Soft and Chewy Brownies

For a while now (over a year), I’ve been signed up to be one of America’s Test Kitchen Recipe testers. This means that they send me recipes to make and then I need to fill out a survey on how the process and the end result were. In all this time I think I only made 2 recipes (and it might even be only one). Last week I got a recipe for brownies. Given my new pledge to bake once a week I saw an opportunity. You see – this is what I’m in business school for, to learn to recognize opportunities!

Since it’s a test recipe, I can’t give a link for it, so here it is in full:

Soft and Chewy Brownies

Our goal was to create a soft, delicious, homemade brownie with chocolaty flavor and chewy texture.

Makes twenty-four 2-inch brownies

Note: For the chewiest texture, it is important to let the brownies cool thoroughly before cutting. If baking the brownies in a glass baking dish, to prevent them from over-cooking remove them from the pan after they have cooled for 10 minutes. While any high-quality chocolate can be used in this recipe, our preferred brand of bittersweet chocolate is Callebaut Intense Dark Chocolate, L-60-40NV and our preferred brand of unsweetened chocolate is Scharffen Berger.

1/3 cup Dutch process cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso or coffee powder (optional)
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, very finely chopped (see note)
½ cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 ½ cups (17 ½ ounces) sugar
1 3/4 cups (8 ¾ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon table salt
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into ½-inch pieces

1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut 18-inch length foil and fold lengthwise to 8-inch width. Fit foil into length of 13- by 9-inch baking pan, pushing it into corners and up sides of pan; allow excess to overhang pan edges. Cut 14-inch length foil and fit into width of pan in the same manner, perpendicular to the first sheet (if using extra-wide foil, fold second sheet lengthwise to 12-inch width). Spray foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Whisk cocoa, espresso powder (if using), and boiling water together in large bowl until smooth. Add unsweetened chocolate to mixture and whisk until chocolate is melted. Whisk in oil. (Mixture may look curdled.) Add eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla and continue to whisk until smooth and homogenous. Whisk in sugar until fully incorporated. Add flour and salt and mix with a rubber spatula until combined. Fold in bittersweet chocolate pieces.

3. Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake until toothpick inserted halfway between edge and center comes out with just few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack and cool for 1 ½ hours.

4. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan. Return brownies to wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.

They ask not to change the recipe, so despite really wanting to substitute some of the sugar with brown sugar, I made the recipe as is. There was one thing that I had to change – I added some white chocolate pieces as well. Also, I didn’t use the ultra-expensive brands they recommend. For the unsweetened chocolate I used Baker’s chocolate, and for the dark chocolate I mixed between Baker’s semi-sweet and Hershey’s new Fine Dark chocolate. I know the latter sounds kind of strange – me using Hershey?!? I mean, in Israel I refused to by Elite, and here I am baking with Hershey’s. But they’ve actually come out now with a series of fine chocolates that are actually pretty good and are very reasonably priced, so they might just become my go-to chocolate.

The cake is out of the oven. It baked 40 minutes. I tasted an edge and it was super chocolaty. It’s a rather adult brownie, because it’s not overly sweet, like a dark chocolate version of a kid dessert. Below are pictures, they aren’t that good, I’ll probably be able to take better pictures after they cool down and I cut them, but I could wait to upload this post.

BTW – the pics were taken using our new Sony Cyber Shot. It’s the same camera Uri used to take pictures in Mexico. While both Uri and the camera made it back safely, the USB cable that connects the camera to the computer did not. And since Sony has to be so different, its USB cable is unique only to its camera’s and so costs $20 to replace. So, marking a year in the USA and the deepening our assimilation, I went on eBay and placed a bid for a cable (there is cost $4). The cable arrived last week, and what do you know – it actually works!