Bittersweet and chewy brownies that are defined not by what they have in them but what they don’t; there’s no brown sugar or brown butter, baking powder, Dutched cocoa, cake flour, nuts, coffee granules, chips or frosting.
My Favorite Brownies
Ingredients
- 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
- 1 stick unsalted butter, plus extra for pan
- 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp flaky sea salt or 1/4 tsp table salt
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
Directions
- Heat oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8-inch square baking pan with parchment, extending it up two sides, or foil. Butter the parchment or foil or spray it with a nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium heatproof bowl over gently simmering water, melt chocolate and butter together until only a couple unmelted bits remain. Off the heat, stir until smooth and fully melted. You can also do this in the microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring between each.
- Whisk in sugar, then eggs, one at a time, then vanilla and salt. Stir in flour with a spoon or flexible spatula and scrape batter into prepared pan, spread until even.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out batter-free.
- Let cool and cut into desired size. If you’re like me, you will prefer these and all brownies, cold or even frozen. But I bet you’re normal and will just eat them hot from the pan. If desired, dust the brownies with powdered sugar before serving.
- If you only have semi- or bittersweet chocolate (60 to 72 percent), I created a version of these brownies with that last year, the darker half of this duo. But, the chocolate intensity is definitely dialed down. However, the sugar level is also adjusted to accommodate for the sweeter chocolate.