counterclockwise with you left hand as you draw your spatula from the back of the bowl toward you, scraping the bottom of the bowl, lifting and folding the batter. (If you are left handed, do the reverse.) The idea here is to incorporate the dry and wet ingredients uniformly but as quickly as possible to avoid smashing the air bubbles out of your batter.” - The last thing is very simple. Top it off with your favorite ice cream (mine is this ice cream) or have it for breakfast with a cup of cold milk.
Cake Flour Brownie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups Cake Flour, 5 oz.
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 6 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces, 1 1/2 sticks – 6 oz.
- 2 1/4 cups sugar, 15 3/4 oz.
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup walnuts, chopped, 4 oz.
Instructions
- Place the oven rack in the middle position and heat the oven to 325 F degrees. Line a 13X9 inch baking pan with aluminum foil. Spray it with vegetable oil spray.
- Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside.
- Using the bain-marie double boiler method (place a heatproof bowl over barely simmering water), melt the chocolate and butter. Stir it occasionally, until it becomes smooth.
- Off the heat, transfer the now-melted chocolate to a large glass bowl. Whisk in the sugar into the chocolate-butter mixture in three batches. Add eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition, until they are thoroughly combined. Whisk in the vanilla extract.
- Fold in the flour mixture in three additions, until it is completely smooth and thoroughly combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Using a spatula, spread it evenly and into the corners. Sprinkle it with walnuts.
- Bake it for 33 to 35 minutes.
- Cool on a wire rack for an hour before cutting it into small squares.
- Serve it with vanilla ice cream or with a cup of cold milk.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Adapted from The America’s Test Kitchen‘s Classic Brownie Recipe.
Hi! Can i substitute chocolate bar into chocolate powder for baking instead? I have bensdorp and goya unsweetened powder in my pantry now can i use them? If i can, what is the measurement? Thanks in advance! Can’t wait to try this recipe now.
Hi Pam-
Thank you so much for reaching out.
I really doubt that cocoa powder would work instead of chocolate bar for this recipe. I am not an expert in this, but a baking chocolate is made up of cocoa butter, vanilla, sugar, and leichtin. All these ingredients create a body for the recipe also creating an end product that is very chocolaty.
However in the past, I have seen some recipes mimicking “the chocolate effect” with butter, sugar, and cocoa powder using the bain marie method. It seems like the Bensdorp cocoa powder is a special one that you can play with. But it is so hard for me to give you any measurements without trying it in my own kitchen.
So if you really want to give it a try with cocoa powder, I’d recommend playing with it and see if it turns out well. Though I must say, it is much easier with baking chocolate. I made this brownie last week with some Valhrona, and though it was more expensive than a regular supermarket chocolate, it was 10 times tastier.
This recipe is one that makes the chocolate shine, so I’d say for no surprises, get some baking chocolate. :))
I was poking around today for a new brownie recipe to try, not having settled on that perfect one for me…I think I’ve found it now, thank you for sharing it!! Only change I made was omitting walnuts and adding chocolate chips. (I was baking with three kiddos and they insisted. 😉 Moist, dense, chocolaty, rich…absolutely perfect.
Yay Christine! I am so glad it worked out for you.
Great idea with the additional chocolate.
Thank you for letting me know.
Cheers!
Can this batter also be used to makes cupcakes (brownie cupcakes)?If so would I still bake at 325° for 33 to 35 mins.
Thanks
Hi Nell. To be quite honest, I have never tried making it as a cupcake. One thing about this brownie recipe is that the batter is somewhat dense. I am pretty sure you could bake it in muffin pans. However, it is hard for me to say exactly how it would turn out without actually trying it.
In terms of the temperature, they say since the batter is all divided in muffin pans it would cook much faster. I’d bake it much shorter than 33 minutes. Perhaps, try at 350F degrees for 15 minutes and test to see if they are done.
I have to mention though, all this is guessing. When I want to try baking cake recipes in muffin tins, I usually increase the temperature by 25-50 degrees and bake it half the time it would bake in a large cake pan.
I hope this helps. Let me know how it turns out for you.
All the best..
can i use dark chocolate bar?
Hi there,
I would highly recommend using bakers chocolate. A regular chocolate bar may not give the same result.
I hope this helps. Ice
Walnut churchkhela.. finely chopped.. mixed in brownie batter.. hmm.. i think i found an interesting ingredient! It makes it less cakey and more candy-ey. It worths a try!
I want to make these tonight for my husband’s b-day, but I only have semi-sweet chocolate. How can I adjust the sugar content if I do? Thanks so much!!
Hello there Marci,
I just googled how to substitute semi-sweet chocolate for unsweetened chocolate and found this formula on this page.
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate+1tablespoon sugar = 1 ounce semi-sweet chocolate – (source: Land O’lakes)
So based on this formula just use 6 tablespoons less sugar. I doubt that it will effect the consistency of the brownie.
I hope this helps. Let me know how it turns out.
If you have any other questions, I am right here. 🙂
Cheers!
Ice
Thank you SO very much!! I will definitely let you know it turns out!! 🙂
Please do.. all the best! 🙂
Dammit i shouldn’t have overlooked the part where you explain “cake flour”. I always thought it only consists of normal flour and baking powder. So i added more baking powder thinking not a big deal. Well, it did come out a little dry and dense but it still tasted pretty awesome and chocolatey. Admittedly, this time it wasn’t THE ultimate brownie for me but i’m getting there (hopefully next time). I think it’s a tidy and practical made snack and i would definitely make it repeated times… Of course topped with homemade (in this case; strawberry) ice cream; oh yeah: http://imgur.com/sPngueh
Oh no Alp!
I am sorry to hear that you missed that little detail. Well.. but it is good to hear that it is still edible and it looks great with that strawberry icecream on top. 🙂
Something similar happened to me yesterday while I was making a cake batter. I mistakenly added 2 more eggs than I should have and ended up with a cake that is way too moist. We ate it, but lesson learned. Note to self: pay attention to the recipe.. :))
As the recipe calls for 1 1/4 cups of cake flour, how much cornstarch would I need for a 1/4 cup?
Hi Qurrat,
I would highly recommend making 2 cups of cake flour using the formula and set the rest aside for a future use. If you do not wish to do that I would suggest using 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch for 1/4 cup flour. However, to be honest, I have never tried that before and am not sure if it would give you a perfect result.
Let me know how it turns out. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by.
Cheers.
Ice
For the six ounces of chocolates is that six One ounces blocks?
Yes. I use Baker’s unsweetened bar chocolates like this one. I usually comes in 4 ounce or 8 ounce packages.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Thanks.
Ice
“Oh my! This is pure heaven! You have to try it noow!!” *shouting around the house after just having scooped some out of the pan*
And now I’m a bit sick, because I couldn’t stop 😀
” I’ll just take a little more of it and just a little from the ice cream too..” *fourth time*